DWP update over £8,300 state pension boost as all claimants will get this letter

State pensioners have been encouraged to look out for some vital information in a DWP letter. The issue relates to a historical underpayments issue with the average person affected owed over £8,300.

HMRC and DWP were asked to provide an update on their efforts to reach out to those affected by the missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) issue, which has resulted in thousands being underpaid their state pension. The problem mostly impacts women, as HRP was a historical DWP scheme that covered a person's National Insurance (NI) contributions while they were not working due to caring for children or a disabled adult.

However, administrative blunders meant many individuals did not have HRP applied, resulting in their state pension entitlement being less than it should have been. HRP was in operation from 1978 to 2010, but anyone who claimed the support after 2000 will not have been affected, as NI numbers were required on applications from this year onwards.

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A Government spokesperson recently said in an update: "We're determined to help people who've been left out of pocket due to historical errors which are no fault of their own. That's why we wrote to more than 370,000 people potentially affected, and launched an online tool to help people check if they can claim.

"We ran an extensive campaign to raise awareness of the issue and will continue regular communications to get people to check their National Insurance record." Ministers have pledged to push on with their efforts to increase awareness among those who may have been affected.

The spokesperson explained: "The Government will continue to signpost people to where they can find out more information about HRP and to the support we have available, via ongoing communications activity. For example, DWP now includes information on HRP in annual state pension uprating letters."

State pension rates go up each April from the start of the new tax year, from April 6. Letters are dispatched around this time to inform people about the increase in their DWP and HMRC benefits. The Government said that the average arrears payments due to the HRP issue stood at £8,377 as of March 2025.

Anyone who believes HRP is missing from their NI record can apply for it to be added online. Once this application has been received, HMRC will determine the number of years of NI that should be added to the record, and then the DWP will apply this to your state pension eligibility and decide if this will affect your payment rates.

If you apply for HRP and you disagree with the decision, you will either need to contact the DWP or HMRC. You should contact the DWP if the issue relates to your state pension amount and you should contact to HMRC if it relates to your NI record.