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Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) was a scheme to help protect parents鈥� and carers鈥� State Pension. National Insurance credits replaced HRP in 2010.

You鈥檒l have received HRP automatically if between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2010 you were claiming:

• Child Benefit for a child under 16
• Income Support because you were looking after a sick or disabled person and were not available for work

You鈥檒l need to apply for HRP if you think it鈥檚 missing from your National Insurance (NI) record.

Who can apply

You may still be able to apply for HRP if, for full tax years (6 April to 5 April) between 1978 and 2010, you were either:

• sharing the care of a child under 16 with a partner you lived with and they claimed Child Benefit instead of you - you may be able to聽 transfer their HRP
• caring for a sick or disabled person

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鈥檚 child (鈥榢inship carer鈥�) in Scotland

If you reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010

Any HRP鈥痽ou had for full tax years before 6 April 2010 was automatically converted into National Insurance credits, if you needed them, up to a maximum of 22 qualifying years.

The amount of State Pension you may get at State Pension age is based on your National Insurance record and the number of 鈥榪ualifying years鈥� you have.

A qualifying year is a year when:

• you were working and paid鈥�National Insurance
• you were鈥痝etting National Insurance credits,鈥痜or example if you were unemployed, ill or a parent or carer
• you were paying voluntary National Insurance contributions

If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2010

Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) reduced the number of qualifying years you needed to get the full basic State Pension by up to 22 years.

To get a full basic State Pension a woman needed 39 qualifying years and a man 44 qualifying years.

If you reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010

HRP was converted into National Insurance credits, if you needed them, up to a maximum of 22 qualifying years.

If you reached State Pension age between 6 April 2010 and 5 April 2016

You needed 30 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get the full basic state pension.

If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016

You may have been entitled to 鈥疉dditional State Pension鈥痠f you qualified for鈥�HRP鈥痓ecause you:

• got鈥疌hild Benefit鈥痜or a child under the age of 6
• were looking after a sick or disabled person (including a child over the age of 6) who was getting certain benefits

If you reached State Pension age after 6 April 2016

You may be eligible for the new State Pension.

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鈥檚 child (鈥榢inship carer鈥�) in Scotland

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 鈥榪ualifying years鈥� they have on their National Insurance record between April 1978 and April 2010. This will be converted into National Insurance credits.

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:

• Attendance Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance at the middle or highest rate for personal care
• Constant Attendance Allowance

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鈥檙e 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鈥檚 Allowance

You do not need to apply for HRP if you were getting Carer鈥檚 Allowance. You鈥檒l 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 child (鈥榢inship carer鈥�) 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鈥檙e eligible

You can use the Home Responsibilities Protection eligibility checker to see if you鈥檙e eligible.

To claim Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP), you can apply online or by post. You can also apply to transfer HRP from someone else.

You can also contact the HMRC National Insurance helpline for an application form.

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

After you鈥檝e applied, you鈥檒l need to provide a letter from your local council or the agency you worked for.

This is to confirm that throughout the full tax year you were either:

• an approved foster carer
• caring for a friend or family member鈥檚 child (鈥榢inship carer鈥�) in Scotland

If you were caring for a sick or disabled person

You must include evidence showing the amount of benefit the person was paid while you were caring for them, for example a proof of benefit letter. Check which benefits qualify.

They must have been getting the benefit for either:

• 48 weeks of each tax year on or after 6 April 1988
• every week of each tax year before 6 April 1988