Deadline to buy NI credits for State Pension pushed to July

It's the beginning of a new tax year, and along with the annual reminder to start using your ISA and pension allowances, there's also an important reminder for those looking to top up their National Insurance (NI) contributions and boost their State Pension entitlements before the July deadline.

Increase your State Pension entitlement

From 10th April 2023, the State Pension goes up and the full New State Pension will be £203.85 per week or £10,600.20 a year. However, in order to be eligible for this full amount, you need to have a total of 35 years of NI contributions under your belt when you retire.

The good news is that these 35 years don't need to be consecutive, but as many women end up taking time out of work for caring responsibilities - or unavoidable life stuff like illness, redundancy, etc - you might find that you're running a bit behind on your NI contributions.

But did you know that you can pay to plug the gaps in your record? You can buy NI 'credits' to make up for the years you missed. If you're a woman born after 5 April 1953, you can currently plug gaps going back to 2006, but the deadline for claiming this far back only goes to the end of July - so you'll need to get a wiggle on!

Apply for Child Benefit to get NI credits

A really important point here. If you're raising children and ‘not working’ (we know, we know, not our definition!) and if your family is eligible for child benefits, in whose name are you claiming them?

In many families, the benefits are claimed by the hubby, who is also the one working. If this is your family, and you're currently the non-earner, please read up on this because you’re losing out!

If the non-working parent claims the benefit in their name, they get the NI credit. So your State Pension should be bigger as a result of this purely administrative job on the To-Do list.

How to buy NI credits

You can find out if you're eligible for NI credits and how to go about buying them on the GOV.UK website. Click the link below to find out more.

5 things you need to think about for your State Pension

The UK's biggest investment platform, Hargreaves Lansdown, has put together a super helpful 5-point list of things to check and think about when it comes to your State Pension. Check them out below!

1. Go online and check your State Pension entitlement. This will also tell you your State Pension age and any ways you may be able to boost the amount of State Pension you're entitled to receive.

2. 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. However, you can register for child benefit without claiming the cash – so there’s no charge to pay but you still get the credits. If you claim child benefit in your name, then you will get the NI credit towards your pension.

3. 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.

4. 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. For 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.

5. It is, however, really important to check that it is worth your while paying for these credits so always check with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) before doing so.