{"id":254382,"date":"2025-11-10T06:03:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T06:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/254382\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T06:03:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T06:03:17","slug":"brits-urged-to-boost-state-pension-by-342-a-year-with-little-known-benefit-personal-finance-finance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/254382\/","title":{"rendered":"Brits urged to boost state pension by \u00a3342 a year with little-known benefit | Personal Finance | Finance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brits who\u2019ve taken time out of work to look after family could be missing out on hundreds of pounds in retirement<\/a> income every year. A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP<\/a>) scheme known as Carer\u2019s Credit could help boost the state pension<\/a> by up to \u00a3342 a year, but thousands of people are thought to be unaware it even exists.<\/p>\n

The credit is designed to help unpaid or low-paid carers avoid gaps in their National Insurance (NI)<\/a> record, which could otherwise reduce their pension payments later in life. To receive the full new state pension, currently worth \u00a3230.25 a week or \u00a311,973 a year, people need to have built up 35 years of NI contributions.<\/p>\n

You only earn National Insurance contributions through work if you\u2019re earning more than \u00a312,570 a year, so those who\u2019ve stopped working or reduced hours for caring responsibilities may fall short unless they receive credits.<\/p>\n

Carer\u2019s Credit can step in to fill those missing years, potentially increasing the state pension by hundreds of pounds annually.<\/p>\n

Over the course of a typical retirement, that could amount to more than \u00a36,000 extra.<\/p>\n

To qualify for Carer\u2019s Credit, you must be:<\/p>\n

Aged 16 or overUnder state pension age (currently 66)Caring for someone for at least 20 hours a week<\/p>\n

The person being cared for must also receive a qualifying benefit such as:<\/p>\n

Disability Living Allowance (middle or highest care rate)Attendance Allowance<\/a>Personal Independence Payment (daily living part)Armed Forces Independence PaymentChild Disability Payment (middle or highest care component)Adult Disability Payment (standard or enhanced daily living rate)Pension Age Disability PaymentConstant Attendance Allowance<\/a><\/p>\n

Even if the person doesn\u2019t get one of those benefits, it may still be possible to claim, but a Care Certificate must be filled in by a health or social care professional to support the application.<\/p>\n

Some people automatically receive Carer\u2019s Credit, such as those already claiming Carer\u2019s Allowance, Carer Support Payment, or Child Benefit for a child under 12.<\/p>\n

Foster carers may be eligible for National Insurance<\/a> credits through a separate scheme.<\/p>\n

To see whether you have any gaps in your NI record, you can check your State Pension forecast using the official government tool at gov.uk\/check-state-pension<\/a>, or via the HMRC<\/a> app.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll need your Personal Tax Account login details, or you can register for an account on the GOV.UK website.<\/p>\n

If eligible, you can apply for Carer\u2019s Credit by downloading the form at gov.uk\/carers-credit<\/a> or by calling the Carer\u2019s Allowance Unit on 0800 731 0297.<\/p>\n

Once completed, the form should be sent to: Freepost DWP Carers Allowance Unit (You don\u2019t need to write anything else on the envelope – no stamp or postcode is needed.)<\/p>\n

If your application is rejected and you believe it was wrong, you can ask for a mandatory reconsideration within a month of receiving the decision letter.<\/p>\n

A full list of qualifying circumstances is available at gov.uk\/national-insurance-credits\/eligibility<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brits who\u2019ve taken time out of work to look after family could be missing out on hundreds of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[4029,84,105786,105784,105785,2900,2215,4176,105788,12168,4174,4175,4204,2221,56,54,55,105787],"class_list":["post-254382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-benefits","tag-business","tag-can-i-claim-careru2019s-credit","tag-carers-credit","tag-careru2019s-credit","tag-department-for-work-and-pensions-dwp","tag-dwp","tag-finance","tag-how-much-is-careru2019s-credit-worth","tag-national-insurance","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-retirement","tag-state-pension","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-who-is-eligible-for-careru2019s-credit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}