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Home Responsibilities Protection
Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) is not a benefit but a scheme which helps protect your State Pension. HRP can help if you're not paying National Insurance contributions because you don't work, or your earnings are low because you're caring for a child, or a sick or disabled person.
Who is eligible
Depending on your circumstances you may either qualify automatically for HRP or you may have to apply.
Qualifying automatically for Home Responsibilities Protection
You should get Home Responsibilities Protection automatically if you're getting either:
- Child Benefit in your name for a child under the age of 16 and you have given the Child Benefit Office your National Insurance number
- Income Support and you don't need to register for work because you're caring for someone who's sick or disabled
Applying for Home Responsibilities Protection
You should apply for Home Responsibilities Protection if you are either:
- regularly spending at least 35 hours a week looking after someone getting Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance at the middle or highest rate for personal care, or Constant Attendance Allowance
or
- a registered foster carer throughout a full tax year and are not getting Child Benefit and are not in paid work, or do not earn enough in a tax year for it to count towards the basic State Pension
How it works
When working out your basic State Pension, the number of years you get Home Responsibilities Protection is taken away from the number of qualifying years needed to calculate your pension.
But for a full basic State Pension, Home Responsibilities Protection can't reduce the number of qualifying years below 20.
You also build up your additional State Pension if you qualify for Home Responsibilities Protection because you either:
- get Child Benefit for a child under the age of six
- are looking after a sick or disabled person (including a child over the age of six)
Changes from April 2010 for parents and carers
Home Responsibilities Protection is being replaced for people reaching State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010.
From 6 April 2010, parents and carers will be able to build up qualifying years through new weekly credits for the basic State Pension and additional State Pension. If you are a parent or carer, you will get a credit for each week in which you:
- are getting Child Benefit for children aged under 12
- are an approved foster carer
- are caring for at least 20 hours a week for people who are getting Attendance Allowance, the middle-rate or highest-rate care component of Disability Living Allowance, or Constant Attendance Allowance, or the need for care has been certified
Some of the detail around these changes is subject to further parliamentary approval.
There will be no limit to the credits awarded to parents and carers after April 2010, as long as you meet the qualifying rules.
If you reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010, complete tax years of Home Responsibilities Protection you have already built up before 2010 will be converted into qualifying years up to a maximum of 22 years.These qualifying years will also count towards bereavement benefits.
Who isn't eligible
In the following circumstances you will not usually be eligible for HRP.
Carer's Allowance
If you get Carer's Allowance you'll automatically get National Insurance credits and will not usually need Home Responsibilities Protection.
Married women or widows
If you're a married woman or a widow, you can't get Home Responsibilities Protection for any complete tax year if you have chosen either:
- to pay reduced rate Class 1 National Insurance contributions as an employee (commonly known as the small stamp)
- not to pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions when self-employed
How to claim
To claim Home Responsibilities Protection, you need to contact your local Jobcentre Plus office to get leaflet: 'How to protect your State Pension if you are looking after someone at home', and claim form CF411.
Download a form to print off and complete
Or you can download the claim form CF411 from the HM Revenue & Customs website.
Foster carers
When you fill in form CF411, if you're a foster carer you need to give a letter from your local authority or the agency you work for that confirms you have been an approved foster carer throughout the full tax year.
When to claim
If you're claiming Home Responsibilities Protection for years you've spent caring for someone with a long-term illness or disability between April 1978 and April 2002, you can claim at any time up to State Pension age.
For the tax years 2002-2003 onwards, you must claim Home Responsibilities Protection within three years of the end of any tax year you spent caring for someone with a long-term illness or disability. For example, if you were caring for someone with a long-term illness or disability throughout the 2004-2005 tax year, you must claim Home Responsibilities Protection before 5 April 2008.
What to do if your circumstances change
You must tell The Pension Service if:
- you go into hospital or someone you claim benefit for goes into hospital
- you go to live abroad
- if you or the person you care for goes into a residential care or nursing home
What else you need to know
Home Responsibilities Protection also helps protect bereavement benefits for your husband or wife or civil partner.
