NIM41310 - Home Responsibilities Protection: what was HRP and who qualified for it: what HRP did

HRP is available for complete tax years from 6 April 1978 to 5 April 2010. From 6 April 2010, National Insurance credits for parents and carers replaced HRP. For information on these credits, see NIM41250 onwards.

HRP is provided for those precluded from regular employment because they were caring for a child or a sick or disabled person and if the claimant received certain benefits, such as Child Benefit for a child under age 16 or the person for whom they cared received certain disability benefits.

It reduces the number of qualifying years needed for a full State Pension but it cannot reduce them to fewer than half the requisite number of years in the claimant’s working life. This can only be determined when the person reaches State Pension age.

For tax years from 6 April 2002 to 5 April 2010, HRP also counts towards Additional State Pension entitlement for people getting Child Benefit for a child under age 6 or caring for a disabled person. For further information, see NIM41415.

Up until 5 April 2017 HRP also protected their spouse’s or civil partner’s entitlement to bereavement benefits.

Married women and widows with a reduced rate election are not usually entitled to HRP unless they meet certain conditions. For further information, see NIM41325.

HRP is not a National Insurance credit so does not appear as “earnings” on the person’s National Insurance record. Instead, complete tax years of HRP are recorded separately on the person’s National Insurance record whether they are needed for benefit purposes or not. See NIM41405.

HMRC make decisions on HRP entitlement on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions see NIM41320.