Carer’s Credit is a National Insurance credit that fills gaps in your record for the weeks you spend looking after someone instead of working, protecting your future State Pension. You qualify if you are 16 or over, under State Pension age, and caring for someone at least 20 hours a week.1GOV.UK. Carers Credit – Eligibility There is no income test, no savings test, and no stamp needed on the envelope.2GOV.UK. Carers Credit Overview You need 35 qualifying years of National Insurance to receive the full new State Pension, which is £241.30 a week for the 2026–27 tax year, so every year you can protect counts.3GOV.UK. Proposed Benefit and Pension Rates 2026 to 2027
Who Qualifies
Three conditions have to be met: you are 16 or over, you are under State Pension age, and you spend at least 20 hours a week looking after someone.1GOV.UK. Carers Credit – Eligibility Your earnings, savings, and investments do not matter. There is no limit on how many hours you can also work in a paid job alongside your caring role.
The person you care for must usually be receiving one of these benefits:1GOV.UK. Carers Credit – Eligibility
- Disability Living Allowance care component at the middle or highest rate
- Personal Independence Payment daily living component at any rate
- Attendance Allowance
- Constant Attendance Allowance
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance at the middle or highest care rate
- Child Disability Payment care component at the middle or highest rate
- Adult Disability Payment daily living component at the standard or enhanced rate
- Pension Age Disability Payment
There is no age minimum for the person being cared for, so a parent looking after a disabled child who receives Child Disability Payment at the qualifying rate can claim just as a relative caring for a pensioner can.
If the Person You Care For Doesn’t Get a Qualifying Benefit
You can still claim. The application form includes a Care Certificate section that a health or social care professional signs to confirm the level of care the person needs.4GOV.UK. Carers Credit Care Certificate CC1 The guidance names district nurses, occupational therapists, social workers, MIND care workers, and community psychiatric nurses as acceptable signatories, and the department will consider other professionals case by case.5GOV.UK. CC1 Carers Credit Notes Booklet GPs are not on the recommended list.
When You Don’t Need to Apply
If you already get Carer’s Allowance, you get National Insurance credits automatically for every week it is paid, and there is no separate form.6GOV.UK. Carers Allowance The same applies if you receive Universal Credit: Class 3 credits are added to your record without any extra claim.7GOV.UK. National Insurance Credits – Eligibility Carer’s Credit is designed for the people who fall through those gaps, including carers whose earnings put them over the Carer’s Allowance threshold or whose care recipient doesn’t have a qualifying benefit.
One overlap matters for couples. If you claim Child Benefit for a child under 12, you already pick up National Insurance credits that way, and they protect the same State Pension entitlement. Where both parents also share caring duties, the parent who isn’t named on the Child Benefit claim is the one more likely to need Carer’s Credit. If you’re not sure what’s already on your record, check it online before applying.8GOV.UK. National Insurance Credits
How to Apply
You apply on form CC1, which you can download from GOV.UK or request from the Carer’s Allowance Unit by phone.9GOV.UK. Carers Credit – How to Claim There is no online submission; the completed form has to go in the post. You’ll need your own full name, date of birth, address, and National Insurance number, and the same details for the person you look after.10GOV.UK. CC1 Carers Credit Application Form If they don’t receive a qualifying benefit, get the Care Certificate signed before sending.
The address is simply: Freepost DWP Carers Allowance Unit. No street, no postcode, no stamp.9GOV.UK. Carers Credit – How to Claim The claim is handled by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Deadline
You have until the end of the tax year following the one in which you did the caring. For the 2025–26 tax year, that means your form must arrive by 5 April 2027.11nidirect. Carers Credit Miss that window and the year is lost from your record for good. You can also backdate a claim to the previous tax year if the person you cared for has since died or no longer needs care; phone the Carer’s Allowance Unit in that situation rather than relying on the form alone.
Breaks in Caring
You don’t lose Carer’s Credit if your caring pauses for up to 12 consecutive weeks. That covers things like a short holiday, the person you look after going into hospital, or you being admitted yourself.1GOV.UK. Carers Credit – Eligibility If a break runs longer than 12 weeks in a row, you have to tell the Carer’s Allowance Unit; not reporting it can cause problems with your record later. When caring resumes, you can start a fresh claim.
What It’s Worth
Carer’s Credit gives you Class 3 National Insurance credits, which count toward your State Pension and nothing else.8GOV.UK. National Insurance Credits Each full tax year of credits counts as one qualifying year. You need 35 qualifying years for the full new State Pension, and at least 10 to get anything at all.12GOV.UK. The New State Pension – What Youll Get
At the 2026–27 full rate of £241.30 a week, each missing qualifying year is worth roughly £6.89 a week in pension, or about £358 a year, for the rest of your retirement.3GOV.UK. Proposed Benefit and Pension Rates 2026 to 2027 Over a decade spent caring, that’s ten years of pension entitlement you’d otherwise forfeit for the sake of a posted form.
If Something Goes Wrong
After you apply, check your personal National Insurance record on GOV.UK to confirm the credits have been added, and look at your State Pension forecast to see the caring period reflected.8GOV.UK. National Insurance Credits If credits you applied for are missing or wrong, contact the office that handled the claim.
If the application is refused, you can ask for a mandatory reconsideration within one month of the decision.13GOV.UK. Mandatory Reconsideration It’s free, and a different decision-maker reviews your case. Late requests are sometimes accepted where there’s a good reason, such as hospital treatment or bereavement.