Specified Adult Childcare credits application

fivediceallthrees

Hi,

I'm attempting to apply for backdated SAC credits for my mom, who looked after my child regularly from the age of 11mths to 4.5yrs, ie at least one full day a week and also mornings/afternoons around part-time nursery, until he started primary school. This was about ten years ago so I don't have specific dates to hand. She's now on less than full pension and is missing credits for the same years she was providing childcare for me (and later on for my sister's children too). I didn't even realise SAC was an option at the time which is why I'm applying for it all these years later. But I'm confused about the form - it asks for the period that she provided the childcare but gives an option to add another period, so my question is, how specific do I need to be about the dates? Can I just put, for example, Jan 2014 to August 2017, given that she provided regular childcare during that time (including public holidays, as husband and I were in an industry that required working weekends, bank holidays, and either christmas or new year) or do I need to put an entry for each indivdual day?? That would obviously be pretty difficuly ten years on as it would take a fair bit of detective work! 
Thanks

kaMelo

I'm assuming you're filling out the form CA9176 on behalf of your mother as it's her who needs to claim SAC. With regards to the dates, as long as the care was provided continuously, even one day a week every week is continuously,  I think it would be okay to use the start date when they were 11 months old, and end date when they went to primary school.

Just so you're aware, HMRC will check and only transfer the child benefit credits for years when you qualified for a full year towards your state pension through earnings. Have you checked your NI record on Government Gateway for the years in question to see whether you qualify?

fivediceallthrees

Yes, I'm filling in the form on her behalf, and our child benefit is actually in my husband's name (which we didn't realise until we started this process!) but we've both checked our NI records and they're already full through our earnings. Thanks for your advice - I'll put in the dates as one continuous block, and I guess they can always get in touch with my mum if they need more info!

kaMelo

fivediceallthrees said:

Yes, I'm filling in the form on her behalf, and our child benefit is actually in my husband's name (which we didn't realise until we started this process!) but we've both checked our NI records and they're already full through our earnings. Thanks for your advice - I'll put in the dates as one continuous block, and I guess they can always get in touch with my mum if they need more info!.

It will therefore be your husband who is named on the form as child benefit recipient and countersigns it to say care was provided. 
Good to know you've already checked you qualify through earnings.