Carer’s credit

poorchester

Hello. I wonder if anyone has experience of claiming Carer’s credit?

I took early retirement 2 years ago. One of the main reasons for this was to provide more support to our adult son. He has learning difficulties and lives - with much support - independently in a council flat near to our home.

I have discovered that I may be entitled to Carer’s credit and have downloaded the application form. My question is - do I have to account for the amount of time I spend providing care? The form asks for the number of hours of care I provide and there is a ‘further information’ page. Do I give details on this or will DWP get back to me for further info?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Ami2301

Hi @poorchester and welcome to the community! Just to clarify, do you mean Carer's Allowance?

poorchester

Hi. Thanks for your response.
No not Carer’s Allowance but Carer’s credit which gives National Insurance credits if one does 20 or more hours of care per week.
Having googled Carers Credit and found very few responses I guess it is something that few people claim/know about as most will claim Carers Allowance.

janer1967

Hi @poorchester Welcome t the community great to have you on board. I am sorry I don't know anything about carers credit.

Does the form not give instructions on how to complete, if you are unsure is there a number on the form you can ring for advice or maybe contact CAB

poorchester

Thank you. Yes I may have to ring DWP - was hoping I didn’t have to waste half a day waiting for them to answer!!

atlas47

Hi @poorchester

A very warm welcome.

You are absolutely correct about Carers Credit, if you care for someone for 20 hours, you are entitled to NI Credit towards your State pension.

You can do it on-line, or request an application form from this helpline tel:0800 731 0297.

You should also ask about being back dated to when you started to care for your son.

You can go back to the start of the previous Tax Year, that would take you back to April 20019.


Have you sought a State pension forecast, as there was a significant change in 2018, in qualifying years for state pension, which reduce these from 40 to 30 years.

The State pension forecast helpline is tel:0800 731 0175.

Let us know, if you need any further assistance.

Stay kind and be safe.

Best wishes

poorchester

Thanks all for your assistance
I’ve got 31 years of NI contributions so a few extra years would come in handy.
I will send the form off without adding any additional information and see what happens.