HRP
What it did: Between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2010, HRP protected the State Pension of parents and carers by reducing the number of years they needed to pay National Insurance to get a full basic State Pension.
Since 6 April 2010: HRP was replaced with National Insurance credits (up to 22 years) to similarly help maintain qualifying years.
What is HRP?
What it did: Between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2010, HRP protected the State Pension of parents and carers by reducing the number of years they needed to pay National Insurance to get a full basic State Pension.
Since 6 April 2010: HRP was replaced with National Insurance credits (up to 22 years) to similarly help maintain qualifying years.
Who Qualifies for HRP?
Claimed Child Benefit for a child under 16.
Lived in the UK during the qualifying year.
Provided your National Insurance number on the Child Benefit claim (especially important before May 2000).
Only one person per household could qualify per year (usually the Child Benefit claimant).
Spent at least 35 hours a week caring for someone who received Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance (middle or high care), or Constant Attendance Allowance.
Received Income Support that included a carer’s premium.
Were a registered foster carer or kinship carer (especially in Scotland) from 2003 to 2010.
Were eligible to transfer HRP from a partner who claimed Child Benefit but didn’t need it.
Did not pay the reduced-rate “married woman’s stamp” (if you did, you didn’t qualify).
How Much Could You Be Owed for HRP?
Here’s a point-by-point breakdown of how much you could be owed from missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP):
Missing HRP years can reduce your qualifying years for State Pension.
Each qualifying year is currently worth about £5.82 per week on the basic State Pension.
If you were missing 10 years of HRP, you could be underpaid by £58.20 per week.
Over a full year, that’s about £3,026 in underpaid pension.
Pension backpay can be backdated to when you reached State Pension age.
Lump sums already paid out range from £1,000 to over £20,000, depending on your case.
The average arrears paid so far are between £5,000 and £11,900.
Some people have received weekly pension increases of £20–£40 or more.
Total repayment depends on how many HRP years are missing and how long you’ve been underpaid.