HM Revenue and Customs will soon be sending out letters to certain people who don’t have enough National Insurance contributions or credits for the 2008-09 tax year. If you receive this ‘Gap in your National Insurance record’ letter it means the year won’t count towards your basic State Pension and certain bereavement benefits.
What the letter is about
The letter explains how you can pay voluntary National Insurance contributions to make the year count.
In response to customer feedback the letters will be better targeted this year. So not everyone who has a gap in their National Insurance contributions record will receive a gap letter. If you have a gap in your record and don’t receive a letter you can still pay voluntary contributions.
Who will get a gap letter?
With certain exceptions, letters will be issued to people who are aged 35 or over at 6 April 2010 and who have not already built up the 30 ‘qualifying years’ needed to get a full basic State Pension.
If you don’t get a gap letter
If you think you have a gap in your National Insurance contributions but don’t get a letter, you may still want to pay voluntary contributions in some circumstances.
People who reach State Pension age on or after 6th April 2010 need only 30 qualifying years to get a full basic State Pension. Most can easily build these up without having to pay voluntary National Insurance contributions for years where they have gaps.
However, eligibility for bereavements benefits is different to eligibility for basic State Pension. Bereavement benefits are payable - if someone dies - to their spouse or civil partner, if under state pension age.
They are based on the deceased’s National Insurance contributions. So you may want to pay voluntary contributions to protect your spouse or civil partner’s entitlement to these.
If you are concerned and would like to find out more information then click to visit Directgov.
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