Act Now: 5th April 2025 Deadline for NI Contributions – Don’t Miss Out on Your State Pension!
As the 5th April 2025 deadline approaches, it’s crucial to review your National Insurance (NI) contributions to ensure you maximise your State Pension entitlement. Missing this deadline could mean losing out on thousands of pounds in retirement income. Here’s what you need to know and what you should do before time runs out:
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Why the Deadline Matters
The 5th April 2025 marks the end of the extended window to fill gaps in your NI record dating back to April 2006. Normally, you can only back-date voluntary contributions for up to six years, but this special extension—introduced alongside the new State Pension system in 2016—allows individuals to fill gaps going back almost two decades.
After this deadline, you’ll only be able to make voluntary contributions for the usual six years. This means that after April 2025, any gaps before April 2019 will become permanently unfixable—potentially reducing the amount of State Pension you’ll receive.
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Who Should Take Action?
You should check your NI record if you:
- Had periods of low or no earnings (e.g., self-employed, career breaks, or working abroad).
- Claimed benefits that didn’t include NI credits.
- Were in a workplace pension scheme that opted you out of part of the NI system (before 2016).
- Want to boost your State Pension entitlement.
Even if you’re not near retirement age yet, this is a great opportunity to secure your future income.
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How to Check Your NI Record
1️⃣ Visit GOV.UK – Use the official National Insurance record checker to see any gaps in your contribution history.
2️⃣ Get a State Pension forecast – Find out how much you’re on track to receive.
3️⃣ Decide if you need to make voluntary contributions – If you have gaps, topping them up could increase your pension by thousands.
4️⃣ Contact HMRC – Speak with HMRC to assess whether paying voluntary contributions is worthwhile in your case. In the vast majority of instances it it worth doing so.
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Is It Worth Paying Voluntary Contributions?
For most people, paying voluntary Class 3 NI contributions is a great investment.
• Cost: £17.45 per missing week in 2024/25 (about £907 per year).
• Benefit: Each additional qualifying year boosts your pension by £302 per year.
• Break-even point: Just three years of receiving your pension would recoup your money.
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Don’t Delay – Act Before 5th April 2025
With less than a month to go, now is the time to take action. If you leave it too late, you may face delays in processing payments or even miss out altogether.
You should contact HMRC after accessing your government gateway and establishing missing years.
Unfortunately HMRC won't speak to us on your behalf without a letter which will cause delays and mean you'll miss out so it's best to call them directly. We would urge anyone who is not in serious ill-health to top up the missing years before the deadline.
About Matt Wiltshire : Matt is a Chartered Financial Planner and the Co-Managing Director of Niche Private Clients.
Call: 01633 851805
Email: info@nichepc.co.uk
Office: 5 & 6 Waterside Court, Albany St, Newport, NP20 5NT
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The contents of this article do not constitute financial advice in any way; if you have any concerns about your finances you should talk to your financial adviser. The value of your investments can go down as well as up.
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