Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2018 to Question 179286, whether the Government plans to make back payments of child benefit to those parents who have mistakenly omitted to claim that benefit and as a result lost out on national insurance state pension credits.

The Government has always urged families to claim Child Benefit to help protect their future right to the State Pension.

The legislation sets out that claims for Child Benefit (and the accompanying National Insurance credit) can only be backdated for three months.

Successive governments have considered that three months is a fair and reasonable time in which to allow those wishing to claim Child Benefit to do so.

Even though there may be no question that some parents would have been entitled to Child Benefit had they claimed earlier, such certainty is not obvious in every case. The longer the delay, the harder it is to establish entitlement, given the need to verify evidence and ensure consistent treatment.