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People will be allowed to buy up to six extra years of voluntary National Insurance contributions in order to enjoy a higher state pension, the Department for Work and Pensions announced recently.
This will apply to those who reach state pension age between 6 April 2008 and 5 April 2015 and who already have 20 qualifying years on their National Insurance record, taking account of home responsibilities protection.
The value of Class 3 National Insurance contributions (voluntary contributions) is increasing because of the Government's pension reforms, in particular the reduction in the number of qualifying years needed for a full state pension from 44 (for a man) and 39 (for a woman) to 30 for both men and women from April 2010.
The Government will increase the price of a Class 3 contribution accordingly to ensure the package will overall be cost neutral.
