Legalize
Legalize / United Kingdom / Statutory-Instrument

The State Pension Regulations 2015

Type Statutory-Instrument
Publication 2015-02-09
Last updated 2026-03-15
State In force
Department King's Printer of Acts of Parliament
Source legislation.gov.uk
PDF Download
articles Not indexed
Reform history JSON API
  • (3) A person is not entitled to be credited with a Class 3 contribution under paragraph (1) unless an application to be so credited is received by the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in accordance with regulation 39.

Credits for persons engaged in caring

37
  • (1) Subject to paragraph (5), a person is to be credited with a Class 3 contribution in respect of a week in which the person is engaged in caring.
  • (2) A person is engaged in caring in a week if the person is—
  • (a) caring for another person or persons for a total of 20 or more hours in that week and—
  • (i) that other person is, or each of the persons cared for are, entitled to a relevant benefit for that week, or
  • (ii) the Secretary of State considers that level of care to be appropriate; or
  • (b) a person to whom one or more of paragraphs 4 to 6 (persons caring for another person) of Schedule 1B (prescribed categories of person) to the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 applies.
  • (3) A person is not engaged in caring for the purposes of this regulation during any period in respect of which the person is—
  • (a) not ordinarily resident in Great Britain, or
  • (b) undergoing imprisonment or detention in legal custody.
  • (4) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(a)(i), “relevant benefit” means—
  • (a) attendance allowance in accordance with section 64 of the 1992 Act;
  • (aa) pension age disability payment in accordance with the Disability Assistance for Older People (Scotland) Regulations 2024;
  • (b) the care component of disability living allowance in accordance with section 72 of the 1992 Act, at the middle or highest rate prescribed in accordance with subsection (3) of that section;
  • (c) an increase in the rate of disablement pension in accordance with section 104 of the 1992 Act;
  • (d) any benefit which is payable as if an injury or disease were one in respect of which a disablement pension would for the time being be payable in respect of an assessment of 100 per cent., by virtue of—
  • (i) the Pneumoconiosis, Byssinosis and Miscellaneous Diseases Benefit Scheme 1983; or
  • (ii) regulations made under section 64(3) of the 2012 Act (injuries arising before 5 July 1948);
  • (e) a constant attendance allowance payable by virtue of—
  • (i) article 8 (constant attendance allowance) of the Naval, Military and Air Forces etc. (Disablement and Death) Service Pensions Order 2006; or
  • (ii) article 14 (constant attendance allowance) of the Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme 1983;
  • (f) the daily living component of personal independence payment in accordance with section 78 of the 2012 Act;
  • (g) armed forces independence payment in accordance with the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) Order 2011.
  • (h) the care component of child disability payment at the middle or highest rate in accordance with regulation 11 of the Disability Assistance for Children and Young People (Scotland) Regulations 2021;
  • (i) the daily living component of adult disability payment at the standard or enhanced rate payable in accordance with regulation 5 of the Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022;
  • (j) the care component of Scottish adult disability living allowance at the middle or highest rate in accordance with regulation 6(4) of the Disability Assistance (Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance) Regulations 2025.
  • (5) Except in a case to which paragraph (8) applies, a person is not entitled to be credited with a Class 3 contribution under paragraph (2)(a) unless an application to be so credited is received by the Secretary of State in accordance with paragraph (6) and regulation 39.
  • (6) An application under paragraph (5) must include—
  • (a) a declaration by the applicant that the applicant cares for a person or persons for 20 or more hours in a week,
  • (b) the name and, where known, the national insurance number of each person cared for,
  • (c) where applicable, which relevant benefit each person cared for is entitled to, and
  • (d) where requested by the Secretary of State, a declaration signed by an appropriate person as to the level of care which is required for each person cared for.
  • (7) For the purposes of paragraph (6)(d), an appropriate person is a person who is—
  • (a) involved in the health care or social care of the person cared for, and
  • (b) considered by the Secretary of State as appropriate to make a declaration as to the level of care required.
  • (8) This paragraph applies in the case of a woman in respect of a week in any part of which an election made by her under regulations under section 19(4) of the 1992 Act (reduced rate election for married women) is in force.

