Is the cost of filling Class 3 NI gaps voluntarily expected to rise on 6 April 2025?

EnquiringMind33

Apologies if it's a stupid question or has been asked and answered before. I wonder if the cost of filling a standard voluntary Class 3 NI gap is expected to increase with the new tax year? I'm currently (22 March 2025) looking at £800.80 to fill the full year 2021-2022. I know I technically have until 5 April 2028 (because I reach state pension age in 2029) to pay it if I need to delay, but I remember seeing a vague warning somewhere on HMRC's many relevant pages that the cost of filling the gap could change in the future.
I would also need to fill another gap (a more recent year, so that would be more expensive) if I want to reach my full forecast (which in my case is the maximum £221.20 per week), but filling the 2021-2022 gap above would bring me sufficiently close to the maximum that filling the second gap would only add £3.80/week to my state pension (vs, the £6.32 per week that paying for a full year gap normally adds to my achievable state pension forecast, as filling the 2021-2022 gap would do), so I think I may want to leave the later gap unfilled for now, and possibly never fill it, on a value for money basis (though I'm aware it would become more worthwhile to have filled it the longer I manage to live after retirement!).

Dazed_and_C0nfused

EnquiringMind33 said:

Apologies if it's a stupid question or has been asked and answered before. I wonder if the cost of filling a standard voluntary Class 3 NI gap is expected to increase with the new tax year? I'm currently (22 March 2025) looking at £800.80 to fill the full year 2021-2022. I know I technically have until 5 April 2028 (because I reach state pension age in 2029) to pay it if I need to delay, but I remember seeing a vague warning somewhere on HMRC's many relevant pages that the cost of filling the gap could change in the future.
I would also need to fill another gap (a more recent year, so that would be more expensive) if I want to reach my full forecast (which in my case is the maximum £221.20 per week), but filling the 2021-2022 gap above would bring me sufficiently close to the maximum that filling the second gap would only add £3.80/week to my state pension (vs, the £6.32 per week that paying for a full year gap normally adds to my achievable state pension forecast, as filling the 2021-2022 gap would do), so I think I may want to leave the later gap unfilled for now, and possibly never fill it, on a value for money basis (though I'm aware it would become more worthwhile to have filled it the longer I manage to live after retirement!).

Not sure I agree with your logic there.

Once we roll into the new tax year that £3.80/week becomes £3.95/week.

£3.95/week is £205/year.  Most likely £164 after tax. 

But where else are you going to get a guaranteed income of £164 for an initial outlay of say £900?  A post tax return of 18%.

QrizB

As I understand it, a full year will be going up to £923 a year, from £907 a year. Top-up payments for part-filled years will increase pro-rata.

p00hsticks

I've lost track a bit, but as I recall the rules prior to all these deadline extensions was that the cost of voluntary contributions for the last two tax years are charged at the rates applicable at the time, and any further back cost the same as for the current year. 

Assuming that after the deadline this April they revert back to those rules then (assuming Class 3)  years 2023-24 and 2024-25 would cost £17.45 a week (=£907.40 for the year), and all other years (back to 2019-20 only permitted) would cost the same as for 2025-26, which I think is £17.75 a week or £923 a year. I believe the rise each year is determined by inflation figures. 

refluxer

EnquiringMind33 said:

Apologies if it's a stupid question or has been asked and answered before. I wonder if the cost of filling a standard voluntary Class 3 NI gap is expected to increase with the new tax year? I'm currently (22 March 2025) looking at £800.80 to fill the full year 2021-2022. I know I technically have until 5 April 2028 (because I reach state pension age in 2029) to pay it if I need to delay, but I remember seeing a vague warning somewhere on HMRC's many relevant pages that the cost of filling the gap could change in the future.

I've got some incomplete years too, so have been looking into this today and noticed that the statement for two of the recent years I have which are not full (2021-2022 and 2022-2023) which previously said "This shortfall may increase after 5 April 2025" now says "This shortfall may increase after 3 May 2025", so it appears that I've got an additional 4 weeks to decide whether to pay up for those years now or risk the shortfall amounts increasing at some point in the future.

Whether it actually will increase is unclear to me, though. Looking back at some screenshots I took two years ago (March 2023), it stated then for the 2021-2022 tax year that "This shortfall may increase after 5 April 2024" but the amount I needed to pay back then is identical to the amount I would need to pay today for that particular year so it hasn't increased in the last two years, at least.

molerat

refluxer said:

EnquiringMind33 said:

Apologies if it's a stupid question or has been asked and answered before. I wonder if the cost of filling a standard voluntary Class 3 NI gap is expected to increase with the new tax year? I'm currently (22 March 2025) looking at £800.80 to fill the full year 2021-2022. I know I technically have until 5 April 2028 (because I reach state pension age in 2029) to pay it if I need to delay, but I remember seeing a vague warning somewhere on HMRC's many relevant pages that the cost of filling the gap could change in the future.

I've got some incomplete years too, so have been looking into this today and noticed that the statement for two of the recent years I have which are not full (2021-2022 and 2022-2023) which previously said "This shortfall may increase after 5 April 2025" now says "This shortfall may increase after 3 May 2025", so it appears that I've got an additional 4 weeks to decide whether to pay up for those years now or risk the shortfall amounts increasing at some point in the future.

