{"id":109127,"date":"2025-05-16T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=109127"},"modified":"2025-05-16T13:18:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T12:18:26","slug":"state-pension-underpayments-record-errors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/state-pension-underpayments-record-errors\/","title":{"rendered":"State Pension Underpayments Reach \u00a3450 Million Due to Record Errors and Legacy Oversights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New government figures reveal that administrative errors and outdated mechanisms in the UK\u2019s pension system resulted in \u00a3450 million in state pension underpayments during the last tax year, according to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These discrepancies, which affected thousands of retirees across the country, stem primarily from failures in accurately processing historical entitlements and incomplete national insurance records. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a report by the Manchester Evening News<\/a><\/em>, many of the errors date back decades and disproportionately affect women who were entitled to protective credits. The figures underscore systemic weaknesses in the DWP\u2019s handling of state pension data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Insurance Errors and Outdated Credits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The primary driver of underpayments was the omission of Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP<\/a>) credits from National Insurance (NI) records. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HRP was in place from 1978 to 2010, designed to protect the pension rights of individuals\u2014primarily women\u2014with caring responsibilities. Thousands of eligible HRP years were not recorded, leading to lower entitlements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the DWP<\/em><\/a> has initiated a correction programme to address this, the department acknowledged that many of the impacted individuals, especially women, have yet to receive the amounts owed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the issue, Jon Greer<\/em>, head of retirement policy at Quilter<\/em>, stated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The latest figures shine a light on the sheer scale and complexity of the state pension system. While the overpayment rate for state pensions remains incredibly low at just 0.1 per cent, that still equates to a staggering \u00a3190 million<\/strong> of taxpayers’ money being paid incorrectly.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He continued:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This serves as a reminder of the difficulty of administering a benefit that supports over 12 million people<\/strong> and costs \u00a3142 billion<\/strong> a year.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Official Errors Surge Fivefold in One Year<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alongside the underpayments, the DWP<\/em> also reported \u00a3190 million in overpayments<\/strong> for state pensions. These included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n