State pension: Little known way grandparents can boost payments over school summer holidays

Grandparents will spend an average of 250 hours looking after grandchildren in the summer holidays, according to research from Railcard.

However, some 60 per cent of over 50s in the UK do not know that NI credits can be claimed as a carer or grandparent to enhance future state pension entitlement.

Just one in 10 adults over 50-years-old have filed for these valuable NI credits with a year adding £6,000 over the course of retirement, according to Royal London.

Those grandparents under state pension age who look after their grandchildren on a regular basis are invited to apply for Class 3 NI credits as part of the Specified Adult Childcare Credits scheme.

This scheme is not applied automatically and can only be accessed after an application via HMRC using the form, CF411A.

The child being cared for must be aged 12 or under, while the child’s parent or carer should be a working individual.

The system permits working parents to transfer the usual child benefits credits they receive to the grandparent, requiring both to apply for this scheme.

According to Royal London, a third of over 50s are unaware that to be entitled to a full state pension, an individual must have accrued 35 years of NI credits, while 10 years are needed to be entitled to any state pension.

A third of adults aged between 50 and 69 are also said to have found gaps in their NI record, according to Royal London’s research.

Accruing extra months and years of NI credits could therefore prove crucial for state pension entitlement should the pensioner have racked up less than 35 years of NI credit years.

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Adult childcare credits can be backdated until 6 April 2011 and the Government encourages everyone who is eligible to apply.

Should an individual miss a year of NI contributions and not make it up, they could lose 1/35th of the full rate state pension, which is equivalent to £5.82 a week or £304 a year.

Clare Moffat, pensions expert at Royal London, said: “Many grandparents find looking after the grandchildren hugely rewarding.

“Not only does regular care help keep them mentally and physically active, it can also boost their retirement income, but only if they claim the credit that goes towards their state pension.

“The cost-of-living crisis and phenomenal rise in childcare costs has meant grandparents have increasingly been called upon, but there is a lack of awareness of the ability to benefit financially in terms of their own state pension – extremely useful for anyone with gaps in their record.

“For most people, the state pension provides the foundation for their retirement income and it can make a big difference if you have gaps.

“So, it’s really important to check your record and claim what you’re entitled to.”