The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is encouraging people to “check if this applies to you” as many could boost their State Pension amounts. At the moment, men to be born on or after April 6, 1951, or women on or after April 6, 1953., are usually eligible for the new State Pension.
Those with earlier birthdates will receive the basic State Pension. And to qualify for any new State Pension, you must have at least 10 qualifying years on their National Insurance record, according to the DWP.
A qualifying year is defined by DWP as a year in which a person was employed and paid National Insurance contributions, earned National Insurance credits, or made voluntary National Insurance contributions. Any gaps could result in insufficient National Insurance years for a full State Pension.
A post shared on by the DWP on X, previously known as Twitter, on Wednesday prompted people to see if they could get more State Pension by making extra contributions. The update reads: “Want to know how much #StatePension you’ll get? ” and “You may be able to get more by making Voluntary National Insurance Contributions Check if this applies to you via the free @HMRCgovuk app. #PensionPlanning”.
Voluntary contributions, DWP adds on Gov.uk, do not always increase the amount of State Pension. You can use the DWP’s “State Pension Forecast” tool to see whether you’d be better off for making any contributions here.