AIBU to be hacked off with 2 government departments (Child Benefit and National Insurance) not commnicating? This could affect pensions for thousands of women.

[messiejessie]

I have discovered I am missing NI credits for several years when I was a SAHM with 4 children under 12. I have until 5 April 25 to pay to get these years totalling £4343.30, when really I should get them for free. Child Benefit say because I did not claim for CB , it is too late to retrospectively claim, which would give me free credits towards my pension. The reason I didn't claim is because my husband was in the High Income bracket so I would not want to receive the benefit. When the children were born in the Uk I did initially receive CB but then we moved to a EU country for 3 years, during which time the High Income Charge came in. When we came back it was not made clear that you needed to still be registered with Child Benefit in order to receive the NI pension credit. The communication with the public from HM Revenue is lacking, particularly after the change of rules, when we were told to 'choose not to receive these benefits'. It was not made clear at the time that choosing not to sign up at all would affect one's pension.
This issue of 2 government departments being unable to share information and communicate with each other is frustrating will be affecting the pensions of thousands of women or bullying them into paying up, which is clearly unfair. During this time my husband made full NI payments.
Martin Lewis did an expose of this which forced the government to extend the deadline last year because no-one could get though on the phone. Martin Lewis said that women doing childcare for under 12s are entitled to free credits but it seems Child Benefit are blocking this for those who had not applied. Jeremy Hunt said that women should not be unfairly penalised, but it seems the rules have not changed. Has anyone had any joy with these departments? I have spent hours on the phone on hold and spoken to each department, both of which tell me to call the other. I would welcome hearing from others affected. It is an issue of national importance for women and the deadline to sort these credits out is 5 April 25.

It was really clear during the change in systems that you needed to claim in order to be eligible for NI.

I'm sorry that the OP misunderstood this, but I don't believe it's the fault of the government on this occasion.

The form had a big box at the bottom to say "please don't actually pay me". It was also almost impossible to opt out once you were in, I had to have another baby to extract myself!

Sorry OP I think it was fairly well publicised at the time as well.

The credits are for claiming CB. They always have been. So why would you expect to get them when you didn't get CB?

It was abundantly clear I'm afraid.

Yes, and that’s one I took as well. But I’ve been horrified to read posts on threads about this issue that it’s not worth the bother etc.Your thread explains why every mother should claim it. I couldn’t care less that my DH has to fill in a tax form each year. It’s not a huge issue. Tough - I’m entitled to CB and I claim it and as a result I have full NI credits.

I was not aware at the time there was a sort of halfway house arrangement where you could register but not receive the money. I suspect there are many women who just stopped receiving it and will have a lower state pension entitlement as a result.

Did you never register the younger dc ? You could have opted out of receive payments rather than repay by tax return.

I have to agree I’m afraid with other posters that it has been pretty well publicised. I claimed the first year my DC was born, when I was on mat leave and DH was just under the threshold. Then when I went back to work and was over the threshold, I changed it to stop receiving the payments. Now I still get the credits, even though I don’t actually need them, and since DH has been a SAHD I transfer them to him.

Sorry, OP, but I think it was very clear. It's a shame that you didn't DH your research properly when you moved back to the UK, but the onus was on you to do that really - you were obviously aware that the rules around CB had changed, given that you didn't claim. I'm not sure why it didn't occur to you to check re the NI issue.

Are you back at work now? You may find that you are on track to have enough "qualifying years" for the full state pension in any case.

Also, the information is literally available in the first section on child benefit on the official gov.uk site. We don't qualify and don't need the NI credits but still kept the registration open so we don't have to faff with applying for NI numbers for the kids.

I registered for CB, but didn't receive it and got NI contributions.
Unless your missing years are over 6 years ago the deadline of April 2025 doesn't apply. You can always fill gaps up to 6 tax years backwards.its only if they pre date that.
Do you need those years? Have you worked before, since or been self employed?
I do agree that getting through the the departments is a nightmare. So in that regard you have my sympathy
But if you will get to 35 years with pre dc contributions and your remaining working life, you don't need to fill those gaps necessarily.

It's rubbish this has happened to you, but I also think it was made clear enough to me that I had to apply for it even though we weren't eligible

You must be very close to retirement to have to pay it by April. You need 35 years I think it is if contributions, can you not make the missing years up by working now? I had 4 years missing for Uni and unemployment in the 90s but I have paid all my dues now and have 15 years till retirement.

The rules are very clear and always have been.

Always claim child benefit, and then pay it back if necessary, because if you or your partner are made redundant during the year, and then take a few months to find a new role, you can't claim it retrospectively.

I was in a similar position and my partner successfully claimed 10 years of NI using this form. This was agreed about 2 years ago. But, I had started claiming CB and stopped when the income rule came in, so the credits were on my record to be transferred. Still, worth trying if you haven’t.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-credits-for-parents-and-carers-cf411a

I had option to pay years back to 2017 to make up to full entitlement.I actually only need five and have paid three as may return to work and there is no discount on recent years. I used a tax/pension refund towards it. If there are no part years (where you worked and paid ni but not enough to make a full year) there is no rush to do so by April.

I was living outside the Uk at the time of the changes (for 3.5 years) and received this leaflet about the High Income Child Benefit Charge which made no mention of NI contributions linked to Child Benefit. The Government leaflet offered continuing and then paying a charge at the end of the year or stopping the payments completely. I opted to stop the payments but was not told in wirtingor over the phone about the link to NI contributions. .

That's right. On the application form there's a box to tick/untick for you to tell them you don't actually want to receive the CB, but just want to register your entitlement for the credits.

I'm just impressed you can still find a letter you must have received nearly 15 years ago - that's some excellent filing!!

It’s always been clear. It’s on you if you missed it OP. You need to take responsibility and stop blaming others.

That's very interesting. As I was out of the country for three years I missed whatever communication there was. The one I did get, which I still have, is a leaflet from HMRC I have posted, pending approval, giving 2 options for High Income Child Benefit - either carry on receiving it and pay it back in tax, or "choose not to receive benefits" it does not make any reference to staying on the books for NI credits. When we moved back to the UK I did not apply for child benefit as I believed I was not eligible.
I am not asking for child benefit money, just that they can give me the credits I am due as I was looking after 4 children under 12 at the time, and my husband was also paying NI in the UK.

This is very helpful thank you. My issue which is probably more unique is that we moved to work in the EU which is why I was not still on the books as it were.

This is like the WASPI thread all over again, it was very well publicised. You could have claimed credits only or your husband could have paid the money back.

Are you working now? If so and depending on you age, you can probably still plug the gaps before retirement. If not, consider paying the extra... it's worth doing as will mean full state pension for the rest of your life (although obviously none of us can actually predict how long we'll live for, to ensure paying the extra is worth it!).

But “choose not to receive payment” doesn’t mean don’t register, it means register but ask not to receive payments. That misunderstanding is on you.

And you being out the country is not an excuse, it means the onus is on you to get this right, it’s hardly government’s responsibility to catch you up on what you’ve missed!

So how else did you think you were getting NI contributions towards your pension if not via child benefit?

How can you expect to get the ‘free’ credits if you’re not even registered? This one’s on you I’m afraid OP.