On 5 April 2023, the ability to go back and fill in gaps in your National Insurance record in order to build up your State Pension entitlement will become more restricted. It’s therefore worth checking now whether there are any gaps in your record that need filling in.
It is the payment of National Insurance contributions that builds up your entitlement to State Pension, and it’s the number of years for which sufficient National Insurance was paid, known as “qualifying years”, that determines how much State Pension you will receive in retirement. Generally speaking, a full State Pension will currently require there to have been at least 35 “qualifying years”.
National Insurance is paid on “earnings”, both employed and self employed. Where there are gaps in the record, for example you either weren’t working or weren’t earning enough to make it a “qualifying year”, it’s possible to pay voluntary contributions to make up the shortfall.
Normally, it is only possible to make voluntary contributions for the past six tax years. However, currently there is an extension in place whereby individuals can fill any gaps from 6 April 2006 to the present date. This extension ends on 6 April 2023, after which it will only be possible to make voluntary contributions going back to the 2017/18 tax year.
Government Gateway
If you already have a Government Gateway login, for example if you have accessed your Personal Tax Account, checking your National Insurance record is easy using this link:
Check your National Insurance record – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
If you don’t have a Government Gateway login, it’s easy to set one up.
The first thing is to ensure that your record looks correct, based on your history of employment and self employment – HMRC do make errors! It’s important to note that being registered for certain benefits, such as Child Benefit, can preserve State Pension entitlement in years you were not working, so it’s important to check that is correctly recorded, too.
If there are gaps, you then need to decide whether to fill those gaps by making voluntary contributions – this is not always a straightforward decision as it depends to some extent on a prediction of future earnings up to retirement date.
If you have any queries or concerns after checking your National Insurance record, your usual contact at BHP will be able to advise you further. Get in touch on 0333 123 7171.
