Gaps in NI contributions

Lots of people have gaps in their National Insurance contribution record. This can be fixed.

Gaps can occur because you were unemployed and not claiming benefits, had low earnings that didn’t trigger contributions, worked outside the UK, or had periods of education or caring for others that didn’t qualify for credits. But there are ways to fix this and get a higher State Pension.

There are also some reasons that are more common in armed forces communities. For example:

• you accompanied a serving partner overseas and couldn’t work,
• you didn’t earn enough in a year, for example moving between roles or self-employment
• you had caring responsibilities,
• or you worked abroad before or after service.

These situations are normal, but they can create gaps in NI contributions that reduce State Pension entitlement if not addressed.

First, you should log into your personal tax account on gov.uk to see which years are full and which have gaps. You will also be shown how much those missing years reduce your State Pension forecast.

There is also information specifically for partners of armed forces personnel overseas. You can find this on gov.uk.

Depending on how long you plan to work for, you may not need to plug gaps to reach the required 35 years for full State Pension. That’s because if you’re still working then you’ll continue to build up contribution years.

In fact, if you have worked for a very long time, you could already have a 35-year record despite having some gaps or be on track to get 35 years before stopping work. In this case, topping up National Insurance contributions to fill gaps won’t help increase your State Pension.

If you are closer to retirement age, and have lots of gaps and no chance of making them up between now and State Pension age, then you can consider paying what is called voluntary Class 3 contributions. Normally, you can plug the gaps as far back as 6 tax years.

The deadline to pay is the 5th of April each year. Paying voluntary Class 3 contributions could be worth doing, as the amount paid in National Insurance contributions adds enough to the State Pension to pay for itself within a few years of retirement.

Before you pay voluntary contributions, check if you’re eligible for National Insurance credits.

These are usually given if you are a non-earner but have other responsibilities such as caring for a child or grandchild – or on maternity or paternity leave.

You may also be eligible for credits if you are looking for a job, disabled or on sick leave. You may be able to get National Insurance credits if you’re married to or the civil partner of a member of the armed forces and you go with them on an overseas posting.

The State Pension system changed in 2016 to a new, single-tier structure. Before this date, armed forces personnel were “contracted out,” meaning they paid lower National Insurance and built up a reduced State Pension, with part of their retirement income provided through the armed forces pension instead.

From 2016, contracting out ended and now everyone pays the same National Insurance rate towards the universal State Pension. If you served both before and after this change, your State Pension is calculated using a combination of both systems.

The government looks at both systems to make sure you get the right amount.:

They look at what you earned and contributed before 2016 – and what this qualified you for in terms of State Pension. They then consider what you have earned and contributed since 2016 and whether it is higher or gets you more. Based on this, you will get the highest figure you have qualified for, regardless of when contributions were made. You won’t lose out.

Important things to know:

The 10-Year Rule: You need at least 10 years of National Insurance contributions to get any State Pension at all.

The 35-Year Rule: You need 35 years of contributions to get the maximum amount.

Armed forces families can get NI credits. If either you accompanied a serving partner overseas, or your partner accompanied you, there are special National Insurance credits available to protect the accompanying person’s State Pension entitlement.

There are two types:

1. Class 1 credits are used for accompanied postings on or after 6 April 2010.

These protect the recipient’s State Pension and some working-age benefits. Applications usually need to be made before the end of the tax year after the assignment ends. For example, for a posting that ended between 6 April 2025 and 5 April 2026, you should apply for Class 1 credits by 5 April 2027.

2. for accompanied postings from 6 April 1975 to 5 April 2010, Class 3 credits are used.

These protect the State Pension only and there is no time limit to apply. These credits only apply to UK National Insurance.

In some situations during earlier service, locally recruited personnel for example, in certain Gurkha units, were not covered under the UK National Insurance system. This means their spouse or partner wouldn’t be able to claim NI credits for those periods, because NI contributions weren’t being paid by the serving partner.

If you’re not sure whether this applies to you, HMRC can check your record and tell you which years count and what you may be able to claim. You can find the relevant links below.

It’s quite common to have periods when you haven’t paid National Insurance contributions. A quick check on the gov.uk website will show you any gaps and whether topping up might help. Taking a moment to do this now can help make sure you don’t miss out on money in retirement.