State pensioners across the UK are being urged by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to make one check to boost their State Pension.
The DWP is advising people to download the HMRC app so they can check for any missing years in their National Insurance Contributions and potentially add £10,000s to their pension pot by plugging the gaps.
Currently, the full rate of the ‘new’ State Pension is £221.20 – and this will rise to £230.25 from April – but the amount you get is dependent on how many ‘qualifying’ National Insurance years you have.
National Insurance Contributions are collected through working and paying National Insurance, and you can also get them if you’re claiming certain benefits.
They count towards your State Pension and to get the maximum amount you generally need around 31 full National Insurance years. So if your State Pension payment is less than £221.20 per week then you could increase the amount you get by back-claiming or buying missing National Insurance years.
Each qualifying year after April 6, 2016 added to your National Insurance record will increase your State Pension, up to the current full rate of £221.20 per week.
According to MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis, pensioners can spend as little as £824 on buying a missing year to get £5,500 back. He said: “Boosting your state pension by back-claiming or buying missing National Insurance years is one of the single most lucrative things you can do. Many people have been in touch to say they’re likely to gain £10,000s from it.”
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the DWP said: “Want to know how much State Pension you’ll get? You may be able to get more by making Voluntary National Insurance Contributions. Check if this applies to you via the free HMRC GOV.UK app.”
In the last six months more than 10,000 people have boosted their pension pot by a combined £12.5 million, according to HMRC – but the deadline to make voluntary contributions is fast approaching.
Pensioners only have until April 5 to buy National Insurance contributions, after which you’ll only be able to make contributions for the previous six tax years. You can check your National Insurance record on the HMRC app and buy back any missing years before the deadline.
Your record will show every year since you were 16 and will say either ‘Full year’ or ‘Year is not full’ next, followed by a link to get more information. If you have any ‘not full’ years since 2006, it could be worth paying to fill these years to increase your State Pension.
If you do have any gaps it’s worth checking if you’re eligible for National Insurance credits first before deciding to pay voluntary contributions.
You can usually pay voluntary contributions for the past six years and the deadline is April 5 each year, but you can sometimes pay for gaps from more than six years ago, depending on your age.
If you’re below State Pension age you can access your State Pension forecast on the app which will show how much you’ll get when you retire based on your NI record to date, and if you’ll benefit from paying voluntary contributions.