Martin Lewis warns people only have until start of April to boost State Pension payments

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Martin Lewis has issued an urgent warning to people who may not realise an important “deadline is looming” which could affect how much State Pension you will receive from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in retirement.

People will only be able to plug gaps in their National Insurance record going back as far as 2006 until April 5, after that date, you can only buy missing credits for the last six years.In this week’s pensions special of The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, the consumer champion explained how the New State Pension was introduced on April 6, 2016 and to qualify for the full payment, currently worth £185.15 per week, you would need “35-ish years” worth of National Insurance Contributions.He told viewers: “If you’re aged 45-ish to 70, this is an urgent State Pension boost.”Martin explained how some people may be missing National Insurance years for a number of reasons including caring for someone, caring for a child, living abroad, on a low income or having a career break.He said: “This is why it’s so urgent.

Transitional arrangements were put in place in 2016 and they end this tax year, that is April 5 and about six weeks away - that is not a long time to do something quite complicated.“Until then, you can plug any gaps back to 2006 in your National Insurance years, but after that, you can only go back six tax years to 2017.“So there are 11 years that you will lose the ability to buy abc from April 6.” Martin then urged everyone under State Pension age to log on to the GOV.UK website and check their State Pension summary using the online forecast tool here.This will tell you whether your State Pension is on track to be paid at the full rate when you reach retirement age.