There are thousands of amazing grandmas and grandfathers (mine was a “bampy” – it’s a Welsh thing…) who help out their kids by looking after their grandchildren so they can go back to work.

A massive pat on the back those grandparents (I’m knackered after an hour with my sisters’ kids – don’t know how the 65+ do it!) but it looks like you’ve been missing out on some serious cash which would help to build up your pension.

What is grandparents’ credit?

If a mum goes back to work after having a baby, she can sign a form that allows a grandparent, or other family member, to receive National Insurance credits for looking after the child that she would have got.

The Government scheme exists to protect the pensions of grandparents who retire early so their kids can go back to work.

And thanks to a Freedom of Information request, it’s come to light that hardly anyone is doing this – which is shocking because every year you’re not claiming, you’re missing out on £231, which could really boost your pension.

Who can claim it?

Act now, if you are under state pension age and have given up work to look after a family member who is under the age of 12 because their parent is working.

And don’t worry, you don’t have to sign up to a five-day 9-5 stint to be entitled, the number of hours a grandparent helps out totally doesn’t matter.

How do I make a claim?

Ok, hands up – it’s a bit of a faff, but worth it.

So – the grandparent OR the parent who is transferring their NI credits need to fill out this form and then send it off to HMRC.

You can even claim back from April 2011 if you were eligible.

Have you been claiming the whole time? Have you been missing out? Let me know!