Martin Lewis urges 100,000s of people not to bin letter saying they could be owed thousands: 'It isn't a scam'

People aged over 66 may be owed thousands of pounds – and should be aware that letters advising them what to do to claim the money are not a scam, consumer champion Martin Lewis has said.

The government has begun sending out letters to hundreds of thousands of people, many of them older women, who may be owed money by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Lewis’s Money Saving Expert (MSE) website has warned that some people "may be missing out on their full state pension entitlement" due to an error in their national insurance (NI) records.

“Specifically, this affects those who took time off work to care for family between 1978 and 2010, as [their records] may be missing what's known as 'Home Responsibilities Protection' (HRP).”

The first batch of letters are being sent out to people over the state pension age of 66 and Lewis has told anyone receiving it that it is genuine.

He told Good Morning Britain: “Do not bin the letter. These are not scams. If you get a letter from HMRC and it talks about HRP, it is not a scam.”

However, Lewis accepted that some scammers may try to trick people after hearing his warning and therefore urged people to only go directly to gov.uk – and not to go to “any other funny website when they write to you”.

Some of the letters could end up being worth tens of thousands of pounds.

HRP was a scheme to help protect parents’ and carers’ entitlement to the state pension. NI credits replaced HRP from 6 April, 2010.

The letters are being sent out in phases, with those over the state pension age of 66 being contacted first. Some people affected may have died and their families will therefore be entitled to check their eligibility and make a claim for any arrears.

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Women aged in their 60s and 70s are most likely to be affected, the government said.

HMRC has been using NI records to identify as many people as possible who might have been entitled to HRP between 1978 and 2010, but have no HRP on their NI record.

If subsequent claims are successful, records will be updated so people receive the extra money they are owed through their state pension.

What will the letter say?

MSE said: "HMRC has asked us not to publish any part of the letter to avoid the risk of having it mimicked by scammers - though we can share that the letter will be titled 'You may be eligible for Home Responsibilities Protection' and will direct you to visit the gov.uk HRP page.

"You'll be asked to check whether you were eligible for HRP between 1978 and 2010, which you can do online on gov.uk. If the checker says you're eligible, you'll be able to submit your claim online and HMRC will update your National Insurance record, which may increase your state pension payments."

Meanwhile, MSE also reminded readers that HMRC "will NEVER threaten arrest or push you to transfer money over the phone".

'Truly shocking'

Commenting on the issue last month, Sir Steve Webb, a former pensions minister who is now a partner at Lane Clark & Peacock, said: “It is truly shocking that so many people have been underpaid because of errors on their national insurance record for time at home with children.

“It is even worse that tens of thousands of people, mostly mothers, died without ever receiving the correct state pension.

“It is vitally important that HMRC and DWP (the Department for Work and Pensions) are open and transparent about this whole process and that every effort is made to track down all those who may be entitled.”

He also warned that because HMRC is having to make an “educated guess” as to which groups of people are most likely to be affected, it's likely not all of those who are being underpaid will receive a letter - meaning some may be dependent on seeing general publicity and proactively putting in a claim.