Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to support parents and carers who are survivors of domestic abuse that caused them to be unable to claim Child Benefit and National Insurance credits; and if she will take steps to support them.

This question was answered on 12th February 2025
Where HMRC is made aware that a person is a victim of domestic abuse, consideration of a claim for Child Benefit will be prioritised before other, standard claims. A Child Benefit claim can be backdated for a maximum of three months. However, only one person can be entitled to Child Benefit for the same period except in exceptional circumstances, those being fraud or misrepresentation.

Parents and carers who are entitled to Child Benefit automatically receive National Insurance credits until their child turns twelve. These credits count towards their future State Pension entitlement. The government recognises that some individuals may have missed out on entitlement towards their State Pension if they were eligible to claim Child Benefit but did not do so.

From April 2026 a new National Insurance credit will be introduced for people who missed out on the National Insurance credits because they did not claim Child Benefit and where no other successful claim to Child Benefit was made for the same period. There will be transitional arrangements in place that will allow people to claim the new credit retrospectively as far back as 2013.