Employers who are involved in compensation claims must wait 40 days for response from HMRC as a result of a backlog of requests for employment history data
HMRC is asking not to be contacted for updates on employment history requests unless 40 days have passed since the request was made.
In a statement, HMRC said: ‘We are currently receiving unusually high numbers of calls asking for an update before the 40 days has passed. To help us manage requests for information please do not call asking for an update unless it is more than 40 days since your request was sent to HMRC.’
As stipulated in the Data Protection Act (1998), HMRC has 40 days to respond to information requests. If HMRC ask the requestor for more information, the 40 days will start from the date that HMRC receives the additional information.
In cases where more information is needed before an employment history can be provided, HMRC may need to contact affected employers. It should be noted that if HMRC gets in touch for more information, the 40 days starts from the date that HMRC receives the additional information.