Exploring take-up of missing Home Responsibilities Protection
This report presents findings from qualitative research with State Pension recipients exploring the take-up of missing Home Responsibilities Protection.
Documents
Details
Research Background
This research was conducted on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) by Verian. This report also includes research conducted by DWP social researchers.
This research aimed to understand the range of reasons why State Pension recipients thought to be missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) are not applying for it and to identify the barriers associated with making an application.
In the development of the strategy to aid people with applications, a number of challenges were recognised. For example:
(i) for data protection/retention reasons, it had not been possible to precisely identify individuals who had been affected
(ii) several decades had passed since HRP, and recall of detail and access to documents could be problematic
(iii) without further information from individuals it was impossible to confirm if the HRP correction would increase an individual’s State Pension or impact their overall income and benefits
Given these challenges, several steps were put in place to support the process and to assist people with applications:
- letters were tested on a sample population to ensure that they communicated the necessary information in the most effective manner. HMRC’s Customer Insight Team, who have experience communicating with older and vulnerable groups, also advised on communication
- HMRC initiated and maintained close collaboration with stakeholders and pensioner advocates such as Age UK, Care England and Citizens Advice as a way of raising awareness of the exercise and the support available
- to allay fears of scams a webpage – Check if a letter you’ve received from HMRC is genuine was provided for people to check that the letter was genuine
- media engagement such as Martin Lewis ‘Money Saving Expert’ and the BBC Morning Live television were used to stress that the letter was not a scam and to provide examples of individuals who had received thousands of pounds in arrears payments
Read further information about HRP in Home Responsibilities Protection and State Pension entitlement.
Contribution to the evidence base
This research provides in-depth insights from State Pension recipients who had been sent a letter about missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) and the barriers associated with applying for it.
This report also includes similar research with a separate group of State Pension recipients identified from DWP’s Fraud and Error exercise who had received telephone contact from DWP advising them that they were missing HRP and should make an application but had not done so.
Overall, research participants expressed difficulty and mistrust of engaging with the issue of HRP which they found hard to relate to their current circumstances.
The research showed that there were a wide range of barriers to applying, including reluctance to engage due to worries they would end of up worse off, fear of scams, and the level of digital knowledge perceived to be required to engage.
The process to correct their record was not always understood or trusted and required information from decades ago which was not recalled or easily accessed.
Research Value
The range of barriers identified in this research make clear that a one-off campaign of the kind launched in 2023 is less effective in examples such as these, given the need for providing historical information coupled with a complex issue with uncertain outcomes.
People can continue to apply for missing periods of HRP to be added to their National Insurance record. The government now intends to take a different approach to support people on an ongoing basis, including through the following activities:
a. undertaking regular communications activity throughout the year highlighting the importance of people checking their National Insurance records, including for HRP, Child Benefit and other Credits, signposting people to the routeways and support available
b. revising the materials on GOV.UK, reflecting feedback on the language used from the research work, and will maintain these going forward
c. adding material to DWP’s annual uprating letters, using language that reflects the research findings
d. strengthening ongoing relationships with external stakeholder groups (for example, local authorities, primary care practitioners and social housing providers) to enable them to reach and support potentially eligible customers in ways that best work for them