Men born after April 6 1951 or women born after April 6 1953 are eligible to make voluntary National Insurance contributions
The DWP are urging people to check their State Pension and pay for gaps in National Insurance records. The warning by the Department for Works and Pensions comes as an important April deadline approaches.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, the official DWP account posted “Don’t miss out on your State Pension entitlement The April 5 2025 deadline for paying voluntary National Insurance contributions to fill any gaps between 2006 and 2018 is approaching.”
The government department has highlighted the significance of the April 5 deadline, they stated “You have until April 5 to fill gaps in your National Insurance (NI) record dating back to April 6 2006. After this date, payments can only be made for the previous six tax years.”
Most people need 35 qualifying years on their National Insurance record to be eligible for the full new State Pension, or 10 years to get any pension at all. If you don’t have enough you can “buy” some, often getting much more back than you spend in pension payments. The “full” state pension is currently worth £221.20 a week.
HM Revenue and Customs and the DWP offer an online state pension forecast service to help people calculate if they’ll benefit from making voluntary contributions. Since the launch of the digital service last April, 37,000 people have topped up more than 68,000 years, worth £35 million.
Last month, Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Second Permanent Secretary and Deputy Chief Executive, said: “There are just two months left to check and fill any gaps in your National Insurance record from 2006 onwards to boost your State Pension entitlement. Don’t delay – it is quick and easy to check your National Insurance record on GOV.UK and it could help your finances in retirement.”
Customers should check if they can get National Insurance credits before they look into paying voluntary contributions. Men born after April 6 1951 or women born after April 6 1953 are eligible to make voluntary National Insurance contributions to boost their new State Pension.
The majority of customers of working age will be able to use the online service, without needing to phone HMRC or DWP, including those living abroad who want to pay voluntary contributions for years they were resident in the UK.
Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert has urged people to take advantage of the checking missing National Insurance years from 2006 to 2016. They state: “This is big money. It’s the most lucrative thing many under the age of 73 can do, and some gain £10,000s.”
