Carer’s Allowance has two walls people hit: the 35-hour rule and the £204 earnings limit. Carer’s Credit is what sits on the other side of both. It pays nothing, and that is its strength, because a benefit that pays nothing has no earnings limit to fall foul of. What it protects is your State Pension.
What it is
GOV.UK describes Carer’s Credit as a National Insurance credit that helps with gaps in your National Insurance record, available if you are caring for someone for at least 20 hours a week. Your State Pension is based on that record, and GOV.UK says your income, savings or investments will not affect eligibility (GOV.UK, Carer's Credit, checked 1 November 2026).
A qualifying year of National Insurance is worth State Pension, and each year missing from the record is worth less pension later. Our voluntary National Insurance page covers what a gap costs to fill: at 2026/27 rates, a year of Class 3 contributions is over £950. A credit fills the same gap for nothing.
Who qualifies
You must be aged 16 or over, under State Pension age, and looking after one or more people for at least 20 hours a week (GOV.UK, Carer's Credit: eligibility, checked 1 November 2026). The person you care for must get one of a list of benefits: Attendance Allowance.
Pension Age Disability Payment; the daily living part of PIP; the middle or highest care rate of Disability Living Allowance or its Scottish equivalent; Constant Attendance Allowance; Armed Forces Independence Payment; the Child Disability Payment care component at middle or highest rate; or Adult Disability Payment daily living at either rate.
If they get none of those, you may still qualify. GOV.UK says to fill in the Care Certificate part of the form and have a health or social care professional sign it. That route has no equivalent in Carer’s Allowance, which needs the qualifying benefit to be in payment.
The carers it is for
GOV.UK says it in one line: carers who do not qualify for Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment may qualify for Carer’s Credit (GOV.UK, Carer's Credit: eligibility, checked 1 November 2026). Two groups meet that description, and they are the people the 35-hour rule and the earnings limit turn away.
The first cares between 20 and 34 hours a week, short of the 35 that Carer’s Allowance requires. The second cares 35 hours or more but earns over £204 a week after deductions, which stops Carer’s Allowance entirely; our how much page covers that cliff edge. Carer’s Credit does not ask about earnings at all. A carer over State Pension age is not in either group: Carer’s Credit is for people under it, and the carer addition in Pension Credit, on our what counts as caring page, is the route there.
If you already get credits
You do not need to apply if you get Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment, because the credits come automatically, or if you get Child Benefit for a child under 12, which also carries credits (GOV.UK, Carer's Credit: how to claim, checked 1 November 2026). Foster carers apply for credits by a different route.
Breaks in caring
You keep Carer’s Credit through breaks of up to 12 weeks in a row. GOV.UK’s examples are a short holiday, the person you look after going into hospital, or you going into hospital yourself. A break longer than 12 weeks in a row should be reported to the Carer’s Allowance Unit (GOV.UK, Carer's Credit: eligibility, checked 1 November 2026).
How to claim
The claim is on a paper form, downloaded from GOV.UK or requested from the Carer’s Allowance Unit on 0800 731 0297, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, which also supplies braille, large print and audio versions. The form includes the Care Certificate for a professional to sign where needed.
It goes to Freepost DWP Carers Allowance Unit, with nothing but the freepost address on the envelope and no stamp or postcode (GOV.UK, Carer's Credit: how to claim, checked 1 November 2026).
A refused claim can be challenged by mandatory reconsideration, as with any DWP decision.
What it does not do
It does not pay anything, and it does not change what the person you care for receives. GOV.UK ties the loss of the cared-for person’s severe disability premium to getting Carer’s Allowance, and the Carer’s Credit guide says nothing of the kind about the credit; our Carer’s Allowance guide explains that trade-off.
For a carer whose parent gets Pension Credit with the severe disability addition, that difference is worth checking with the Pension Service before choosing which to claim.