SJP UK National Insurance Contributions (NICs)
Don't miss out on the opportunity to fill the gaps in your UK National Insurance record.
While individuals can typically only make voluntary contributions for the past 6 years, there's now a chance to pay for gaps from more than 6 years ago. The deadline has now been extended to 5 April 2025.
Why contribute to your missed years?
Individuals may have gaps in their UK National Insurance record if they have not been making NICs while non-UK resident. Gaps can mean they will not have sufficient years of National Insurance contributions to get the full State Pension.
Guide to maximising your UK State Pension whilst abroad
Whilst abroad, you may not realise that it is still possible to make National Insurance contributions. This is understandable especially when you are no longer on a UK payroll and the contributions are not automatically deducted from your pay.
What are you entitled to?
Your UK National Insurance record determines your eligibility to the UK State Pension and various other UK welfare benefits. In order to be eligible for the full State Pension, you will need 35 qualifying years of contributions and at least 10 qualifying years to receive anything at all. It is therefore crucial that you continue contributing to your National Insurance whilst abroad if you are eligible to do so, especially if you have gaps in your record.
Checking your National Insurance records
You should first check your National Insurance records to see how many years of contributions you currently have, and then decide if you should make voluntary contributions to make up for any gaps in your records.
You can check your NI record initially through your UK Government Gateway here.
It will provide you with a complete breakdown of your annual contributions and provide you with a summary of the number of years where contributions were not made in full. It will also provide a pension forecast at retirement age. To be a qualifying year, it must be a complete year – paying contributions for part of a year will not count.
Making contributions
As a non-UK resident, you may wish to make voluntary contributions to qualify for benefits like the state pension. To be eligible, you must meet the requirements to pay voluntary NICs for the time that the contributions cover.
Normally, gaps in your National Insurance record from the past 6 years can be filled by making contributions. In some cases, gaps from more than 6 years ago can also be paid, depending on individual circumstances.
Once you have reviewed your records and have discussed with your SJP Partner on the merits of making voluntary contributions, you will need to make an application to pay voluntary NI contributions.
As someone who is based abroad, only Class 2 and Class 3 NICs apply.
Living and working abroad |
Class 2 - but only if you’ve worked in the UK immediately before leaving, and previously lived in the UK for 3 years in a row and paid 3 years of contributions |
Living abroad but not working |
Class 3 - but only if at some point they lived in the UK continuously for 3 years and paid 3 years of contributions |
To pay either Class 2 or Class 3 contributions, you will also need to have satisfied the following conditions:
- You have previously lived in the UK for 3 years in a row
- You have paid at least 3 years of contributions
To make voluntary contributions whilst abroad, you should complete form CF83 at the end of leaflet NI83, and then send the form directly to HMRC using the address on the form.
5 April 2025 deadline
The UK government has recently announced an extension of the deadline to address gaps in your National Insurance (NI) record. You now have until 5th April 2023 to potentially fill in gaps dating as far back as 2006.
After the deadline, you will only be able to address gaps going back 6 years. This may not be enough if you only have fewer than 4 qualifying years on your record, so take advantage of the extension of the deadline if you wish to make up for the gaps going back to 2006.
Getting in touch with HMRC
You should contact the HMRC Future Pensions Centre who will be able to confirm your entitlement, confirm the voluntary contributions they could consider making and the amount to be paid. The contact details for the Future Pension Centre can be found here.
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