How do I claim Home Responsibilities Protection?
If you have to apply for Home Responsibilities Protection, you will need to fill in the form Home Responsibilities Protection (CF411).
You can get the form from any pension centre, Jobcentre Plus, Jobcentre or social security office or contact any Inland Revenue Enquiry Centre on 0845 915 8224 or 0845 915 8225. If you have speech or hearing difficulties, a textphone service is available on 0845 915 8435. The lines are open from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, and from 8.30am to 4.30pm on Friday.
You can also write to the Inland Revenue, National Insurance Contributions Office, Caseworker DM Team, Newcastle upon Tyne NE98 1ZZ.
You can also contact the Inland Revenue if you want to check whether you have been awarded Home Responsibilities Protection.
When do I need to claim?
Home Responsibilities Protection has been available for full tax years from April 1978.
If you are claiming Home Responsibilities Protection for years you have spent caring for someone with a long-term illness or disability between April 1978 and 5 April 2002, you can claim at any time up to State Pension age. But it would be best if you did not wait too long before claiming as it usually becomes more difficult to remember details of what you were doing as time goes by.
Since April 2002, a new rule has been in force. This rule means that, from April 2002 onwards, you must claim any Home Responsibilities Protection you need to within three years of the end of any tax year you spent caring for someone with a long-term illness or disability.
This time limit only applies to caring which takes place during or after the tax year 2002/03.
If you are awarded Home Responsibilities Protection automatically, for example through Income Support or Child Benefit, the new rule does not apply to you as you do not need to make a claim.
Here is an example:
Jack gave up work on 5 March 2002 to look after his disabled wife who receives the middle-rate care component of Disability Living Allowance. He has stayed at home looking after his wife for the full 2002/03 tax year. He does not get Carer’s Allowance, Income Support as a carer or Child Benefit for a child under six. He needs to claim Home Responsibilities Protection to protect his basic State Pension and to build up additional State Pension for the 2002/03 tax year. Because there are new time limits for claiming Home Responsibilities Protection, Jack must make a claim for Home Responsibilities Protection between 6 April 2003 and 5 April 2006 (up to three years after the end of the 2002/03 tax year).
Although you only need to claim Home Responsibilities Protection every three years, you might find it easier to remember to claim if you do it at the end of each tax year. If you make a successful claim for a tax year, you need to make claims for each year after that for as long as you continue to satisfy the conditions.
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