Credits for an additional period in respect of entitlement to carer’s allowance or carer support payment and relevant benefits

38
  • (1) A person is to be credited with a Class 3 contribution for a period of 12 weeks—
  • (a) prior to the date on which that person becomes entitled to carer’s allowance by virtue of subsection (1) of section 70 of the 1992 Act or the carer support payment component of carer support given in accordance with the Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023;
  • (b) subject to paragraph (2), following the end of the week in which that person ceases to be entitled to carer’s allowance by virtue of that subsection or the carer support payment component of carer support by virtue of those Regulations;
  • (c) following the end of a week in which regulation 37(2)(a) ceases to be satisfied.
  • (2) A person is not entitled to be credited with a Class 3 contribution under paragraph (1)(b) in a week in respect of which that person is entitled under regulation 7A of the 1975 Regulations to be credited with contributions by virtue of being entitled to an allowance under section 70 of the 1992 Act or the carer support payment component of carer support given in accordance with the Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023.

Time limit for making an application under regulation 34(1)(b), 35, 36 or 37

39

An application must be received—

  • (a) where the application is under regulation 34(1)(b), 36 or 37—
  • (i) before the end of the year following that in which a week, which is the subject of the application, falls, or
  • (ii) within such further time as the Secretary of State or the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, as the case may be, consider reasonable in the circumstances, or
  • (b) where the application is under regulation 35, after the end of the year in which a week, which is the subject of the application, falls.

Editorial notes

35

1992 c.4. Section 55A was inserted by paragraph 3 of Schedule 6 to the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (c.30). Subsection (6) was substituted by section 41(3) of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 (c.19). There are relevant amendments to section 55A made by section 15 of, and paragraph 5 of Schedule 11 to, the Pensions Act 2014 (c.19). Section 175(4) was amended by paragraph 29(4) of Schedule 3 to the Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions, etc.) Act 1999 (c.2).

36

1999 c.30. Section 23(1)(a) and (b) was amended by section 261(1) of, and paragraphs 157(2) to (5) of Schedule 27 to, the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c.33). It was also amended by section 261(4) of, and paragraph 1 of Schedule 30 to, that Act. Section 48(1)(f) was amended by paragraph 161(4)(a) and (b) of Schedule 27 to that Act. Section 49(4) and (4A) was substituted by section 41(1) of the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000. There are relevant amendments to section 49 made by section 15 of, and paragraph 12 of Schedule 11 to, the Pensions Act 2014.

37

2014 c.19. Section 22(1) is cited for the meaning it gives to “regulations”.

38

See sections 170, 172(1) and 173(1)(b) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (c.5). There are relevant amendments to section 170 made by paragraph 24 of Schedule 12 to the Pensions Act 2014.

39

See section 173(5) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992.

40

The requirement to consult under section 83(11) applies only to the provisions in paragraphs 1(5)(a) and 2 of the Schedule to these Regulations. The Secretary of State consulted about those provisions and all the other provisions on sharing state pension in regulation 14 of, and the Schedule to, these Regulations.

41

See section 22(1) of the Pensions Act 2014 for the meaning of “pensionable age”.

42

See section 19(2) of the Pensions Act 2014 for the meaning of “prisoner”.

43

1983 c.20. Section 47 was amended by section 49(3) of, and Schedule 6 to, the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 (c.43), paragraph 18 of Schedule 10 to the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 (c.28), paragraph 97 of Schedule 16 to the Armed Forces Act 2006 (c.52) and section 4(7) of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 1 and Part 1 of Schedule 11 to, the Mental Health Act 2007 (c.12). S.I. 1999/672 transferred functions under section 47 to the National Assembly for Wales.

44

Section 50(3) was substituted by section 294(3) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c.44).

45

2003 asp.13.

46

S.I. 1987/1968. Regulation 30(5G) was inserted by S.I. 2005/3078.

48

See section 22(1) of the Pensions Act 2014 for the definition of “the Contributions and Benefits Act”. Section 124 was amended by paragraph 30 of Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 to the Jobseekers Act 1995 (c.18), paragraph 28 of Schedule 8 to the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999, paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 to the State Pension Credit Act 2002 (c.16), paragraph 42 of Schedule 24 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004, paragraph 9(9) and (10) of Schedule 3 and Schedule 8 to the Welfare Reform Act 2007 (c.5), section 3 of the Welfare Reform Act 2009 (c.24) and section 58(2) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (c.5).

