Guide discussion: Grandparents childcare credit

molerat

21-22 should be backdated as the claim was already in.  22-23 is a question mark as you cannot claim until after your pension start date so may be considered from the date of claim as in VCs post retirement.  But who knows what will actually happen

QrizB

Cevets said:

Absolutely unbelievable. How can any Government department get into this situation?

Inadequate funding leading to understaffing, compounded when media personalities encourage the public to contact the department and see if they're owed anything.

Cevets

Cevets said:

My wife submitted her Claim Form in March 2023. Since then we have heard nothing. Finally managed to get through on the Helpline yesterday. The advisor confirmed, after speaking to the security team, that her Form had been received and was currently in the queue for processing. Based on the current backlog, the forecast date for determining whether the claim would be accepted was 13 May 2024 ????

Absolutely unbelievable. How can any Government department get into this situation?

Update - My wife received confirmation a few days ago that her her claim had been processed and approved. She was given 11 years credits from 2011 - 2022 which increased her Pension Forecast by £43 per week to a few pounds short of the current full amount of £203.85.
A very pleasant surprise after the original telephone forecast of having to wait until May 2024 for a decision.

fionnstar

Hi I am a 69 year old granny who took my state pension in 2022. This was before the unplanned arrival of my grandson, now aged 7 months. I look after him 3 days a week while his mum is at college. She is only 18 so cannot afford to pay childcare costs. However because I look after him on those days, I cannot work at my seasonal job, which will lose me >£3000 this year (not to mention the cost of taking him to baby groups). I also do not qualify for specified adult childcare credit. 
It seems very unfair that grandparents are penalised as soon as they take their state pensions. I had to take mine as my previous jobs were very poor at pension provision and I also spent many years raising my children (so not working). My husband still works part time and will have a reasonable pension. The baby and his mum also live with us which incurs extra utility costs.
Any advice greatly appreciated. 
Thank you.

molerat

Grandparent credits transfer is to compensate someone who could otherwise be gaining credits by working and allowing the parent to work and get NI credits through that avenue.  If she is not working and earning NI in her own right then there are no credits to transfer to you anyway.  Has your daughter checked she is receiving any benefits she is entitled to ?

shaz-deco

I am struggling with understanding what is meant by "Check you have NI credits to transfer".

I returned to work when my son was 6 months old in 2010. My mother-in-law provided childcare so I could do so and did not get a part-time job as a result. She started claiming pension last year but is not at the full rate owing to so many missing years. I claimed child benefit for part of this time but cancelled it (remaining registered) in 2019 because I was practically paying the whole lot back and getting into a right mess. I have no missing years of NI and 8 more to go for full entitlement so will be there before I am 50 (happy days).

I cannot see anything on my record that says if I have credits available to transfer to my mother-in-law to make the grandparents childcare credit claim. How do I confirm this (or does being CB registered and having full year contributions between 2011 and 2021 when my son turned 12 mean there are credits)?

molerat

Your record will show NI credits as well as £ contributions if you were getting both.

This is what you should see (posted on another thread)

2022 to 2023
Full year
View 2022 to 2023 Details

You have contributions from
Paid employment: £x
National Insurance credits: 52 weeks
These may have been added to your record if you were ill/disabled, unemployed, caring for someone full-time or on jury service.

The only problem could be if you were a low earner above the LEL and being credited via that route then you would not see any mention of the paid employment but you could still have a full year from both methods.

shaz-deco

Thank you, just to check my understanding here. If I didn't receive credits (I was above earnings threshold) and only see payments through employment, it means I can make the application for my mother in law as credits won't have been used by me?

molerat

If your record is showing the credits from child benefit as in the above then yes.   I believe HMRC may stop or limit the transfer if it would leave you without a full year.

Clarkie0604

If the Parent or main carer is working, will this affect their child benefit allowance in any way please?