Did you reach State Pension age between 6/4/2010 and 5/4/2015?  Here is some help on how you can top up any missing years…

The DWP has published updated guidance for those who reached State Pension age between 6 April 2010 and 5 April 2015 on how they can top up their Basic State Pension.

The guidance applies to men born between 6 April 1945 and 5 April 1950 and women born between 6 April 1950 and 5 October 1952.

If individuals in these age ranges are not receiving or expecting to receive a full Basic State Pension, they may be able to increase their pension figure by paying up to six additional years of voluntary Class 3 National Insurance contributions for years going back to 1975. This is in addition to the opportunity they may already have to pay voluntary contributions for some of the last six tax years.

The weekly cost of voluntary contributions is £15.40 in 2021/22, or £800.80 a year, for each complete year that an individual buys. They may not need to pay for a whole year if they have already paid some contributions or have some credits for the tax year they want to pay for.

Each extra year they pay for will increase their basic State Pension by 1/30th of the full basic State Pension. The full basic State Pension is £137.60 a week from April 2021 and a 1/30th increase is around £4.59 a week. Voluntary contributions cannot increase their basic State Pension above the full rate.

The government guidance highlights areas to consider when deciding whether it makes sense to pay voluntary NI to increase the Basic State Pension. If you need further help get in touch with us.