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National Insurance credit scheme will be introduced to tackle child benefit gaps
19 February 2024

The Government plans to introduce new legislation to help parents who earn more money than others with their future pensions.

In essence, if you did not claim child benefit because you earned over £50,000 when you had children, you will soon be able to claim National Insurance credits.

These credits are important for getting the full State Pension when you retire.

Why do you need National Insurance credits for your pension?

To get the full State Pension, you need a certain number of years where you have paid National Insurance contributions.

These contributions are usually made when you work and pay National Insurance.

However, if you are a parent or carer and you do not work or earn less because you are looking after children, you might not pay National Insurance.

This is where National Insurance credits come in.

They act like ‘placeholders’ for the years you are not working due to childcare.

These credits count towards your National Insurance record, just like if you were working and paying National Insurance.

But, if you did not claim child benefit because you earn over £50,000, you might have missed out on getting these credits.

So, the National Insurance credit scheme allows you to claim the credits you’ve missed, helping you qualify for the full State Pension.

When will you be able to claim?

The Government is saying that it should be from April 2026, and it will cover anyone affected since 2013. However, they have not revealed the full claiming process yet, nor the full eligibility conditions.

Having said that, it is entirely possible that when the claiming process opens, thousands of individuals will be applying so it is best to get your affairs in order sooner rather than later.

We recommend you do two things: