Millions have just two months to check and claim £10,000s – how to avoid missing out
MILLIONS of workers have just two months to carry out a check and claim tens of thousands of pounds.
People approaching retirement age can plug the gaps in their National Insurance record to boost their state pension.
You might have holes in your record for various reasons, like if you took time out to raise children.
If you don’t fill in the gaps you could end up missing out on the full state pension when you retire, which at the moment is worth £203.85 a week or £10,608 a year .
It takes 35 “qualifying” years of National Insurance (NI) contributions to get the full state pension.
But if you do have holes, you can pay for the gaps to be filled.
For a limited time you can backfill holes from 2006 to 2016 but this scheme is ending on July 31.
The scheme was due to end back in April but it was extended because government phone lines were jammed with people calling to top-up their contributions and not being able to get through.
Now, after July 31 that you’ll only be able to top up for the previous six years.
Experts have warned people not to wait until the deadline in case the same issues happen again.
Those who could benefit from the scheme are being urged to apply before the deadline – and doing so could get you £55,000 over a 20-year retirement.
Here’s the full list of reasons you might have gaps in your record and risk missing out on the full payment.
You can check how many years of NI payments you’ve made and see any missing years on the government website.
How to top up National Insurance contributions and how much you can get
Currently, you can top up for any missing years dating back to 2006 but a six-year limit will return on July 31, restricting how far you can go back to 2016.
This scheme only applies to people who reached (or will reach) state pension age after April 5, 2016.
In some cases, buying back missing years can be really valuable.
But, earning back the years isn’t free so your voluntary contributions do come at a price.
How much you pay will depend on whether you fill the gaps between 2006/07 to 2015/16 before the end of July, that’s because anyone doing so will be paying the 2022/23 rates.
It works out to be worth £15.85 a week which means it costs £824.20 to buy one year of contributions.
As the state pension was £185.15 per week in 2022/23, this boost would add £5.29 per week or around £275 per year.
Although you’d have to pay £8,242 (10 lots of £824.20), the annual state pension boost would be around £2,750.
Someone who was retired for 20 years would get back around £55,000 in total (before tax).
Anyone who tops-up their record after July 31 will pay the 2023/24 rates.
This works out to be £17.45 per missing week which means it costs £907.40 to buy one year of contributions.
As the state pension is currently £203.85 per week, this boost would add £5.82 per week or around £302.86 per year – or £6,057 over a 20-year retirement.
Someone with 10 missing years could pay out a little over £9,000 to fix the gaps but see a boost of £60,000 (before tax) in state pension over a typical 20-year retirement.
Though before making voluntary contributions, you need to get a pension forecast and speak to the Government’s Future Pension Centre.
This is because there are some situations in which paying historic contributions wouldn’t boost your state pension.
You can check the full list of who’s eligible for claiming credits on the government website.
It explains the circumstances where you’ll need to claim and when you’ll get it automatically.
Meanwhile, here are four of the best ways to boost your retirement pot and two to avoid.
Plus, savers could be missing out on hundreds of thousands by not making a key move ahead of retirement.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk