Thousands of parents and carers will be able to plug gaps in their National Insurance record and boost their state pension thanks to a new Government scheme.
The Government has issued an update on plans to allow claimants of Child Benefit to claim National Insurance (NI) credits for years where they were on the benefit.
An update from HMRC said: “Individuals will be able to claim this Credit from April 2026. The eligibility for the Credit will be closely based on Child Benefit eligibility criteria.
“Transitional arrangements will ensure those affected since 2013 are still able to claim. Going forward, applications will be available for six years following the relevant tax year.”
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the new policy would provide a “huge boost” to the finances of many parents and carers.
She explained the background to the policy change, saying: “The introduction of the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge back in 2013 prompted many people to stop claiming Child Benefit. However, many didn’t realise they were also missing out on vital credits towards their state pension.
“Subsequent efforts to enable them to claim the National Insurance credit without receiving Child Benefit did help but many parents and carers were still left with gaps in their records that would lead to a lower state pension.”
A person typically needs 35 years of contributions to get the full new state pension, which is currently £203.85 a week. This is going up 8.5 percent from April, rising to £221.20 a week.
Child Benefit provides weekly payments of £24 a week for a first or only child, and payments of £15.90 a week each for any other children. The payments usually go out every four weeks on a Monday or Tuesday.
However, the payments are subject to a charge if a claimant or their partner earns £50,000 or more a year, and if one of these individual incomes reaches £60,000, the benefit is paid back entirely.
Government guidance for the benefit says: “You can make a claim and opt out of getting payments if you do not want to pay the charge. You can still get the other advantages provided by Child Benefit, like National Insurance credits.”
A person can currently claim their state pension once they reach the age of 66, although this is increasing to 67 and then to 68 over the coming years.
An individual can check how much state pension they will receive using the state pension forecast tool on the Government website.
If you are missing National Insurance contributions, you may be able to voluntarily buy contributions to increase your state pension. This can also be done on the Government website.
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