Does a 1978 rule change mean I'm owed a higher state pension? STEVE WEBB replies

I opted to pay a married woman's small National Insurance (NI) stamp in 1975 but then fell pregnant and had our son in December 1976.I didn't resume full-time working until February 1985 when I had to pay the full NI stamp.In those intervening years I have not been given credit on my NI record for Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) for the years 1978 onwards when the system started.On reading your website where you were helping a woman in much the same situation as myself you stated that: 'Crucially, the ability to go on paying a reduced stamp post 1978 would lapse if there was a gap of more than two years when they did not pay any NI at all.'I cannot find any information on the Government website about this two-year rule so I would be much obliged if you could let me know where to find it so that I can pursue my claim to have my state pension increased. Married women's stamp: Abolished in 1978 when Home Responsibilities Protection was introducedSteve Webb replies: The position of women who opted to pay the reduced ‘married woman’s stamp’ rate of NI continues to create unhappiness, despite nearly half a century having elapsed since it was abolished for new applications.Having investigated your individual case with HMRC, I’m happy to help clarify what is going on.As a reminder, when the NI system was designed after the Second World War, there was an assumption that married women would be financially dependent on their husbands.This applied both during working life and in retirement.One practical way this worked out was that if a married woman was in paid employment she had a choice.She could pay full rate NI contributions and build up a pension in her own right.Or she could pay reduced rate contributions – the ‘married woman’s stamp’ as it became known – and build up no pension for those years.Instead, when her husband retired, she could claim a 60 per cent married woman’s pension based on his contributions.All of this changed in 1977 when the ability of women to opt to pay this reduced stamp was ended.But for those who had previously paid the reduced rate, it was possible to go on doing so, as long as this was not interrupted for more than two years. You can read more about the ‘two year test’ here,This was a concession designed to avoid the situation where women switched to paying full NI in later life but too late to make any difference to their pension rights.At the same time as the end of the married woman’s stamp, 1977 saw the introduction of HRP or HRP.This was a way of protecting the NI record of those – mainly mothers – who were not paying in to the system because they were at home raising a family.Women who had paid the reduced rate were deemed to have opted out of the NI system as far as building up their own pension was concerned.So it was decided that HRP would not apply in any year where a woman was still paying – or eligible to pay – the married woman’s stamp.Turning now to your own case, having contacted HMRC it seems that you have in fact been awarded HRP for four years, from 81/82 to 84/85 inclusive, before you went back to work.What is deeply frustrating, and something I have raised repeatedly with HMRC, is that although you are getting HRP, this does not show on your online NI record. This is true for anyone who reached pension age before April 2010.The reason for this is that, prior to 2010, HRP did not amount to a full qualifying year. Instead, each year of HRP reduced by one year your target for a full pension.So, in your case, your four years of HRP meant that your target for a full pension was 35 years rather than the normal 39 years.But I still think it would not hurt to have a line on your online account which simply said you have been awarded HRP for four years and give the dates.It wastes your time and that of HMRC when you have to contact them to check if something is on your record when it could simply be displayed for you to see.However, all of this left the question of why you had not received HRP for 1980/81.After all, if you stopped work in December 1976, then 1978/79 and 1979/80 would have been ‘fallow years’ from an NI point of view, leading your married woman’s stamp election to lapse.This should have given you HRP for the next year.But on checking, it turns out that you did actually do some work during 1978/79.It didn’t need to be much, but the simple act of paying reduced rate NI at all meant that your eligibility to pay it continued for another year, and therefore your eligibility for HRP was delayed by another year.In response to your case, an HMRC spokesman said: 'We’re happy to reassure your reader that her National Insurance record is correct and that Home Responsibilities Protection has been correctly applied.' Ask Steve Webb a pension question Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb is This Is Money's Agony Uncle.He is ready to answer your questions, whether you are still saving, in the process of stopping work, or juggling your finances in retirement.Steve left the Department of Work and Pensions after the May 2015 election. He is now a partner at actuary and consulting firm Lane Clark & Peacock.If you would like to ask Steve a question about pensions, please email him at pensionquestions@thisismoney.co.uk.Steve will do his best to reply to your message in a forthcoming column, but he won't be able to answer everyone or correspond privately with readers. Nothing in his replies constitutes regulated financial advice. Published questions are sometimes edited for brevity or other reasons.Please include a daytime contact number with your message - this will be kept confidential and not used for marketing purposes.If Steve is unable to answer your question, you can also contact MoneyHelper, a Government-backed organisation which gives free assistance on pensions to the public. It can be found here and its number is 0800 011 3797.Steve receives many questions about state pension forecasts and COPE ¿ the Contracted Out Pension Equivalent. If you are writing to Steve on this topic, he responds to a typical reader question here. It includes links to Steve's several earlier columns about state pension forecasts and contracting out, which might be helpful. SIPPS: INVEST TO BUILD YOUR PENSIONAJ BellAJ Bell0.25% account fee. 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