On 5 April, the deadline closes to voluntarily pay for missing National Insurance contributions as far back as 2006. Whether or not you have set up a private pension, you should make the most of your state pension to maximise your pay outs in retirement. Here we explain why you should check for missing NI contributions and what you should do if you find gaps in your NI record. 

Deadline to Voluntarily Pay for Missing NI Contributions

Missing NI contributions may not sound like a big deal, but topping up any missing or incomplete years within your NI record can add up to a bigger pay out later in life. In each year of your adult life, you have the opportunity to earn NI credits. You will gain these by working – either for yourself or for an employer, or looking after children, or while on certain benefits. Once you’ve got enough credit in a single tax year, that becomes considered a ‘complete year’ in your National Insurance Record. You need at least 10 qualifying NI years to access the State Pension. Following this, the more years you complete, the larger your State Pension pay out will be when you reach your qualifying age, up to a limit. To qualify for the maximum amount of State Pension, you will need around 35 qualifying NI years. The exact amount will depend on your circumstances.

Why Does the State Pension Matter?

The State Pension is a regular payment from the government that most workers can claim when they reach State Pension age. You may also accrue a top-up to your pension from a workplace or private pension scheme, which may evolve throughout your career. 

 

Ensuring that your record contains enough qualifying years before you reach the state pension age will make you eligible for a larger amount of state pension. Any money you owe can make a big difference to your quality of life later on, for anyone with missing or incomplete years of NI contributions.

 

It is recommended that you set up a private pension, which you should do as early as possible in your career, to make your retirement as enjoyable as possible, especially considering you have earned it by making National Insurance contributions throughout your career. The pension age differs for different generations due to the improvements in later life health and consequent longer life expectancy. It is common for many people to have missing and incomplete past years in their NI records. The most common reasons for this are years abroad, periods of low income, career breaks, or not claiming credits.

Why This Matters

You can buy back missing or incomplete years in your NI record, as far back as 2006. This applies to the ‘new’ State Pension, introduced in 2016. Those eligible are men born after 5 April 1951 and women born after 5 April 1953

When the ‘new’ State Pension was launched, it incorporated these transitional arrangements, allowing you to buy back any missing NI years for longer than usual,  yet this will end on 5 April 2025. Following that date, you will have the opportunity to buy back missing years as far as 6 years, but no further back. So, if you started your career before 2019, it’s worth checking if you have any missing years that can be topped up to ensure you will receive the maximum amount due to you. 

 

You can check your past NI record for any missing or incomplete years. Either you will see a ‘full year’, for which you have earned the credit towards your State Pension. If you see ‘year is not full’, even missing a week of credits can mean you get nothing for that year. 

 

You can check your State Pension forecast to see if you can receive a full State Pension. Someone on track for a full State Pension would currently see a £221.20 a week forecast. That is the maximum available, which equates to £961.83 a month or £11,541.90 per year. Provided you are not planning to move abroad or stop work early. To increase this amount, you need to set up a private pension into which you can pay your earnings into.

Most of the time, NI years are automatically allocated to you; however, they need to be claimed in some cases. Claiming Child Benefit triggers eligibility for National Insurance credits if you are not working, as it is expected that you are looking after your child. Yet many who don’t work or cannot work enough to earn the NI contribution for that year, potentially miss out. It should be the non-working or least working partner who claims the Child Benefit. Fortunately, it is possible to request that the NI for these years be transferred to the other partner using this form. This also applies to other family members, including grandparents providing childcare. Suppose a family member cares for a child aged under 12 years, or has done so at any time after 2011, before they were State Pension age (even if they are now). In that case, the parent can apply to transfer the NI credit for which they are eligible for childcare to the family member.

 

People aged 16 to State Pension age who provide unpaid care for at least 20 hours a week for someone receiving Personal Independence Payment or Disability Living Allowance are eligible for free NI credits.

 

The closer you reach state pension age, the more worthwhile it is to check how many qualifying years you have. For younger workers planning to stay in the UK and work for much of the rest of their life, there is still time to fill the gaps, so there is more opportunity to fill the requirement for between 10 – 35 whole years, unless you have missed out on lots of working years and therefore are a long way from the full forecast. The exception is that if you can buy a cheap partial year, it only costs up to £50. In this case, if you’ve got the cash, you may see it as insurance against you not earning in the future. 

What is the Triple Lock

Currently, the state pension increases yearly in line with the rising cost of living seen in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation, increasing average wages, or 2.5%, whichever is highest. This is known as the triple lock. Depending on your circumstances, not everyone will want to pay to voluntarily top up their missing or incomplete years of NI contributions. It’s best to calculate the cost and weigh this up against the likelihood of earning enough complete NI years. If unsure, there is a phone back service to help you estimate your best options. With the deadline approaching, this service is busy,  yet the Department for Work and Pensions has launched a backstop for those unable to speak to an adviser before the deadline. If you submit this DWP callback request form before 5 April 2025, then the DWP promises that even if they cannot respond to you until after 5 April, you can process any missing payments without repercussions. It is recommended that you take a screen grab of your filled-in form,

 Before you submit it, prove that you have contacted them before the deadline in good faith.

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