Benefits Guide -- Updated July 2026
Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) Correction Guide 2026/27
Thousands of parents, mostly women who claimed Child Benefit before May 2000, have gaps in their National Insurance record that should have been protected by Home Responsibilities Protection. Here is how to check and correct it.
What Home Responsibilities Protection Was
Home Responsibilities Protection ran from 1978 until it was replaced by National Insurance credits for parents and carers from April 2010. It worked by reducing the number of qualifying years someone needed for the old Basic State Pension for each complete tax year they were mainly at home looking after a child under 16 (usually evidenced by a Child Benefit claim) or caring for a disabled person, rather than building up qualifying years through paid work and National Insurance contributions.
Why Some Records Have Gaps
Before May 2000, Child Benefit claim forms did not consistently ask for the claimant's National Insurance number, which HMRC's systems needed in order to automatically link the claim to the right National Insurance record and apply HRP. Where that link was never made, the HRP that should have protected the person's record simply never appears, leaving what looks like a gap or an incomplete year on their National Insurance record decades later, with no obvious explanation unless they specifically check.
Who Is Most Likely to Be Affected
You are more likely to be affected if you claimed Child Benefit for a child born between 1978 and 2000, were not in paid work or earning below the National Insurance threshold during those years, and reach or have reached State Pension age from 6 April 2016 onwards, meaning your State Pension is calculated under the new State Pension rules where each missing qualifying year has a clearer, more direct effect on the weekly amount you receive. People still under the old pre-2016 rules can also be affected, though the practical impact on their pension amount can differ.
How to Check Your Record
Start by getting a State Pension forecast and checking your National Insurance record on gov.uk for gaps or incomplete years that coincide with periods you were claiming Child Benefit for a child under 16. HMRC also provides an online HRP eligibility checking tool that asks about your Child Benefit claims and caring circumstances during the relevant years to help you work out whether you are likely to be missing HRP that should have been applied.
How to Apply for a Correction
If the checker suggests you may be eligible, you can apply to HMRC to have your record corrected, converting the missing HRP years into National Insurance credits. If this brings your total qualifying years above a threshold that increases your State Pension, DWP will reassess your award and can pay arrears for any increase, though how far back arrears are paid depends on your individual circumstances. Given the numbers involved and the manual checking required, processing times can be lengthy, so apply as soon as you believe you may be affected rather than waiting.