In a bid to cope with a rush of last minute inquiries around state pension top-ups ahead of the 5th April deadline, the Government has announced that provided people log an inquiry with the Future Pension Centre in time they will be able to make top-up payments after the deadline, says Steve Webb, partner at LCP.
At present, anyone on the new state pension wanting to fill gaps in their National Insurance (NI) record can still go back as far as the 2006/07 financial year rather than the normal limit of six years. This concession was originally due to run out in April 2023, was extended to July 2023 and then a further time to April 2025, each time because phonelines could not cope with the surge in demand.
One reason for the pressure on phonelines is because decisions about whether to top up, and which years to top up, can be complex and it can sometimes be helpful to talk through your options. Although HMRC now has an app where payments can be made directly, not all situations are covered by the app.
The process to make phone inquiries is by calling the DWP’s ‘Future Pension Centre’ (for those under pension age) or the Pension Service (for those already drawing a pension). These conversations will often focus on a discussion of how filling particular years will affect the state pension. Different years of gaps can cost different amounts to fill (for example, if the contributor has already paid part contributions for that year) and not all ‘gap’ years have the same effect on the final state pension calculation. In particular, in some cases, filling a gap before the new state pension started (in April 2016) will not always boost someone’s state pension.
The Government has now said that those who cannot get through ahead of the deadline can use an ‘online call back request form’. They say:
“This will enable people to request a call back about paying voluntary National Insurance contributions to fill gaps in State Pension entitlement between 2006 and 2018. The form will be available on the Contact the Future Pension Centre page on GOV.UK.
DWP will call back to discuss payment of voluntary National Insurance contributions. This will normally be within 8 weeks of submitting a request, there is no need to make further contact with DWP or HMRC.
People who submit a request to DWP by 5 April 2025 deadline will still be able to pay voluntary National Insurance contributions back to 6 April 2006, after the deadline has passed.
When a person submits a request, a message will appear on their screen to confirm that their request has been sent to the DWP Pension Centre. We’d recommend saving a screenshot of the confirmation message.
There will be no further need for people to contact DWP or HMRC”.
Commenting, Steve Webb, partner at pension consultants LCP said:
“After the chaos in the run-up to previous deadlines, it is good that the Government has planned ahead to make sure that people do not miss out simply because they cannot get through on official phonelines to discuss state pension top-ups. For many people a state pension top-up will be excellent value. But it is useful to be able to discuss your options with someone who can see your NI record and in particular highlight if topping up some years would be of little or no value. Whilst it would be better if people could simply call ahead of the deadline and get through, at least there is now the reassurance that those who try to make contact before the deadline will still be able to make payments after the deadline has passed”.
