Make the Call NI: Benefits Check for Kinship Carers

Kinship carers in Northern Ireland are among the most likely people to be missing out on benefits they are entitled to claim. The child arrived suddenly, the household budget stretched overnight, and nobody handed you a list of what to apply for. The Department for Communities' Make the Call service exists to close exactly that gap.

What Make the Call Does

Make the Call is a free, confidential service run by the Department for Communities (DfC) — the same department that administers Universal Credit, Income Support, and other social security benefits in Northern Ireland. When you call, a trained adviser reviews your circumstances and checks whether you are receiving everything you are entitled to.

For kinship carers, this typically covers:

• Universal Credit — including the child element for each child in your care. Since 6 April 2026, the two-child limit has been abolished across the UK, so you can claim for every child regardless of how many are in the household.
• Child Benefit — administered by HMRC, not DfC, but Make the Call will flag it if you have not claimed. If the birth parent has an active Child Benefit claim and will not transfer it voluntarily, HMRC applies priority of entitlement rules in favour of the person with physical custody.
• Guardian's Allowance — payable if both of the child's parents have died, or if one has died and the surviving parent is untraceable, incarcerated, or incapacitated. Claimed via HMRC Form BG1.
• Carer's Allowance — ask the adviser to check eligibility if you provide substantial care and the child receives a qualifying disability benefit.
• Rate relief and Housing Benefit — depending on your housing tenure and income.

How to Use It

Phone: 0800 232 1271 (freephone, Monday to Friday) Text: ADVICE to 079 8440 5248 Online: through the nidirect website

The call takes around 15 to 20 minutes. Have your National Insurance number, the child's details (date of birth, when they moved in), and any existing benefit reference numbers to hand. The adviser will not apply for benefits on your behalf, but they will tell you exactly what to apply for and how.

Why This Matters for Kinship Carers

DfC administers benefits in Northern Ireland separately from the Department for Work and Pensions in Great Britain. The rules are largely the same, but the application processes and offices are different. Many kinship carers, particularly those who took on the child informally, never realise they can claim the Universal Credit child element without a court order. A registered social worker can complete Form IC1 NI to verify an informal caring arrangement for DfC; the form is no longer needed to claim a two-child-limit exception.

Make the Call does not replace your HSC Trust contact. Benefits paid by DfC (Universal Credit, Income Support) are separate from the Residence Order Allowance paid by your local Trust. You should pursue both: the DfC benefits you are entitled to as of right, and the Trust allowance which is discretionary but worth applying for.

Our Kinship Care in Northern Ireland guide includes a financial rights checklist that walks through every benefit and allowance available to NI kinship carers — DfC benefits, HMRC benefits, and Trust allowances — with the forms and contact details for each one.

See more Northern Ireland guides →