National insurance credit transfers

gems_mortgage

Hello, I wonder if you can help me please? I am looking at the possibility of transferring my national insurance credits to my mother who helped look after my children to help top her missing national insurance payments. I have looked at my NI record and it shows I have the credits there as well as a figure I have paid through my employment. What I want to know is how do I find out if the amount I have paid is enough for my NI contributions? I am happy to transfer any credits that are not needed for my contributions to my mum as she did look after the children. It’s currently showing that I have full years and my forecast is at the max currently for pension. Hope I have explained it clearly enough? 

molerat

The problem is the amount you actually pay is not relevant to how many credits you get.  You need to have earned over £123 per week to receive a credit or 52 times that to receive a year.  But they will not transfer out any credits that would leave you short so it is likely best to just go for it and see what comes out, she can simply make up any gaps with class 3.

gems_mortgage

That’s what I was worried about so that’s great if they leave what I need and only transfer the rest. It’s just whilst I was on maternity leave that I may need it. Thank you for the reply, I will get on do the application for that so we can see how many years she will need to pay. Thank you 

p00hsticks

my understanding of how it works is that your mum applies for it, and they will then check what 'spare' NI you have and won't transfer the credits over to her if it leaves you with less than a full year. 

This seems to be confirmed on the gov.uk website where it says (my bold italics) 

When to apply

You must wait until 31 October after the end of the tax year you want to apply for. This is because we need to check the parent or main carer already has a qualifying year for National Insurance purposes.

Apply for Specified Adult Childcare credits - GOV.UK