I’m 67 and have a 17 year gap in my state pension record – should I buy top-ups? STEVE WEBB answers

I am writing about a 17 year failure in National Insurance stamps. I worked for 30 years on two class contributions.

I’m 69 now, and I’ve been working since I was 15, but the Government sent me a message that I’m short a stamp here, one stamp there, and you have to pay for one year otherwise it will take a whole year. more you

I have tried to contact them again but everyone is working from home. They said if I paid the £8,240 before April they could give me back the 10 year stamps.

I get £145 a week in the state pension, I have never had benefits and I have worked for 53 years.

I don’t know what to do, and if I get paid £8,240, but I get £50 a week but the loan is not paid.

I also have lung disease, pulmonary fibrosis. They gave me three to five years to live to 62.

I didn’t apply for pension credit because my wife gets full pension.

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Steve Webb replied: For those looking for a New Year’s resolution, checking whether you can top up your state pension through National Insurance contributions is a top priority.

The deadline for filling places more than six years ago is 6 April 2025, so I would urge anyone considering doing this to know where they stand and work before cutting.

In your case, some ‘gaps’ will arise because you have not paid contributions in a number of years to be counted as a ‘marking year’ towards your state pension.

To make things easier, self-employed people have traditionally paid a weekly ‘Class 2’ rate of NI contributions.

If you don’t make a weekly payment in a year, you lose the entire year.

The good news for anyone in your situation is that you can, with a plan, increase those years at a low cost.

If you are paid within the time limit (which can go back to 2006/07), you can fill these minimum vacancies by paying Class Contributions 2 NI.

The figures you have quoted suggest that you have not accounted for any NI you have paid for a number of years and that you are employed.

For those who are employed rather than self-employed it is common for them to pay at the relatively higher ‘Class 3’ rate of voluntary contributions.

Topping up the entire previous year would have cost £824 for a Class 3 rate so you’d have £8,240 to top out over ten years.

To solve a question like this I suggest you call the The future of Pensions at the DWPbut as you have already reached state pension age you should call Pension Service iinstead.

I’m sorry it’s hard to go, but you have to be patient until you can talk to someone.

If you have any printout of your NI record to hand can explain why the numbers show the categories of contributions this may help.

I was however saddened to read that you are in poor health and may not have a long life.

When it comes to spending money to build up your state pension you need to balance how much you’re paying and how much you can get back.

Although this is not known for sure, you will need to pay your enhanced pension for more than three years to recoup what you paid – assuming you pay the full Class 3 cost.

But the payback time will be significantly shorter if you can fill in different slots, especially if you can at the Class 2 rate.

If you find you can’t get a straight answer over the phone, you may want to ask your local MP for help and ask them to raise your situation with HMRC (which keeps National Insurance records) and the DWP.

You need to let us know how quickly all of this can be resolved in the next few months before the deadline on April 6, after which it can go back six years.