Child Benefit claimants issued warning over missing National Insurance credits

Child Benefit is worth £27.50 a week for your first child, then £17.90 a week for any additional child

High income Child Benefit claimants have been urged to check now to see if they have missed out on National Insurance credits.

Child Benefit is paid by HMRC to those who are responsible for looking after a child under the age of 16, or if they are under the age of 20 and still in approved education or training.

It is worth £27.50 a week for your first child, then £17.90 a week for any additional child. However, if you, or your partner, earn over £60,000, then you have to pay part of your Child Benefit back.

This is known as the High Income Child Benefit Charge.

If either of you earn over £60,000, you pay back 1% of your Child Benefit for every £200 you earn over £60,000. Once you earn over £80,000, you pay back 100% of your Child Benefit back.

Before 2024, threshold was £50,000 before it started to be tapered away and £60,000 before you lost all of your entitlement.

You can choose to not claim Child Benefit, to avoid paying the high income charge – but this means you miss out on National Insurance credits.

Child Benefit automatically provides National Insurance credits if your child is under 12. National Insurance credits help you build up your entitlement to the state pension if you have been out of work.

The government announced in April 2023 that it would introduce a new system to claim backdated National Insurance credits for free.

It had been due to launch in April 2026, but has now been delayed to April 2027. In an article published on MoneySavingExpert.com, the team urged certain people to act now.

The MSE team said: “The delay won’t affect most people, but if you’re at, or very close to, State Pension age, you can act now by complaining to HMRC.”

HMRC told MSE it expects “very few” to be impacted by the delay. However, MSE has urged anyone who may be affected to complain to HMRC now through its online service or National Insurance enquiries.

MSE says you could be affected if you are at state pension age but getting less than the full amount, because you were caring for children at any time since 2013 and have missing years in your National Insurance record.

You may also be affected if you are due to reach state pension age before April 2027 and you have gaps in your National Insurance record as a result of caring for children since 2013.

The Mirror has contacted HMRC for comment.