National Insurance Contributions

whitelillie

Hi everyone i could do with a bit of advice.
Today i recieved a letter from HM Revenue and Customs regarding national insurance contributions it states that their is a Gap in my NICs for tax year 2010/2011 this is because my child reached 12 years old in 2010 so child benifit stopped paying any NICs, to be honest i didnt know anything about this .
So they now say i can pay the full 2010/2011 year to add to my NICs to help towards my state pension which i cant afford to do at this present time as my husband is claming esa, and ive just been awarded carers allowance but that dont start until oct this year which i know il be ok with my NICs for this tax year but ive still got 2011/2012 to do next year if i dont pay towards my pension where do i stand im totally confused .

princessdon

You need (currently as it could change) 30 years NI conts to qualify for a basic state pension in your own right.

So from this year you don't get any credits.

If you say have 20 years credits so far, then you would need another 10 to qualify. You will still get a pension, just not as large a value as those who have credits.

As you are now getting your Nic's via carers I can't see one year making one jot of difference.