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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Have you all been claiming child benefit for the NI credits?

31 replies

Hazelwood1 · 17/08/2025 21:05

I simply thought it was financial so never claimed it as my husband is a relatively high earner. Am I ridiculously out of touch or were others confused that you had to apply for child benefit in order to get NI credits even though you may not be eligible for any actual money? Am I alone in thinking that they could word it differently?

So I wrote to my MP about it... as this year the government said we could backdate our pension contributions, but my only missing years were when I had young kids. I was wary of paying for those years as I was actually eligible for NI credits as my kids were under 12. ANYWAY my MP wrote back and the good news is that from April 2026 they will apparently let people who didn't claim child benefit, claim their NI credits retrospectively. But the letter the MP forwarded from the DWP was extremely patronising about my apparently inability to have worked it out. It said they promote it on social media and through Health and Social Care's Start 4 Life emails as well as pregnancy and parenting organisations they partner with... AIBU and frankly clueless for not having made the link that benefit = NI credits?

OP posts:
Ballardz · 17/08/2025 21:07

There have been publicity campaigns about it now and then. Applied both times for both my children. Admittedly I’m not sure if I needed to as I was on maternity leave and then returned to work but figured it would be good to cover any potential gaps.

Zanatdy · 17/08/2025 21:08

I feel that it’s been quite well known for some time now, though clearly it’s still news to some people.

katmarie · 17/08/2025 21:09

I knew about this, my kids are 7 and 5 now, I think i learned about it on here though.

lanthanum · 17/08/2025 21:09

I think it's quite a common mistake. I think it may always have been possible to claim the credits separately, but I understood that would be much more difficult to do, so it seemed simpler to claim it and repay. Plus we discovered that with salary sacrifice into pension, we did get to keep some of it, at least to start with.

Coffeeandtats · 17/08/2025 21:12

I had no idea until I read your thread!
I got maternity pay and then went back to work the first time, and the second time I didn’t go back to work, but did end up claiming carers allowance (ds 2 is severely disabled) so I do know that I got my NI credits via that.

I’m a former accountant and I’ll be honest even I think it all needs to be more explicit to people and put in simpler terms

MillingAround · 17/08/2025 21:21

Yes, there was a leaflet I was given at some point when I had my first child that explained it. Due to earnings, we haven’t been entitled to child benefit for a while but I still claimed to get the NI credits. There are still some people that aren’t aware so it clearly needs for awareness.

Another76543 · 17/08/2025 21:24

It was always very clear in all the information I saw (children are teens now so I can’t comment on more recent information).

PiggieWig · 17/08/2025 21:25

I knew about it when my kids were small back in the 00s - I had a couple of gaps between jobs but was able to claim the NI because I claimed CB. From (hazy) memory though, I think I found out through CB.

LostMySocks · 17/08/2025 21:27

I didn't know this for DS1. Fortunately I had enhanced maternity pay so only lost 6months.
Stuck in a claim and ticked no payment as soon as I realised.
It's also important as it ensures that the children automatically get an NI number.

Spirallingdownwards · 17/08/2025 21:29

Yes I read the information and didn't take the cash but had the NI credits for the time I was aa SAHM as DH earned over the limit where he would be taxed on it if I took the cash.

Drfosters · 17/08/2025 21:37

It is interesting that people don’t know they have to do this. I got all the info when I had my children and duels claimed but didn’t take the money.

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 17/08/2025 21:41

Yes, there was a leaflet in the Bounty pack when I had DD that explained it.

It also gets a NI number generated for your child (usually, that is. For some reason I didn't get sent one at 16 despite DM claiming CB for me, and it was a right faff to sort out)

Lowandfar · 17/08/2025 23:22

Yes, I've read about it in various places so I claimed for credits. I don't even need them technically now as I get Carer's Allowance, but once it was set up it was easy to just let the child benefit credits claim run, and I never know if there could be an issue with Carer's so it's a belt and braces approach.

Elizabethseymour · 18/08/2025 00:10

I’m always amazed that parents don’t know child benefit protects NI until 12, especially as it use to help until the child was 16!
If you do claim and don’t take the money, make sure your address is kept updated.
Martin Lewis has been talking about this for years!

FortheloveofCheesus · 18/08/2025 00:13
Paul Scheer No GIF by Dark Web

My children are 8 and 6 and i was told about this about 5 times, by the midwife, by the health visitor etc. I didn't do it because i didn't have any missing years for NI because of how i was paid on maternity leave.

FortheloveofCheesus · 18/08/2025 00:14

I don't know why my post has a gif on it!!

FancyCatSlave · 18/08/2025 00:20

I have always been fully aware, it’s always been explicit in all the information I have seen. But it hasn’t been applicable to me as I have always worked, even when I was a student I earned enough to qualify. I can’t imagine being financially dependent on someone else and not fully understanding the implications-very naive.

ForeverTipsy · 18/08/2025 00:44

I was a SAHM for nearly six years. DH is a higher earner, but I still got child benefit paid into my account (was my only income) and he does a self-assessment tax return and pays it back each year. Means I've had NI credits for those years, so best option for us (I think).

HelpMeGetThrough · 18/08/2025 08:05

When I started having to do tax returns and paying a portion and then all of it back, we just claimed it, but didn’t take the money. Stopped the pain in the arse self assessment effort each year.

EvangelicalAboutButteredToast · 18/08/2025 08:07

I’d this to do with national pension contributions? If so I don’t believe the national pension will even exist when I’m old enough to receive it so I’m just not hurting my head over it.

OneForTheRoadThen · 18/08/2025 08:23

Yes I knew about it. You can tick a box when applying to receive the NI credits but not the child benefit ( if you wouldn’t qualify for the payment) and then you don’t need to faff around paying it back each year.

Bjorkdidit · 18/08/2025 08:37

Did you never wonder what NI was for in the first place? You must have been paying it before you became a SAHM.

Before you start paying for lost NI credits, you need to check your record because you need 35 years of credits from about 50 years of opportunity - I think when you're 16+ you start gaining credits even if you're not earning. Then presumably you started working at some point and gained credits due to this. Plus going forward you should get it due to earning again? So it could be that you don't need to buy any more. But if you do, you might have part years that don't cost as much to top up.

Read the information on MSE as it's all easily explained - if you feel you need to be more educated about this sort of thing, you could do a lot worse than read their weekly email, loads of things like this get covered.

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 18/08/2025 08:37

Yes!!

We stopped claiming CB about 12 years ago due to payrises on both our behalfs.

Kept my claim in for the NI contributions even though in have always worked.

TheAmusedQuail · 18/08/2025 08:39

Similar situation for me (predivorce). I'm not sure how retrospective the ability to reclaim these missed NI years will be, because I could get back a couple of years too, if the backdating is limitless.

rainbowunicorn · 18/08/2025 09:37

Bjorkdidit · 18/08/2025 08:37

Did you never wonder what NI was for in the first place? You must have been paying it before you became a SAHM.

Before you start paying for lost NI credits, you need to check your record because you need 35 years of credits from about 50 years of opportunity - I think when you're 16+ you start gaining credits even if you're not earning. Then presumably you started working at some point and gained credits due to this. Plus going forward you should get it due to earning again? So it could be that you don't need to buy any more. But if you do, you might have part years that don't cost as much to top up.

Read the information on MSE as it's all easily explained - if you feel you need to be more educated about this sort of thing, you could do a lot worse than read their weekly email, loads of things like this get covered.

Unless OP is 25 or under she may need more than 35 years of credits. People with a NI record prior to 2016 can need anywhere between 29 and 49 years of credits depending on their individual circumstances.