Whether it actually will increase is unclear to me, though. Looking back at some screenshots I took two years ago (March 2023), it stated then for the 2021-2022 tax year that "This shortfall may increase after 5 April 2024" but the amount I needed to pay back then is identical to the amount I would need to pay today for that particular year so it hasn't increased in the last two years, at least.

The clock was paused at April 2023 with the prices stuck until it restarts on 6th April 2025.  There may be some delay in the clock restarting and prices increasing but I doubt it will be much more than a few weeks.  After all, the 2023 date was announced in 2013.

refluxer

Just to update this thread, despite the Government Gateway portal stating at the end of the last tax year on my NI record that the cost of making up the shortfalls for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 tax years 'may increase after 3 May 2025', the price for those two tax years actually increased on 6th April. The cost of making up those two tax years is now £200 more for me than it was last week.

To say I'm not impressed with the accuracy of the information on the Government Gateway portal would be an understatement. 

I've got screenshots for proof of this - would it be worth pursuing this obvious error on their part if I decided I wanted to make up these years now or would I be wasting my time ? I'm guessing these things are fairly set in stone but I don't have any personal experience of dealing with government departments for this type of thing.

Just to explain - the decision of whether or not to make up those years is not straight forward in my case, as I still have enough potential working years left for the required number of years to obtain the full state pension, however my future working situation is uncertain so the extra few weeks to gauge whether making up the shortfall (at the previous, lower price) was the right decision would have been very useful.

@EnquiringMind33 - if you didn't make up your own shortfall, you may want to check your new figures as the year you mentioned was the same as one of mine.

EnquiringMind33

refluxer said:

Just to update this thread, despite the Government Gateway portal stating at the end of the last tax year on my NI record that the cost of making up the shortfalls for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 tax years 'may increase after 3 May 2025', the price for those two tax years actually increased on 6th April. The cost of making up those two tax years is now £200 more for me than it was last week.

To say I'm not impressed with the accuracy of the information on the Government Gateway portal would be an understatement. 

I've got screenshots for proof of this - would it be worth pursuing this obvious error on their part if I decided I wanted to make up these years now or would I be wasting my time ? I'm guessing these things are fairly set in stone but I don't have any personal experience of dealing with government departments for this type of thing.

Just to explain - the decision of whether or not to make up those years is not straight forward in my case, as I still have enough potential working years left for the required number of years to obtain the full state pension, however my future working situation is uncertain so the extra few weeks to gauge whether making up the shortfall (at the previous, lower price) was the right decision would have been very useful.

@EnquiringMind33 - if you didn't make up your own shortfall, you may want to check your new figures as the year you mentioned was the same as one of mine.

Thanks very much for that update - I had no way of checking to see what happened to the cost of plugging my gap, because in the end I did fill my shortfall in time (it was difficult for me to afford, but that motivated me to get it done before the new tax year, just in case of increases). I'm very sorry to hear the effect the vague information on the government site had for your decision - that's so frustrating and annoying for you, but thanks again for kindly sharing your experience to help others. Good luck if you decide to look into it further.

Thanks also to everyone who responded to my question, much appreciated.

wiseonesomeofthetime

refluxer said:

Just to update this thread, despite the Government Gateway portal stating at the end of the last tax year on my NI record that the cost of making up the shortfalls for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 tax years 'may increase after 3 May 2025', the price for those two tax years actually increased on 6th April. The cost of making up those two tax years is now £200 more for me than it was last week.

To say I'm not impressed with the accuracy of the information on the Government Gateway portal would be an understatement. 

I've got screenshots for proof of this - would it be worth pursuing this obvious error on their part if I decided I wanted to make up these years now or would I be wasting my time ? I'm guessing these things are fairly set in stone but I don't have any personal experience of dealing with government departments for this type of thing.

Just to explain - the decision of whether or not to make up those years is not straight forward in my case, as I still have enough potential working years left for the required number of years to obtain the full state pension, however my future working situation is uncertain so the extra few weeks to gauge whether making up the shortfall (at the previous, lower price) was the right decision would have been very useful.

@EnquiringMind33 - if you didn't make up your own shortfall, you may want to check your new figures as the year you mentioned was the same as one of mine.

I have also just discovered this.

The regular saver I was going to use to purchase two years worth at £1,596 matures on 1 May 2025.

Just discovered that my screenshot figures have changed and so my matured funds are now insufficient (only just) as the required sum is now £1,830.

If only I had researched this on the forum last month, I may have seen the threads that highlighted this potential issue and moved funds around to purchase earlier.

wiseonesomeofthetime

Does the latest quoted prices stay the same now until next April?

I have sufficient funds to buy two years contributions, but if the price will be the same, say next March, I'd rather keep the funds earning me interest until next March.

molerat

wiseonesomeofthetime said:

Does the latest quoted prices stay the same now until next April?

Yes.  Prices only increase every 6 April. 24-25 stays at the current price until April 2027.