NIM41325 - Home Responsibilities Protection: What is HRP and who qualifies for it: overview of conditions for entitlement

Regulation 2 of the Social Security Pensions (Home Responsibilities) Regulations 1994; the Social Security Pensions (Home Responsibilities and Miscellaneous Amendments) Amendment Regulations 1988

To be entitled to HRP a person must be accepted as having been precluded from regular employment by responsibilities at home for a full tax year by being:

• awarded Child Benefit for a child under 16, see NIM41330
• registered as a foster carer, see NIM41335
• regularly engaged (for at least 35 hours per week) caring for a person in respect of whom prescribed disability benefits were paid for at least 48 weeks of the year, NIM41340
• in receipt of Income Support and not required to work because they were caring for a sick or disabled person, see NIM41345

and have claimed HRP, if it is not awarded automatically, within set time limits, see NIM41335 and NIM41340 and NIM41350.

It may also be possible for a customer to use a combination of the above to be entitled to HRP.

For example,

A customer is in receipt of Child Benefit from 6 April to August of a tax year but they were also in receipt of Income Support and not required to be available for work because they were caring for an adult family member until the end of the tax year. So long as they were precluded from employment, within the meaning of regulations, for the whole of the tax year they will be entitled to HRP.

Married Women and Widows with a non-paying election

HRP is not normally awarded for periods when a woman has a valid married woman’s election not to pay NICs (1948 - 5 April 1975) or to pay married women's reduced rate NICs (from 6 April 1975).

The exception to this is when a woman was not employed or self-employed at all in the period 6 April 1975 to 5 April 1980. Under these circumstances, her married woman’s election is disregarded for HRP purposes. In effect, the married woman’s election is treated as if it lapsed from 5 April 1978 and she may be awarded HRP from 6 April 1978 if she satisfies the conditions for it.