The deadline to pay voluntary national insurance (NI) contributions on gaps in your NI record between 2006 and 2016 has been extended until 5 April 2025. The cost of paying voluntary NI contributions will also remain frozen until 5 April 2025, despite the State Pension having increased.
The option only applies for men born after 5 April 1951 (currently aged 72 or younger) and women born after 5 April 1953 (currently aged 70 or younger). Anyone born before this is on the old state pension.
State pension entitlement
The full State Pension entitlement for the current 2023/24 tax year is £203.85 per week (£10,636.60 per year).
To qualify for a full State Pension, you will need a complete NI record of 35 years. Most people collect NI years through working and paying NI, but you can also get them if you’re claiming benefits or caring for others.
You can check your state pension forecast at https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension and your NI record at https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record.
Making voluntary contributions
If you do have a shortfall in your state pension entitlement, you may be able to pay voluntary contributions to fill any gaps in your NI record. Usually, it’s only possible to pay for gaps for the previous six years, but when the ‘new’ state pension was introduced in April 2016, transitional arrangements were put in place to allow gaps to be plugged all the way back to 2006. After 5 April 2025, this will revert to the usual six-year period.
The cost to fill in gaps in an NI record are up to £3.15 per week for class 2 contributions (£163.80 per year) or up to £15.85 per week for class 3 contributions (£824.20 per year). As each additional qualifying year equates to an extra £5.82 per week (£302.64 per year) of State Pension benefit, it’s easy to see the value of making these contributions. Voluntary payments can be made as a one-off payment or by quarterly or monthly instalments.
Please note that state pension is paid gross but is taxable, so you do need to factor in your own tax position when looking at the figures.
This article is for information only and should not be construed as advice or a recommendation. You should always seek independent financial advice prior to taking any action.
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