I've never applied for child benefit and not sure if I should bother now?

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I have 2 DC born in 2016 and 2018. DP has always earned over the threshold for paying back child benefit so I didn't ever apply. I think it can count towards your state pension contributions so I probably should have but it seemed like a faff for something that would be paid back anyway.

Does anyone know whether I should do it now or is too late to get the credits on my state pension (I was paying NI throughout my maternity leave so surely I accrued them anyway?)

Are there any other benefits of doing it? I saw something about getting a NI number when they are 16 but that's 12 years away...

Sorry if I sound clueless, I've just never given it a massive amount of thought until recently.

Are you working? If so then you will be getting your NI credits that way. However, I think if you don’t apply you children will have trouble getting their NI number when they are 16. You can apply so it’s in the system but ask for it not to be paid to you so then no need to pay anything back. If you’re a SAHM then you should definitely apply, even if you don’t actually get it paid out, so you get the NI credits towards your state pension.

Definitely apply. My husband is way over the threshold, as was I when I had my 4th child and decided to be a SAHM for a while. You get NI credits until your youngest is 12. Although I'm now working again, its for a charity and very PT so I'm not over the NI threshold. I have almost 30 years of contributions now though, so will be easier to top up any gaps to get a full state pension (such as it is!).

The Child Benefit gives you pension credits on your record. It's not about getting money now, but about ensuring you are eligible for the full state pension when you get to that age. I suggest you apply, and although they won't pay you anything, you will be protecting your future pension. I'm surprised you didn't know this.

Thanks for the reply!

Yes I'm working and pay tax and NI so I think my state pension should hopefully be ok as a result.

I didn't realise you could apply but ask for it not to be paid. That would be a lot more straightforward than getting it paid and then having it clawed back via DP's tax return.

If you look on www.gov.uk and put in your National Insurance number you can see exactly how much you have paid in per year

You may need to register for the Government gateway

I believe you need 35 years contributions to claim a full state pension

If you don't claim the money, you can still claim the NI contributions

Why would you not claim it ?

Don't rely on another person eg husband or parner, always yourself

Always protect yourself

@Changethetoner

The Child Benefit gives you pension credits on your record. It's not about getting money now, but about ensuring you are eligible for the full state pension when you get to that age. I suggest you apply, and although they won't pay you anything, you will be protecting your future pension. I'm surprised you didn't know this.

But if she works and pays tax then she’ll be earning pension credits years anyway. I’m surprised you don’t realise that many women do actually earn the money to fund their state pensions.

Please apply. For children's NI number etc if nothing else.
Seriously, why would you NOT?

I recently applied for my child born in 2015 & annoyingly it’s not that simple to backdate - I think it will be possible but there are some more forms first. So I would recommend doing it ASAP so you can start getting the NI credits. For those asking why wouldn’t you do this, in my case I thought there was no point as I wasn’t claiming the money, but with hindsight I should have done it at birth.

IIRC DSis applied for CB when her DH wage fell below the threshold. She was actually a good couple of years doing so and got a lovely day cheque of backdated payments. So do it for that AND the NI number.

If you don't pay ni through work you should apply (the amount will be clawed back through his tax code) it counts towards your state pension

Thanks for all the input, I appreciate it.

I've just created a government gateway account to check my NI contributions and I have 15 full years, and have full years even when I was on maternity leave. I thought that would be the case as I earn a high salary and had a generous ML package but I am feeling reassured that I haven't missed any years.

I will apply now so that the children are in the system, and I suppose you never know what's round the corner. I will request that it is not paid though so we don't have to pay it back.

I never bothered applying. I got my NI as I was paid through mat leave. The NI number can be sorted in a decade when it is needed.

I've never applied for it either as knew DH earned above threshold - didn't realise it could affect us in other ways!!

You claim but you opt out of the payments, it’s important you do this to insure your pension is protected.

My partner is over the threshold and I did exactly this. You register and then tick the box that says not to be paid.

But if she works and pays tax then she’ll be earning pension credits years anyway. I’m surprised you don’t realise that many women do actually earn the money to fund their state pensions.

True. But if she loses her job then having child benefit means you carry on getting the contributions paid. Dh was made unexpectedly redundant in 2011. Technically he should have got job seekers allowance but we were a bit in shock (no warning whatsoever - went for his usual 10am Monday meeting with his boss and by 10:45am he had been escorted off the premises) and then we were chasing up redundancy payment via solicitors and we figured we wouldn’t get anything anyway as I was a high earner. But what it meant was he ended up with a gap. Which didn’t matter as it was only small but if he had been made redundant again it might have been a problem if we had needed benefits.

Anyway... when ds (our second child) was born we registered him for child benefit in his name. (Dd is in my name.) So now we are both covered.... just in case.

You could end up really regret this later, but if you’re not bothered with the faff then don’t worry

For school applications you had to submit a child benefit letter with your application to the council (even if the benefit is not claimed) - I suppose to prove the child’s address.