Boost Your State Pension With Voluntary Contributions

• Published date: 09 August 2023
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Tax, Retirement, Superannuation & Pensions, National Insurance
• Law Firm: Hillier Hopkins
• Author: Hillier Hopkins LLP

Individuals aged between 45 and 72 have a terrific opportunity to boost their state pension but have until 5 April 2025 to do so.

The UK state pension currently stands at '203.85 a week per person, doubling to '407.70 for married couples. But the amount you receive will depend on the number of years you have been paying national insurance contributions.

Typically, to qualify for the full state pension most of us will need to have made 35 years of contributions, what the Government calls 'qualifying years'. It is not uncommon for people to have missed some years, perhaps through illness, time out of work to raise children or when self-employed, leaving them facing a reduced state pension on retirement.

But what many do not realise is that it is possible to plug those gaps by making voluntary national insurance contributions. And there is very good reason to do so. A voluntary contribution of just '800 could result in an additional '5,500 in your state pension.

There is, however, a limited window in which voluntary contributions can be made.

If gaps in your national insurance contributions fall between 2006 and 2016, you have until 5 April 2025 to plug...