Martin Lewis shared a clever way for grandparents to boost their future State Pension payments if they are not due to receive the full amount in retirement. If you have already reached State Pension age, you may still be able to make a backdated claim if you looked after grandchildren at any point since 2011 and before you reached retirement age.
During a special State Pension edition of The Martin Lewis Money Show Live on Tuesday, the financial expert shared different ways to boost retirement payments through Pension Credit and explained the complicated process of plugging gaps in your National Insurance record through buying missing years. However, he also shared a free way to boost State Pension payments without handing over any money.
Martin gave a brief overview of Specified Adult Childcare, or as he calls it - ‘grandparents child care credit’. This is where a working parent, claiming Child Benefit, transfers their National Insurance credit to the person looking after the child - who must be under 12 - as the parent will already be receiving credits through their salary.
Martin explained: “Specified Adult Childcare, I call it ‘grandparents child care credit’ because if the parents are working, they’re getting National Insurance credits anyway, so they don’t need it for looking after the children.
“If a grandparent is looking after the children for them, you can transfer the credit so the grandparent gets the National Insurance years instead of the parent because they’re already getting their own.”
One viewer contacted the show to share their success with Specified Adult Childcare, which Martin calculated to be in the region of a £14,000 State Pension boost over the next 20 years.
GJ said: “After watching your programme, I claimed for Specified Adult Childcare credits as I was not going to receive a full state pension. Success - instead of getting £171.00 per week state pension, I now get £185.15 per week. Thank you Martin, you are a star.”
You can read the Specified Adult Childcare factsheet on GOV.UK here. You can also call the National Insurance Helpline on 0300 200 3500 for more information.
Who can apply for Specified Adult Childcare credits?
You can apply for Specified Adult Childcare credits if:
- you are a grandparent, or other family member caring for a child under 12
- you were over 16, and under state pension age when you cared for the child
- you are ordinarily resident in the UK, meaning England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but not the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man
- the child’s parent (or main carer) is entitled to Child Benefit and has a qualifying year for National Insurance without needing the parent’s class 3 NI credits which they receive automatically from Child Benefit (they can check their National Insurance record online to see if they have any gaps in contributions)
- the child’s parent (or main carer) agrees to your application by countersigning the form to confirm that - you cared for their child for the period stated and that you can have the Class 3 NI credit for the period stated
When to apply
Specified Adult Childcare credits can be awarded retrospectively, to April 6, 2011 at the earliest.
Applications for a particular tax year are not accepted until the following October at the earliest. For example, for the tax year 2022 to 2023 applications must not be made until October 2023. This is because HMRC needs to check that the parent already has a qualifying year for National Insurance purposes, and that can take until the October to do so.
Full details can be found on GOv.UK here.
To keep up to date with the latest State Pension news, join our Money Saving Scotland Facebook page here, follow us on Twitter @Record_Money, or subscribe to our newsletter which goes out Monday to Friday - sign up here.
READ NEXT:
- Older people living on their own could be due £3,500 annual State Pension top-up
Check your State Pension forecast online to see how much you are due in retirement
People nearing State Pension age making new claim for PIP could get up to £691 for 10 years
Half a million people on State Pension could see payments frozen this year
People over State Pension age can claim up to £600 winter heating bill help from September
