Hampton & RoweWe start with your life, not a pension acronym.
Your State Pension can be affected by different rules depending on your age, National Insurance history and what happened across your life. A caring gap is one possible explanation, but it is not the only one.
Caring & HRP
Parents and carers
HRP applied between 1978 and 2010 and was intended to protect the State Pension position of certain parents and carers.
Read the HRP guide →NI record
Credits and qualifying years
Missing or incorrect contributions, credits or qualifying years can affect a State Pension calculation.
Personal Tax Account →Relationships
Marriage, divorce & bereavement
Older pension rules can sometimes involve a spouse, civil partner or former partner’s record.
Learn more →Timing
Deferred or delayed State Pension
Deferring a pension can lead to extra State Pension or, under some older rules, a lump sum. The applicable rules depend on when deferral happened.
Linked benefits
Pension Credit effects
Because Pension Credit is means-tested, a State Pension correction or arrears can have linked consequences. Those consequences depend on the person’s wider circumstances.
Older rules
Over-80 and historic cases
Some older State Pension rules and historical records can still matter today. A broad review helps avoid assuming every issue is HRP.
Read the guide →What happens once you instruct us
- Initial information: you provide the relevant background and contact details.
- Review: we assess which issue or route may need investigation.
- Authority: you review and sign the documents needed for us to act, such as the Conditional Fee Agreement and relevant HMRC/DWP authority documents.
- Information gathering: we obtain or request relevant records and ask you for supporting information where needed.
- Submission and follow-up: we progress the appropriate matter with HMRC and/or DWP.
- Decision: the relevant government department decides the official outcome.
- Fee if arrears are paid: if the outcome produces relevant backdated arrears, the success fee applies in accordance with the agreement.
No old paperwork?
Do not assume that ends the enquiry. Original paperwork can help, but it is common for people not to have records from decades ago. We explain what can be requested and what other evidence may be useful.
Timescales
Many straightforward HRP-related cases currently complete in around 6–9 months after all required information and evidence are available. More complex cases - for example where there are long gaps, name changes, disputes or appeals - can take 9–12 months or longer. HMRC and DWP control their own processing and no timeframe is guaranteed.