Increase your State Pension with voluntary National Insurance contributions

Your State Pension depends on how many years you’ve made National Insurance contributions for, known as qualifying years.  

National Insurance contributions are made before you reach State Pension age, usually if you’re employed, self-employed or receiving certain benefits like Child Benefit, Universal Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance. 

You normally need at least: 

• 35 qualifying years of contributions to get the full amount (currently £221.20 a week), or 
• ten qualifying years to get the minimum (currently £63.20 a week). 

You’ll get an amount in between if you have 11 to 34 years of contributions. You might need more than 35 years to get the full amount if you were working before April 2016 and were contracted out of the Additional State PensionOpens in a new window

If you’re missing sufficient contributions during a tax year, that entire year won’t count towards your State Pension entitlement. If you’d like to make it count, one option is to pay voluntary National Insurance contributions. 

A voluntary National Insurance contribution is when you pay a set amount to buy a complete year.

If you’ve already made enough National Insurance contributions to qualify for the full amount of State Pension, or you’re likely to make them anyway by working or receiving benefits, you don’t need to consider voluntary contributions. 

You can check your National Insurance record at GOV.UKOpens in a new window to see your State Pension summary, including: 

• how much State Pension you’re on track to get 
• your State Pension age 
• if you have any missing National Insurance contributions (incomplete years), and 
• if you can make voluntary contributions. 

Your record will also show how much voluntary contributions would cost you, and how much your State Pension would then increase. This can help you decide if it’s worth paying them. 

If you’re under State Pension age, you can also call the free Future Pension Centre helplineOpens in a new window to speak to someone about your options.  

If you already receive your State Pension, your State Pension summary might not show how much you currently get. Instead, check your bank statements or you can contact: 

• the Pension ServiceOpens in a new window, or 
• the Northern Ireland Pension CentreOpens in a new window if you live in Northern Ireland. 

If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, you’ll be on the old system. This means you can’t boost the amount you get using voluntary contributions, but you might get more if you delay receiving your pension.

If your National Insurance record at GOV.UKOpens in a new window shows you’re able to make voluntary contributions, here are the free alternatives to consider first.

Check if you can claim free National Insurance creditsOpens in a new window to fill your gaps instead. For example, if you’re an unpaid carer or looking for work. Some claims can be backdated.

If you have a child under 12, or you look after one in your family, check if National Insurance credits can be transferred to you.

When Child Benefit is paid, National Insurance credits are added to the person claiming it. But if that person is already working and making contributions anyway, they can ask to transfer them to you at the end of each tax year.

If you’ve reached your State Pension age, check if Pension Credit will top up your State Pension for free. You often qualify if you won’t have any other income than the State Pension.

If you already claim Pension Credit, any increase in the State Pension will usually reduce how much Pension Credit you get. So, you often won’t be better off paying for voluntary contributions.

You could also consider delaying (deferring) your claim for State Pension to increase the amount you get. See our guide Increase your State Pension by delaying your claim for more information.

Your National Insurance record at GOV.UKOpens in a new window can calculate how much it will cost you to plug any gaps.

Here’s a guide to the rates you’ll pay if you’re employed. The rates are much lower if you’re self-employed.

Each extra complete year of National Insurance you buy will give you up to £6.32 more a week (£328.64 a year) in State Pension, before any annual increase. 

The point of making voluntary National Insurance contributions is to pay a small amount now, so you get more State Pension in the long run.

For example, you could pay between £15.30 and £907.40 for one extra National Insurance year and get back: 

• over £1,600 if you lived for another five years, and  
• over £6,500 if you lived another 20 years.  

It can take a number of years to get back what you pay in, so think about how long you’ll expect to get your State Pension for. If you die before reaching State Pension age, you won’t get anything back.

MoneySavingExpert has a State Pension top-up calculatorOpens in a new window that might help, as it shows how many years it will take for you to break even if you pay for full years.

You usually pay Income Tax if your total income is over £12,570 a year (for the 2024/25 tax year).  

This means the extra amount in State Pension you’ll get from making voluntary contributions might be reduced by paying extra tax, especially if it means you’ll have to pay a higher tax rate. 

For more information, see our guides: 

• How Income Tax and the Personal Allowance works 
• Scottish Income Tax and National Insurance.

If you decide voluntary contributions are right for you, you have until 5 April 2025 to pay for any gaps dating back to April 2006. From 6 April 2025, you’ll only be able to fill gaps in the last six tax years. 

See GOV.UK for how to pay voluntary Class 3 National InsuranceOpens in a new window 

Voluntary contributions usually can’t be refunded, so if you’re not sure about anything, it’s best to speak to someone about your options first: 

• if you’re under State Pension age, you can call the Future Pension Centre helplineOpens in a new window  
• if you’re over State Pension age, you can contact the Pension ServiceOpens in a new window or the Northern Ireland Pension CentreOpens in a new window if you live in Northern Ireland.