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A few weeks back I wrote my column on the impending deadline for people looking to fill holes in their national insurance record going back to 2006. Doing this can really increase the amount of state pension you get and once the opportunity closes on 5 April, you can only fill gaps going back six tax years. Filling these gaps can be a cost-effective way to boost your state pension.
At the time of writing, I mentioned that phonelines would likely get very busy in the run up to the deadline. This happened in the past and prompted the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to push back the deadline to its current date. Rumours are already surfacing that DWP telephone lines are under immense pressure from the number of people trying to take advantage.
Facing similarly high levels of demand, the DWP has opted to give a bit of breathing space by introducing a call back request option. As long as you use this, you should still be able to fill gaps going back to 2006 — even if the call back doesn’t happen until after 5 April.
Read more: How to fix gaps in your state pension contributions
It’s a move that should bring some level of relief to those who are beginning to panic about getting this done in time.
What to do
It’s important to be as organised as you can. You can check your national insurance record and state pension forecast for free with the Future Pension Centre and this should help you identify if you have any gaps that need to be filled.
Make a list of any questions that you need to discuss with the Future Pension Centre, so when the call back comes you are ready.
It is recommended that you screenshot any confirmation message that you get from the service, so you have evidence of the callback request being submitted on time.
As a quick round up, you need at least 10 years’ worth of national insurance contributions to qualify for any state pension and 35 years in theory to qualify for the full amount.
Read more: How Gen X can still save for a decent retirement
However, it’s not completely straightforward so don’t be tempted just to hand over money to fill gaps without checking that it will definitely be worth your while.
For instance, you may find that during one of these gaps you qualified for a benefit that comes with a voluntary national insurance credit. Examples include child nenefit or jobseekers allowance. If this is the case, then you may be able to backdate a benefit claim and fill those gaps for free.
Another thing to be aware of is if you were contracted out of the second state pension you may find that you aren’t on track to receive the full state pension but buying extra contributions may not improve your situation. This is a feature of the old basic state pension system that still affects many workers today.