The Basic State Pension (BSP) is based
on the number of qualifying years you have on your National Insurance
contribution record. Those qualifying years are made up
of years you may have paid NI contributions through employment and
been credited with having paid NI contributions through certain
State Benefits.
The following sections describe some of the National Insurance
credits available.
Eligibility
The following are circumstances where you may be credited
with having paid NI contributions:
- You are incapable of work because of illness or
disability.
- You are receiving Carer's Allowance.
- You are getting Working Tax Credit.
- You are getting Statutory Maternity Pay
- You are getting Statutory Adoption Pay.
- You are unemployed and available for, and actively seeking
work.
- You are doing Jury Service.
- You have served a prison sentence for a conviction, which was
subsequently quashed.
Carers' Credits
On 6 April 2010, a new credit system was introduced to replace
Home
Responsibilities Protection (HRP). Each whole year
of credit built up will go towards your BSP.
If you reach your State Pension Age (SPA) on or after 6 April
2010, you will build up credits for whole years that you:
- Are a foster carer;
- Care for one or more severely disabled persons for 20 hours a
week or more; or
- Get Child Benefit for a child under 12 years of age.
Any whole years of HRP that you may have built up before 6 April
2010 (up to a maximum of 22) will be converted into a qualifying
year for the BSP.
This credit is not available if you reached your SPA before 6
April 2010. You may have been entitled to HRP instead.
Click here to read
about HRP.
Auto-Credits For Men
Since April 1983, men with no liability to play Class 1 or 2 NI
contributions, have been credited automatically for the tax year
they reach 60 and the four following years, provided they are not
absent from the UK for more than six months.
These Auto-Credits for men will be phased out between April 2010
and April 2019 in accordance with the following table. The proposal
to extend the Auto-Credits scheme to women has been rescinded.
| Date of Birth |
Auto-Credit Entitlement |
| On or before 5 Oct 1950 |
5 years |
| 6 Oct 1950 to 5 Oct 1951 |
4 years |
| 6 Oct 1951 to 5 Oct 1952 |
3 years |
| 6 Oct 1952 to 5 Oct 1953 |
2 years |
| 6 Oct 1953 to 5 Oct 1954 |
1 year |
| On and after 6 Oct 1954 |
Nil |
You cannot get automatic credits for any tax year when:
- you spend more than 182 days outside the UK;
- you have to pay National Insurance contributions as an employed
or self-employed person; or
- you are entitled to another credit, for example Incapacity
Benefit or Employment and Support Allowance.
Credits For Young People
Young people with no liability to pay Class 1 or 2 contributions
can also get credits automatically for the tax year in which they
reach 16 and the two following years.
You will also be treated as paying NI contributions if you are
working and earning between £97 and £110 a week (in the
2010/11 tax year) from a single employer, although you will not
actually have to pay anything.
Q & A's
If you are in receipt of the following state benefits, credits
should be given automatically:
- Carer's Allowance
- Maternity Allowance
- Jobseeker's Allowance
- Incapacity Benefit
- Severe Disablement Allowance
- Working Tax Credit
- Unemployability Supplement
- Unemployment and Support Allowance
Credits for courses of training intended to last less than 12
months may also be given automatically by Jobcentre Plus in some
instances
If you want to apply for incapacity credits and are not entitled
to benefit, you should apply to your local jobcentre plus office
and provide medical evidence that you are unable to work through
sickness or disability. You may also apply for unemployment
credits where you are seeking work but are not entitled to JSA. For
other types of credits, you should apply to the National Insurance
Contributions Office.
You can also check your NI record by ringing the National
Insurance Contributions Office on 0845 9155996.
HRP is not a credit. It works by reducing the number of
qualifying years you need towards the calculation of the Basic
State Pension. From April 2002, if you qualify for HRP in certain
circumstances, entitlement for the State Second Pension, will be
calculated as if you had earnings at the Low Earnings Threshold
even if you do not work or earn less than the annual Lower Earnings
Limit
See our section on Home
Responsibilities Protection.
Yes. A married woman who has reached state pension age and has
an incomplete record can claim a category B state pension based on
her husband's NI contribution record, however, she has to wait
until he has reached 65 and starts to draw his pension. The maximum
pension that she can get on this basis is approximately 60% of her
husband's basic pension
A married man who has reached his state pension age will be able
to claim a category B State Pension based on his wife's NI record
provided she reaches state pension age on or after 6 April 2010.
His wife will have needed to claim her own state pension.
Unfortunately not. Auto-credits are not paid for a
tax-year if you spend more 182 days of that year outside of the
UK.
