Under the new state pension system, if your NI record started before April 2016, you will need at least 35 years of NI contributions or credits to qualify for the full payment of £221.20 a week.
HMRC later told us it had spoken to the man and reassured him that people whose voluntary contributions applications were received but not processed before the 5 April 2025 deadline would not lose out: their NI record would be updated and their payment treated as paid on time.
If you don’t have the full 35 years of NI contributions or credits, you will get a pro rata amount of state pension.
(You will need 10 qualifying years on your NI record to get any new state pension).
Most people need to pay voluntary “class 3” NI contributions to top up their state pension.
