Claiming if pension is in payment

Normandlandings

Can someone tell me if I can claim extra years for my wife if her pension is already being paid? Her dob is 28/4/53 so she is on the "new" pension.

molerat

With an April 1953 birth she reached retirement 6 July 2016 so no option to add post 2016 years.  How many full years NI does her record show, if 35 or more there is no options to top up even if there are gaps.

Normandlandings

She has 30 years so I was investigating the possibility of buying an extra 5 years. Her NI record show 2008-2016 as "not full" and gives the cost of buying those extra years. (just 5 of them!)

molerat

How much is she currently receiving ?  Was she in a contracted out pension scheme ?

Normandlandings

She's receiving exactly 30/35ths of the maximum £203.85! She was a housewife for those years.

molerat

If she was a housewife with no contracted out pension then she should be able to buy 5 of those years to make up her pension to £203.85.  She needs to contact The Pension Service to confirm her status, they will only reply in writing, and take it from there.  Her pension will be increased from the date they receive the payment.  This is likely to take several months to complete. https://www.gov.uk/contact-pension-service