The Government has revealed it has underpaid parents who are missing key national insurance (NI) credits by an estimated £1bn.
A new report from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) estimates 187,000 people are owed money, mostly mothers, of whom 43,000 have already died, making average arrears payment just over £5,000.
How do you find out if you are owed money from the Government? i explains.
Why are people owed money?
The DWP reported an error last year that found that parents who had time off work to look after their children, and who had not applied for child benefit tax credits, could have missed out on vital national insurance credits.
This could leave them thousands of pounds out of pocket in retirement. Now, the Government will start contacting those affected and, where there are errors, pay arrears.
How to find out if you’re owed money?
To start, you can look up all your national insurance contributions online and see which years aren’t complete on the Government’s website.
If you have years missing, it may mean you can’t get the full state pension. However, you can pay voluntary contributions to fill any gaps.
To find out if you are owed money from the Government following the DWP error, HMRC says it will contact you by letter directly as of this autumn.
If you are eligible you will be able to claim online. Once the application is processed, HMRC will update their national insurance record.
However, if you are a parent and are sure that you have contributions missing, you can fill in a CF411 form and submit it to HMRC, says former pensions minister Steve Webb.
Mr Webb, partner at LCP, said: “The scale of these errors is huge. It is shocking that so many women have been underpaid so much money. This makes it essential that things are put right as a matter of urgency. I hope that this correction process will be completed as quickly as possible, as far too many people have been underpaid for far too long.”
If you are over state pension age and not able to use the online tool, you can call the National Insurance Helpline for support. There is also extra support available for people who need it.
