'I took Martin Lewis state pension advice and I'll get an extra £32,000'

A pensioner has explained how he managed to get an extra £32,000 on his pension by following advice from Martin Lewis. On his live show on ITV tonight, it was explained that viewer Gabriel had realised that the wrong person had been claiming child benefit meaning his National Insurance credits hadn't been applied - which had a big impact on his pension.

Co-host Jeanette Kwakye said: “Gabriel’s been in touch. After watching your show about pensions, I realised I have about 14 years of shortfall. I asked for my wife’s child benefit, national insurance credits to be transferred to my name, and I received 11 years of credit increasing my pension by over 60 pounds a week.

“If I live 10 years after pension age, I’ll get an extra 32,000 pounds. So thank you so much.” And Mr Lewis revealed that it could even be double that if Gabriel lives longer. He said: “ Of course, typical life expectancy once you take your pension is double that, so it could be 60 grand

“There are, I believe, 200,000 people in the country who had the wrong parent claim child benefit. Because what happens is if you’re working, you get national insurance credits that go towards your pension. And if you’re looking after a child, you also get national insurance pen credits.

“But if you have one working parent and one non working parent and the working parent is the one who claims child benefit, then they’re already getting it from working. So they don’t need it from childcare. And the other one isn’t getting so that transfer will be that he was earning less than the threshold to get national insurance credits. She was earning over it. He should have been claiming he wasn’t so they’ve transferred it. 32 grand. 200,000 people in that situation. It’s worth looking at that. That is brilliant.”

By claiming Child Benefit, a person who has given up work to look after children will also earn national insurance (NI) credits, which you need to receive the full state pension. If the wrong person claims it, ie the higher earner, the low earner can miss out on a lot of state pension.

The Money Saving Expert site says: "If you (or your partner) are not working, or earning less than £123 a week, claiming Child Benefit lets you earn NI credits you wouldn't otherwise have earned. So it's crucial you apply, even if one partner's income means you'll have to pay back some or all of the Child Benefit payment. New Child Benefit claims can currently only be backdated by three months, so apply ASAP."

HMRC has said it believes 200,000 parents are losing out on credits because the partner with a higher income is registered for Child Benefit. Apply for National Insurance credits if you’re a parent or carer here. If a person or their partner are registered for Child Benefit they can apply for credits missing from your National Insurance record and transfer credits from a spouse or partner.