The £8,377 State Pension Boost: Are You One Of The 400,000 People Owed Thousands In Arrears?
The UK's largest pension correction exercise is delivering a significant financial boost to hundreds of thousands of pensioners, with one group receiving an average payout of £8,377 in backdated arrears. As of December 2025, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is urgently reviewing over 877,000 State Pension cases as part of the ongoing Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practices (LEAP) exercise, which has already repaid more than £800 million to underpaid individuals. This massive undertaking is addressing historic errors, primarily concerning missing National Insurance (NI) credits for parents and carers, known as Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP).
The scale of the problem is vast, with estimates suggesting the total number of people affected by various underpayment errors could be in the hundreds of thousands, a figure often associated with the 400,000 mark when including all historic issues. The most recent data, updated to March 31, 2025, confirms that the DWP has identified over 130,000 underpayments, highlighting the urgency for every eligible pensioner to check their National Insurance record and current State Pension amount. This is not a new benefit, but a correction of money that was always rightfully owed.
The £800 Million Underpayment Crisis: What is the LEAP Exercise?
The Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practices (LEAP) exercise is the formal name for the DWP’s program, which began in January 2021, to systematically correct decades of administrative errors that led to the underpayment of the State Pension.
This widespread failure to accurately increase State Pension payments was first brought to light by former Pensions Minister Sir Steve Webb and independent financial experts. The errors predominantly affected women who reached State Pension age before April 2016 under the old Basic State Pension rules.
The DWP has categorized the underpayments into several specific groups, with the correction exercise prioritizing them based on age and payment category. The primary categories being reviewed include:
- Category BL: Married women who should have had their State Pension automatically increased to a 60% rate of their husband's basic State Pension when he retired.
- Category D: People aged 80 and over who are receiving a minimal or no State Pension and may be entitled to a Category D payment.
- Widows and Widowers: Individuals whose State Pension did not increase correctly after the death of their spouse, or who were entitled to inherit a higher pension rate.
- Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP): The newest and most significant wave of corrections, which addresses missing National Insurance credits for parents and carers.
As of the latest official update, the DWP has paid out a total of £804.7 million in arrears to 130,948 underpaid pensioners. The total number of cases reviewed has surpassed 877,000, confirming the massive scale of this administrative failure.
Missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP): The £8,377 Average Payout
The most recent and high-value element of the correction exercise focuses on Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP). HRP was a scheme active between April 1978 and April 2010 designed to protect the State Pension entitlement of parents and carers who stayed at home and were not paying National Insurance contributions.
The error occurred because in many cases, the DWP failed to record HRP on individuals' National Insurance records, even when they were claiming Child Benefit. This missing data resulted in a lower State Pension calculation when they reached retirement age.
Who is Eligible for the HRP Correction?
You are most likely to be affected by the missing HRP if you meet the following criteria:
- You are a woman (or man) who reached State Pension age after 6 April 2010.
- You claimed Child Benefit between April 1978 and April 2010.
- You did not include your National Insurance number on your Child Benefit claim form.
- You were not paying the Married Woman's Stamp (reduced National Insurance contributions).
The financial impact of this error is significant. Between January 2024 and March 2025, the DWP identified 12,379 underpayments related to missing HRP. The total arrears paid out for this specific category was approximately £104 million, resulting in an average arrears payment of £8,377 per pensioner.
While the overall State Pension correction exercise has an estimated total number of people affected in the hundreds of thousands, the HRP element alone is expected to increase sharply in the coming months as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) continue their joint effort to identify and correct these records.
Are You Owed a Pension Boost? How to Check Your Eligibility
The DWP is systematically reviewing records and will contact pensioners who are identified as being underpaid. However, due to the complexity and scale of the LEAP exercise, experts advise that pensioners should not wait to be contacted, especially if they fall into one of the known high-risk categories.
Three Steps to Check Your Pension Status
- Check Your National Insurance (NI) Record: The most crucial step for HRP underpayments is to check your NI record online via the government's portal. If you claimed Child Benefit between 1978 and 2010, look for gaps in your contributions. If you see years without full contributions during periods you were claiming Child Benefit, you may be missing HRP.
- Contact HMRC for HRP: If you suspect you are missing HRP, you must contact HMRC to fill out an application form (CF411). HMRC is responsible for updating your NI record with the missing HRP years, which then allows the DWP to recalculate your State Pension.
- Contact the DWP for Category BL/Widow Errors: If you are a married woman whose husband retired before April 2016, or a widow/widower, you should contact the DWP's dedicated State Pension correction teams. You can call the Pension Service to ask them to review your case for a Category BL or inherited pension underpayment.
Key Pension Underpayment Categories and Average Arrears
The DWP's correction exercise covers several cohorts, with varying average payouts as of the latest update:
- Married Women (Category BL): Those whose husbands reached State Pension age before April 6, 2016. The average arrears payment for this group is approximately £5,713.
- Widows and Widowers: Individuals who were not paid the correct inherited pension amount after their spouse's death. The average arrears payment for this group is approximately £12,486.
- Over 80s (Category D): Pensioners aged 80 and over who are receiving a minimal or no State Pension. The average arrears payment for this group is approximately £2,242.
- Missing HRP: The newest focus, with an average arrears payment of £8,377.
The combined effort to correct these errors represents a significant victory for pensioners and campaigners like Sir Steve Webb, who have pushed the government to rectify these long-standing administrative mistakes. For many, this correction is a vital boost to their retirement income, particularly in the current cost of living crisis, ensuring they receive the full entitlement they earned over their working and caring lives. The DWP has committed to providing regular updates until the LEAP exercise is fully complete, which is currently projected to run into 2026.
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