Home Responsibilities protection, self employment and low earnings

BaltanSeijin

My wife has presumed she would be automatically entitled toHome Responsibilities Protection (HRP) until our son reached 12 as she was receiving child benefit . This would have meant those years counted towards her state pension.

However during that time she registered as self employed to do the very occasional freelance translation jobs with a local agency. One year she only got one job and earnt £38, and never earnt more than a couple of hundred ayear. She filled in the exemption from class 2 contributions for small earners form as the contributions would normally have been more than her earnings. Class2 contributions are £2.65 a week.

However now on reading the details it seems by claiming the exemption she mayhave lost the right to HRP and therefore those years won’t count towards herpension which will leave her short of the amount required to qualify.

Can this really be right? I can’t find anything tocontradict this conclusion on the HMRC website. If so it doesn’t seem fair as she would havebeen better off not working at all!

Thanks in advance for any advice!

sleepless_saver

It looks like she would not have been entitled to HRP for any periods where she had the small earnings exception. But in April 2010 the rules changed and from then, for as long as your son is under 12, she should get credits towards her state pension (as long as she is the one claiming child benefit).
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Caringforsomeone/DG_10018691

Currently 30 years contributions are needed for full state pension.

helpfulperson

First of all, are you sure your wife's contributions are going to be short of those she requires for a full State Pension? Has she had a SP forecast?

It may be a long shot, but you could ask if your wife can rescind her election and pay the class 2 contributions. Call the Self-employed Helpline on Tel 0845 915 4655.

If your wife has not yet reached SP age and is not working now, she can, of course, pay voluntary Class 3 contributions, but they are quite expensive.