49

2007 c.5. See in particular the definition of “income-related allowance” in section 1(7) of the Welfare Reform Act 2007.

50

1995 c.18. The definition of “income-based jobseeker's allowance” was amended by paragraph 2(4)(a) of Schedule 7 to the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999.

52

Section 70 was amended by S.I.s 1994/2556, 2002/1457, 2011/2426 and 2013/388 and 796.

54

Section 68 has effect by virtue of S.I. 2000/2958.

55

Section 39 was amended by paragraph 17 of Schedule 12 to the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999, paragraph 27 of Schedule 3 to the Tax Credits Act 2002 (c.21), section 6(5) of, and paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 and Schedule 7 to, the Pensions Act 2007 (c.22) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 4 to the Pensions Act 2008 (c.30).

56

Section 37 was amended by paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the Child Benefit Act 2005 (c.6), section 50 of, and Schedule 8 to, the Welfare Reform Act 2007, paragraph 18 of Schedule 24 and Schedule 30 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and S.I. 2014/560.

57

Section 30A was inserted by section 1 of the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) Act 1994 (c.18) and amended by section 64 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 and paragraph 14 of Schedule 24 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

58

See section 2(4) of the Pensions Act 2014 for the definition of “qualifying year”.

60

Regulations 2 and 3 were amended by S.I. 2005/2877.

61

Section 49A was inserted by paragraph 13 of Schedule 11 to the Pensions Act 2014.

62

Section 49(1) was substituted by paragraph 12 of Schedule 11 to the Pensions Act 2014.

63

1985 c.37. Section 10(3) was amended by paragraph 16(4)(a) and (b) of Schedule 28 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

64

Section 47(3) was inserted by paragraph 10(4) of Schedule 11 to the Pensions Act 2014.

65

The heading to section 49 of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 was amended by paragraph 12(7) of Schedule 11 to the Pensions Act 2014.

66

The heading to section 55A of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 was amended by paragraph 5(5) of Schedule 11 to the Pensions Act 2014.

72

Reg. 12A inserted (6.4.2016 immediately after S.I. 2015/173 comes into force) by The State Pension and Occupational Pension Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/199), reg. 3 (with reg. 1(5))

74

Reg. 13 excluded by S.I. 2007/1398, reg. 2(4) as inserted (6.4.2016 coming into force in accordance with art. 1(2)(b)) by The Pensions Act 2014 (Consequential, Supplementary and Incidental Amendments) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/1985), arts. 1(2)(b), 30(3)

75

Words in reg. 3(2)(c) substituted (1.12.2020) by Sentencing Act 2020 (c. 17), s. 416(1), Sch. 24 para. 427 (with Sch. 27); S.I. 2020/1236, reg. 2

76

Reg. 1(4) substituted (6.4.2016 immediately after S.I. 2015/173 comes into force) by The State Pension and Occupational Pension Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/199), reg. 2 (with reg. 1(5))

78

Pt. 8 inserted (6.4.2016 coming into force in accordance with reg. 1) by The State Pension (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/240), regs. 1, 2

85

Pts. 6, 7 inserted (6.4.2016 immediately after S.I. 2015/173 comes into force) by The State Pension and Occupational Pension Schemes (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/199), reg. 4 (with reg. 1(5))

90

Words in reg. 6(2)(h) inserted (6.4.2016 coming into force in accordance with art. 1(2)(b)) by The Pensions Act 2014 (Consequential, Supplementary and Incidental Amendments) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/1985), arts. 1(2)(b), 45

93

Reg. 1A inserted (6.4.16 coming into force in accordance with art. 1(2)) by The State Pension (Amendment) Regulations 2016 (2016/227) reg. 1(2), 2

110

Sum in Reg. 1A substituted (coming into force in accordance with arts. 1(4)(5), 7 of the amending S.I.) by The Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2025 (S.I. 2025/295), arts. 1(3)(c), 6(1)

Reading this document does not replace reading the official text published on legislation.gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies arising from the conversion of the original CLML XML to this format.

This text is published under legislation.gov.uk's own terms of reuse, not a Legalize or public-domain licence. legislation.gov.uk
Open Government Licence v3.0 (attribution required)
© Crown and database right. Derived from content available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 from legislation.gov.uk.