State pensioners who looked after grandkids since 2011 eligible for cash boost

Thousands of grandparents are at risk of losing out on a pension increase worth £6,600 from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), despite 100,000 having already enhanced their state

pension by caring for their grandchildren. Often it's grandparents who step in to care for their relatives' children, enabling parents or carers to work, but this can result in

them not accruing enough state pension. Specified adult childcare credits are designed to protect the state pension entitlement of these 'family carers'. However, many eligible

grandparents could be forfeiting nearly £6,600 in retirement by not claiming these credits. Jon Greer, head of retirement policy at Quilter, has pointed out that awareness about the credits

"remains far too low". He continued: "Many eligible grandparents could be missing out on thousands of pounds simply because they don't realise they qualify or how to

apply." Greer also called for the government to make greater efforts to promote these credits, especially among lower-income families and communities where National Insurance record

gaps are more prevalent, reports Birmingham Live. In the last five years, only 104,433 individuals have successfully claimed the credits, with just 42,962 applications made last year. Each

year of transferred credit can increase your state pension by £330 annually. This could potentially increase the value of your state pension by nearly £6,600 over a 20-year retirement

period. You can also backdate your claim to 2011, when the credits were first introduced. Certain family members are eligible to claim the credits provided the relative providing childcare

has not yet reached state retirement age; the relative cares for a child or children under the age of 12 while the child or children's parent or main carer is working; and the relative

does not already have a qualifying year in their own right through their own contributions or NIC credits. The relative must typically be a resident in the UK, the parent (or carer) does not

need the NIC credits from their child benefit claim for their own National Insurance record, and both the relative and the parent (or carer) make a joint claim at the relevant time (see

below).