Register for Child Benefit even if not receiving payment

*Please note the information in this article may be out of date

Registering for Child Benefit, even if you don't receive payments, has N.I. implications. If you don't you may have to buy back years to qualify for your pension.

Wed, 10 Apr 2013

Stay-at-home parents still receive their National Insurance credits as long as they have registered for Child Benefit. Being registered, even if you have chosen not to receive payments as your spouse is over the threshold, has important National Insurance implications.

Entitlement to Child Benefit:

1. can help you qualify for National Insurance credits that can protect your entitlement to State Pension
2. can help protect your entitlement to other benefits such as Guardian's Allowance
3. ensures your child is automatically issued with a National Insurance number before their 16th birthday

If you decide not to receive Child Benefit payments, you still need to register, but tick the box on the form to say you do not want to receive payments. Otherwise you will have to buy back the National Insurance paying years you missed, while caring for your children, in order to qualify for your State Pension.

You can work out how much Child Benefit you will loose by using our new Child Benefit Loss Calculator.

For tips on how to reduce the amount of Child Benefit you will lose, see our previous article.