National insurance contributions

buryboy1800

My wife had an accident 12 years ago so is unable to work she recieves pip. we want to keep her  contributions up to date but dont no how to 

MX5huggy

Does she receive any other benefits (including child benefit). If not would she be eligible for ESA. Basically is she or could she be getting credits already? 

https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility

Secret2ndAccount

Firstly, it's possible she is receiving, or eligible for free NI credits:


If she isn't eligible, then there are several steps to go through:
1. Go to https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension     and get a pension forecast. Don't just read the top line. The top line tells you how much is the most she could potentially get. Further down, it tells you what she's in line for now, and how many years of NI payments are needed to get from the low number to the high number.
2. Go to https://www.gov.uk/future-pension-centre    Easiest is to give them a call, but you can also write.
They can tell you which years are good ones to pay in order to boost your pension.
Some years might not gain you any extra pension
Some years are a bit cheaper than others
Some years need to be sorted by 2023 or the chance to buy them goes away
3. At your request, HMRC will write to you, giving you a reference number, and bank account details.
4. You decide which years to pay. Could do some now and some later, or pay a whole load in one go.
5. Eventually - and it takes months - your pension forecast updates to reflect the extra pension

When buying extra pension, you pay roughly £800 for each year of NI, and that gets you £5 per week extra pension. This makes it very good value, assuming your wife has reasonable life expectancy. It only takes a few years to get your money back after State Pension Age.