Topping Up State Pension with Years when Not Working/Not Self-Employed

BR5500

I've been self-employed for most of my life and have paid Class 2 National Insurance Contributions. Due to ill health, I was unable to work for a few years so as expected, my State Pension Forecast is approximately 88% of the full amount.

Having checked online on the government site, top-up years are quoted at £824.20 per year, however Class 2 contributions are currently only £179.40 a year. The government site informs me that I am unable to buy the top ups online and need to call the Future Pension Centre.

Will I be able to purchase top ups by purchasing NICs from years when I was not self-employed and not working? 

Also, the gaps are before 2016 - I have read elsewhere that topping up for years before 2016 will not have any effect on topping up the pension payments but I'm not sure this is correct?

molerat

Yes.  Anyone with gaps can top up with class 3 contributions. Were you claiming benefits while you were not working ? You need to speak to the FPC to ensure the top ups will actually make a difference to your pension. But if you post up some anonymous details from your forecast someone here will give you the same information that you will get from the FPC so you can go in informed when you contact them.

Current weekly £££.pp amount up to April 2024.
Number of full NI years 15-16 and earlier
Number of full NI years 16-17 and later
Tax year you reach state retirement
Any COPE amount.  If you have "You've been in a contracted-out pension scheme" on your forecast then click
here https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-your-state-pension/account/cope whilst logged into your tax account
Years which show not full and prices

BR5500

Many thanks for the reply, much appreciated. I was living with my parents when I was ill so I've never claimed any benefits in my life.

That would be a great help if someone on here could give me the same help as the FPC - I wouldn't normally have left it so late to consider topping up but due to my health/potential life span and the uncertainty of what could happen to state pensions in the future, I've kept delaying addressing the issue of topping up.

Currently weekly estimate up to April 2024: £75.84 a week (forecast £195.92 a week if I contribute until April 2043, which I expect to achieve)

Number of full NI years 15-16 and earlier: 2
Number of full NI years 16-17 and later: All, 8

Tax year I reach state retirement: 2043/2044

No COPE amount.

Many thanks again for your help.

molerat

I've been self-employed for most of my life and have paid Class 2 National Insurance Contributions.

I am having a bit of trouble reconciling that statement.  Currently aged 50 with only 10 years of contributions ?  Also your pre 2016 additional pension amount seems high for only 2 years filled, is there a statement at the bottom of the list about more years ? 4 would be a more likely number.

Are any of your not full gap years showing as "we are checking" ?  Any years when you know you paid class 2 not showing full ?

What years are showing as payable ?

You currently "need" 4 past years as the rest are fillable going forward.  With that short a record any year will add to your pension, 2016 gaps not adding is a specific situation that certainly doesn't apply to you.

BR5500

Many thanks for getting back to me. I'm 48 now and have been struck down with a non curable autoimmune disease so I only have 10 years of contributions, plus 3 years in the 1990s which I had previously overlooked, so that makes 13 years of contributions, with 5 years rather than 2 years pre 2016.

There isn't any statement at the bottom about more years nor any years shown as "we are checking." There are no years not showing as full when I know I paid class 2.

The years showing as payable are 2006 - 2007 up until 2013 - 2014.

My basic understanding was I need to contribute 35 years for a full state pension and that I've contributed 10/11 years and have a further 19 years ahead to contribute so this leaves a balance of at least 4 years to fill the gaps.


Thanks again. 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

BR5500 said:

Many thanks for getting back to me. I'm 48 now, I was at uni til my late 20s and have been struck down with a non curable autoimmune disease so I only have 10 years of contributions. I started a business after uni but I'm pretty sure from memory that my profits were too low to trigger any NICs from that period but my accountants dealt with that so I'm not 100% sure. 

There isn't any statement at the bottom about more years nor any years shown as "we are checking." There are no years not showing as full when I know I paid class 2.

The years showing as payable are 2006 - 2007 up until 2013 - 2014.

My basic understanding was I need to contribute 35 years for a full state pension and that I've contributed 10/11 years and have a further 19 years ahead to contribute so this leaves a balance of at least 4 years to fill the gaps.

I'll re-check the forecast now to see if I can glean anything else.

Thanks again. 

That basic understanding is wrong.  The 35 years system applies to those starting to build an NI history from 2016 onwards.

You have already posted information which shows you need 33 years.

If you have already accrued £75.84 then you need to add another £145.36 to reach £221.20.

Each post 2016 years adds £6.32/week so another 23 years adds that £145.36.

Currently weekly estimate up to April 2024: £75.84 a week (forecast £195.92 a week if I contribute until April 2043, which I expect to achieve)

Number of full NI years 15-16 and earlier: 2
Number of full NI years 16-17 and later: All, 8

BR5500

My apologies, having rechecked my National Insurance Records, I also have 3 full years from the 1990s so this hopefully makes more sense of my projected pension.

That makes perfect sense re: needing to contribute another 23 years to receive a full pension so my shortfall to top-up is 4 years. I do wonder though if the pension age will be increased to early 70s by the 2040s.

molerat

The pension forecast is just fairly straightforward maths so things will pop out if they don't add up.  From what you have given your current £75.84 with an 8/2 post/pre 2016 split means that your 2016 starting amount was £17.79 made up of £7.94 basic and £9.84 additional pension which does not seem plausible.  Plus as you were 18 before 2010 you should have 3 freebie years for being 16, 17 & 18, the figures just don't compute.  All that does not really matter though, I was just hoping to see some evidence of unrecorded years. You need another 23 years to reach the max with 19 years to do it so at least 4 past gaps need filling.  The only slight problem is that if that pre 2016 data is correct then filling another 4 would still leave you short of the max as those years would only add £5.65 against £6.32 for a post 2016 year so would actually need to buy 5 to get the extra £2.68.  If however you actually have 4 pre 2016 years already then any further purchases would add £6.32 each.

BR5500

molerat said:

The pension forecast is just fairly straightforward maths so things will pop out if they don't add up.  From what you have given your current £75.84 with an 8/2 post/pre 2016 split means that your 2016 starting amount was £17.79 made up of £7.94 basic and £9.84 additional pension which does not seem plausible.  Plus as you were 18 before 2010 you should have 3 freebie years for being 16, 17 & 18, the figures just don't compute.  All that does not really matter though, I was just hoping to see some evidence of unrecorded years. Now you just need to ensure you get the 4 years needed to get a full pension at the end.

Many thanks again. I must confess that given my health, I've not given any thought to my state pension in the past, as no doubt you can tell! I had no idea about the 3 freebie years and the previous deadline for top ups a couple of years ago had completely passed me by! 

In a nutshell though, that is encouraging to hear I only need an extra 4 years to ensure a full pension is received. 

molerat

The on line top ups eligibility seem a bit hit and miss, not really sure of the criteria.

Plus I have edited my previous post so I suggest you read it again.

BR5500

That's great, I should have 5 pre-2016 contributions so 4 extra years should be sufficient. I feel much happier about calling the FPC now, assuming I'll be able to get through to them so near the deadline!