- Government has announced people now have until 31 July to plug gaps in their National Insurance records back to 2006 to boost their state pension.
- You can usually purchase voluntary National Insurance credits to plug gaps going back six tax years.
- But if you’re a man born after 5 April 1951, or a woman born after 5 April 1953 you can currently plug gaps in your National Insurance record going back to 2006.
- The deadline to do this had previously been 5 April.
- The decision came after reports of long waiting times for people calling for more information.
Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown:
“It is fantastic news that the government has listened to people’s concerns and extended the deadline until the end of July. Concerns had been raised following long call wait times for people trying to get more information on how best to go about boosting their pension.
Buying voluntary National Insurance credits are a great way of boosting your state pension but it is vital that you check before handing over any money as you may be able to plug these gaps in a different way – by backdating a benefit claim for instance. This extra time means people have the time to make sure they are making the right decision for their circumstances and give more people the opportunity to make a real difference to how much state pension they get.”
How you can boost your state pension
- Go online and check your state pension entitlement on Check your State Pension forecast – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) This will also tell you your state pension age.
- Claim child benefit – Women in particular miss out on valuable state pension credits when they are at home looking after children. However, if they claim child benefit, they will receive NI credits that count towards their state pension. Many women have missed out on this in the past because their husband claimed the child benefit rather than them. Others missed out when they opted out of child benefit after the introduction of the high-income child benefit tax charge. If you claim child benefit in your name, then you will get the NI credit towards your pension.
- Specified Adult Childcare Credit – Are you under state pension age and looking after a family member under the age of 12 while their parent or main carer goes back to work? If this is the case, you could qualify for NI credits under Specified Adult Childcare Credit as the working parent essentially transfers their NI credit to you.
- Buy NI credits – If you can spare the cash, you can plug gaps in your NI record by buying voluntary class 3 NI contributions. Buying a full extra year costs around £800 though partial years will be cheaper. Each year bought you get 1/35th of a year’s state pension – around £275. This means you effectively earn your money back in around three years so it can prove very good value.
- It is, however, really important to check that it is worth your while paying for these credits so always check with DWP before doing so.
