Home Responsibilities Protection

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Eligibility

You may still be able to apply for Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP), for full tax years (6 April to 5 April) between 1978 and 2010, if any of the following were true:

  • you were claiming Child Benefit for a child under 16
  • you were caring for a child with your partner who claimed Child Benefit instead of you
  • you were getting Income Support because you were caring for someone who was sick or disabled
  • you were caring for a sick or disabled person who was claiming certain benefits

You can also apply if, for a full tax year between 2003 and 2010, you were either:

  • a foster carer
  • caring for a friend or family member’s child (‘kinship carer’) in Scotland

National Insurance credits for parents and carers replaced HRP from 6 April 2010.

Who qualified automatically for HRP

Most people got HRP automatically if they were:

  • getting Child Benefit in their name for a child under the age of 16 and they had given the Child Benefit Office their National Insurance number
  • getting Income Support and they did not need to register for work because they were caring for someone who was sick or disabled

If your partner claimed Child Benefit instead of you

You may be able to transfer HRP from a partner you lived with if they claimed Child Benefit while you both cared for a child under 16 and they do not need the HRP.

They can transfer the HRP to you for any ‘qualifying years’ they have on their National Insurance record between April 1978 and April 2010. This will be converted into National Insurance credits.

If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2008, you cannot transfer HRP.

If you were caring for a sick or disabled person

You can only claim HRP for the years you spent caring for someone with a long-term illness or disability between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2002.

You must have spent at least 35 hours a week caring for them and they must have been getting one of the following benefits:

The benefit must have been paid for 48 weeks of each tax year on or after 6 April 1988 or every week of each tax year before 6 April 1988.

You can still apply if you’re over State Pension age. You will not usually be paid any increase in State Pension that may have been due for previous years.

If you were getting Carer’s Allowance

You do not need to apply for HRP if you were getting Carer’s Allowance. You’ll automatically get National Insurance credits and would not usually have needed HRP.

If you were a foster carer or caring for a friend or family member’s child

You have to apply for HRP if, for a full tax year between 2003 and 2010, you were either:

  • a foster carer
  • caring for a friend or family member’s child (‘kinship carer’) in Scotland

All of the following must also be true:

  • you were not getting Child Benefit
  • you were not in paid work
  • you did not earn enough in a tax year for it to count towards the State Pension

Married women or widows

You cannot get HRP for any complete tax year if you were a married woman or a widow and:

  • you had chosen to pay reduced rate Class 1 National Insurance contributions as an employee (commonly known as the small stamp)
  • you had chosen not to pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions when self-employed

Check if you’re eligible

You can use the Home Responsibilities Protection eligibility checker to see if you’re eligible.

Check now

View a printable version of the whole guide

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