Carer ’ s Credit
Carer ’ s Credit
Carer ’ s Credit it a way of protecting your State Pension rights if you are looking after someone but are not paying National Insurance contributions through paid work and are unable to claim Carer ’ s Allowance .
You do not get paid any money if you claim Carer ’ s Credit , but you get a National Insurance contribution credit to help protect your record ( which helps to protect your entitlement to a State Pension ).
If you already get Carer ’ s Allowance then you do not need to claim Carer ’ s Credit as your record is already protected .
To claim Carer ’ s Credit you need to be looking after someone for a total of 20 hours or more a week . The person you are looking after must normally be getting one of the following :
• the middle or the higher rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance ( DLA )
• either rate of the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment ( PIP )
• either rate of Attendance Allowance
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• Armed Forces Independence Payment ( AFIP )
However , if the person you are looking after for doesn ’ t get one of these benefits , you may still be able to get Carer ’ s Credit . When you apply , fill in the Care Certificate part of the application form and get a health or social care professional to sign it .
Carer ’ s Credit can also help with breaks in your caring role . You can claim Carer ’ s Credit for any week within 12 weeks before the date you become entitled to Carer ’ s Allowance or following the week you stop being entitled to Carer ’ s Allowance . This is without meeting the 20 hour condition . This means you could have a break in caring for up to 12 weeks without losing your National Insurance contribution credit .
Find out more at carersuk . org / carerscredit
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Looking after someone carersuk . org