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State Pension

The State Pension is made up of two parts: a flat-rate basic pension and an earnings-related additional pension, also called the State Second Pension.

Your entitlement to State Pension is based on the number of 'qualifying years', which are tax years in which you have paid, are treated as having paid or are credited with National Insurance Contributions (NICs).

A person who has 30 qualifying years will be entitled to a full basic State Pension. Just one qualifying year, achieved through paid or credited NICs, will give entitlement to the basic State Pension worth 1/30th of the full basic State Pension.

• Understanding the basic State Pension (pensions and retirement planning section)

Additional State Pension 

If you do not earn enough to pay NICs or you are self-employed, you can still build up an entitlement to additional State Pension, also called State Second Pension, if:

• you qualified for Home Responsibilities Protection before April 2010
• you are entitled to Carer's Credit
• you are a foster carer
• you are entitled to Carer's Allowance, even if you do not receive it because you get another benefit at the same or a higher rate
• you get Child Benefit for a child under the age of 12

• Understanding the additional State Pension (pensions and retirement planning section)

Carer's Allowance and National Insurance contributions

For each week you receive Carer's Allowance you will normally get a NICs credited to your National Insurance record, unless you are a woman who has chosen to pay reduced rate NICs.

You will also normally be credited with an NICs for any week you are entitled to Carer's Allowance but it is not paid because you are also getting Widow's Benefit or Bereavement Benefits at the same or a higher weekly rate.

Home Responsibilities Protection

From 6 April 1978 to 5 April 2010, Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) could protect your right to State Pension if you were caring for someone and did not have enough NICs or credits in a particular year.

You should have got HRP automatically if throughout a complete tax year you either:

• got Income Support and you were caring full time for someone who was sick or disabled
• got Child Benefit for a child under 16

If you were looking after someone who was sick and disabled and you did not get Income Support or Child Benefit, you had to apply for each tax year in which you needed HRP.

HRP has been replaced by credits for people reaching State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010.

If you reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010, complete tax years of HRP you built up before 2010 have been converted into qualifying years up to a maximum of 22 years.

These qualifying years will also count towards bereavement benefits.

• Home Responsibilities Protection (general money, tax and benefits section)

Carer's Credit

Carer’s Credit has been introduced from 6 April 2010. It is a National Insurance credit which helps carers build up qualifying years for the basic State Pension and additional State Pension.

To qualify for Carer’s Credit you must care for one or more disabled people for a total of 20 hours or more per week. Each person you care for must receive:

• Disability Living Allowance care component at the middle or highest rate; or
• Attendance Allowance at any rate; or
• Constant Attendance Allowance at any rate

Find out more about Carer's Credit including who is eligible and who to contact by downloading the application pack below.

Where a person being cared for does not receive an appropriate qualifying benefit, Carer’s Credit can still be awarded if you supply a Care Certificate. This will need to be signed by a health or social care professional (HSCP).

Care Certificate

If the person being cared for does not receive one of these benefits, you must provide a Care Certificate signed by a health or social care professional (HSCP). A Care Certificate is supplied with each application pack.

The application pack contains:

• The form
• Detailed notes on who is eligible and what you need to do
• A Care Certificate

If you have any questions about Carer’s Credit, contact the Carer’s Allowance Unit:

Telephone: 0845 608 4321
Textphone: 0845 604 5312

• Download the Carer's Credit application pack (PDF, 218K)

• Help with PDF files

Receiving Carer's Allowance and State Pension

If you are receiving Carer's Allowance and you start receiving State Pension at a higher rate than Carer's Allowance, you may stop receiving Carer's Allowance but continue to have an 'underlying entitlement' to it. For more about the effect of an underlying entitlement, see 'Carer's Allowance - effect on other benefits and entitlements'.

• Carer's Allowance - effect on other benefits and entitlements

Pension Credit

Pension Credit is an entitlement for people who have reached the qualifying age and are living in Great Britain. It could top up your weekly income to a guaranteed minimum level. If you are aged 65 or over and have saved towards your retirement you could receive extra money on top of this.

You may also get extra money if you or your partner - if you have one - have caring responsibilities, are severely disabled or have housing costs, like a mortgage for example.

The age from which you can get Pension Credit – the qualifying age – is gradually increasing from 60 to 65 between April 2010 and 2020. To find out the age when you may be able to apply for Pension Credit, you can use the State Pension age calculator.

The State Pension age for both men and women will rise in the future. The government is reviewing the current timetable for increasing the State Pension age from 65 to 66. No decision has yet been made as to how the timetable will change. Any change will require the approval of Parliament. Changes to the State Pension age are likely to affect the Pension Credit qualifying age.

• Understanding Pension Credit (pensions and retirement planning section)

• State Pension age calculator Opens new window