National Insurance Credits with No Child Benefits

MariaCo

Hi, 
Does anyone know if and how you can claim National Insurance Credits for Past Years with No Child Benefit?
Is this possible? I seem to be going round in circles.
1st child born in 2012
Thank-You

MX5huggy

You have a child but you (or the other parent) did not claim child benefit? 

p00hsticks

MariaCo said:

Hi, 
Does anyone know if and how you can claim National Insurance Credits for Past Years with No Child Benefit?
Is this possible? I seem to be going round in circles.
1st child born in 2010
Thank-You

I believe the simple answer is no.

However you don't give any information as to why Child Benefits aren't being paid and there are possibilities depending on your particular circumstances.
If Child Benefit was being claimed by one parent but it is actually the other that needs the credits, then it is possible for the credits associated with the Benefit to be retrospectively transferred. 
If Child Benefit has not been claimed because the parent is over the £60k High Income threshold, then I believe there is an option to simply claim the credits without the money, but I don't know if this can be backdated. 

Note that NI credits associated with Child Benefit are only given until the child reaches the age of twelve, so in this particular case (unless there are also younger children), the credits will be about to stop anyhow. 

MariaCo

p00hsticks said:

MariaCo said:

Hi, 
Does anyone know if and how you can claim National Insurance Credits for Past Years with No Child Benefit?
Is this possible? I seem to be going round in circles.
1st child born in 2010
Thank-You

I believe the simple answer is no.

However you don't give any information as to why Child Benefits aren't being paid and there are possibilities depending on your particular circumstances.
If Child Benefit was being claimed by one parent but it is actually the other that needs the credits, then it is possible for the credits associated with the Benefit to be retrospectively transferred. 
If Child Benefit has not been claimed because the parent is over the £60k High Income threshold, then I believe there is an option to simply claim the credits without the money, but I don't know if this can be backdated. 

Note that NI credits associated with Child Benefit are only given until the child reaches the age of twelve, so in this particular case (unless there are also younger children), the credits will be about to stop anyhow. 

Thank-You.  I have been a stay-at-home mum since my 1st child was born in 2012, have since had 2 more children.
My husband was earning over the £60K, and at the time, I thought that the Child Benefit did not apply to us, so did not claim.
I later learnt with my 3rd child that to obtain NIs credits, I would need to claim for Child Benefit and opt in to not receive it.
I now have 5 years missing on my NI record, and was wondering if there was any chance I could claim credits for those years.

MariaCo

MX5huggy said:

You have a child but you (or the other parent) did not claim child benefit? 

Yes, correct.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

MariaCo said:

p00hsticks said:

MariaCo said:

Hi, 
Does anyone know if and how you can claim National Insurance Credits for Past Years with No Child Benefit?
Is this possible? I seem to be going round in circles.
1st child born in 2010
Thank-You

I believe the simple answer is no.

However you don't give any information as to why Child Benefits aren't being paid and there are possibilities depending on your particular circumstances.
If Child Benefit was being claimed by one parent but it is actually the other that needs the credits, then it is possible for the credits associated with the Benefit to be retrospectively transferred. 
If Child Benefit has not been claimed because the parent is over the £60k High Income threshold, then I believe there is an option to simply claim the credits without the money, but I don't know if this can be backdated. 

Note that NI credits associated with Child Benefit are only given until the child reaches the age of twelve, so in this particular case (unless there are also younger children), the credits will be about to stop anyhow. 

Thank-You.  I have been a stay-at-home mum since my 1st child was born in 2010, have since had 2 more children.
My husband was earning over the £60K, and at the time, I thought that the Child Benefit did not apply to us, so did not claim.
I later learnt with my 3rd child that to obtain NIs credits, I would need to claim for Child Benefit and opt in to not receive it.
I now have 5 years missing on my NI record, and was wondering if there was any chance I could claim credits for those years.

The High Income Child Benefit Charge only existed from 2013 so, depending on when the first child was born, are you sure you didn't claim Child Benefit for 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12 and 2012/13 tax years?

MariaCo

Hi, Thank-You.  Yes, I did not start claiming until 2018.

jilltierney

Hi, can I check if you got any further with this? I am in exactly the same situation … 1st child born in 2012, we didn’t claim child benefit because husband earned above threshold so I now have gaps in my NI record. (I’ve now updated my record so am getting credits but am missing 8 years)

On his latest podcast (8 May 2024), Martin said it’s possible to close the gaps for people who didn’t claim because they earned above the threshold. However, just off phone with HMRC and they say it’s not possible.

Any ideas?

xylophone

See

https://community.hmrc.gov.uk/customerforums/ni/7b4cfbd6-9fe7-ed11-913a-00155d978126





Have you checked your state pension forecast?

What exactly is shown at "estimate to 5/4/23 (4)"?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

jilltierney

Thanks! Looks like it’s a known issue and will be possible to claim for missing credits in 2026.

Do you think there will be a limit in the number of years to claim? Am conscious of the deadline (Apr2025) to pay for gaps in NI.

My state pension forecast is £146.41/wk

Thanks

MariaCo

Hi Everyone, I've not got any further than this.
Between calling Pensions, HMRC & Child Benefit,...I've just been going round in circles.

April 2025 is just around the corner and I'm feeling like I have no choice but to pay for the gaps myself,...which is going to cost me thousands!

But not too sure what else to do.

Sorry I couldn't be of further help 😟