MR v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (RP)

A later successful claim for state pension does not necessarily limit entitlement to the statutory backdating period. Where an earlier claim was disallowed because an inaccurate National Insurance record showed insufficient contributions, the later claim may also amount to an application for revision of the earlier decision.

Where the inaccurate record resulted from HMRC’s failure to maintain the correct record, that may constitute official error. The earlier disallowance can then be revised, allowing entitlement from the date pensionable age was reached. The statutory 12-month backdating limit applies to the later claim itself, but does not prevent revision of the earlier decision.

The appellant reached pension age on 2 March 2022 and made her first state pension claim on 27 February 2023. That claim was disallowed because her National Insurance record showed no qualifying years.

HMRC subsequently corrected the record, awarding home responsibilities protection and giving the appellant 15 qualifying years. Her second claim, made on 9 December 2023, was successful but was backdated only 12 months. The First-tier Tribunal confirmed that decision, holding that the statutory maximum prevented backdating to 3 March 2022.

The issue before the Upper Tribunal was whether the earlier disallowance could be revised for official error, and whether the second claim should have been treated as including an application for such revision.

1. Appeal allowed. The First-tier Tribunal’s decision involved an error of law and was set aside. The Upper Tribunal re-made the decision under section 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007.
2. The 12-month backdating limit in regulation 19(1) and Schedule 4, paragraph 13 of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987 would have applied if the case concerned only the second claim.
3. However, the First-tier Tribunal failed to consider whether the decision disallowing the first claim could be revised. The disallowance of an open-ended benefit claim covers the period from the first day covered by the claim until the decision is made: R(S) 14/81. Such a decision is final unless revised or superseded under section 17(1) of the Social Security Act 1998.
4. The second claim and the request for backdating to the earliest possible date should have been treated, at least in part, as an application for an any-time revision of the first decision. Regulation 3(5)(a) of the Social Security and Child Support (Decision & Appeals) Regulations 1999 permits revision at any time where the decision arose from official error. HMRC’s failure to maintain the correct National Insurance record constituted such error.
5. The first decision was revised. The appellant had 15 qualifying years and was entitled to state pension from 3 March 2022. The later decision was set aside because it assumed that the first decision was correct.
6. The case was remitted to the Secretary of State to recalculate entitlement and arrears, including an offset for pension already paid. The deferral supplement was no longer payable because entitlement began when pensionable age was reached.

• First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support): On 30 October 2024, confirmed the Secretary of State’s decision awarding state pension from 9 December 2022.
• Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber): Allowed the appeal, set aside the First-tier Tribunal’s decision, revised the first Secretary of State decision for official error, set aside the second decision, and substituted entitlement from 3 March 2022.