Voluntary National Insurance calculator

A whole year of voluntary Class 3 National Insurance costs £956.80 at today's rate and adds about £358.50 a year to the new State Pension, so it repays itself in about 2.7 years of drawing it. You can only fill the last six tax years: the oldest, 2020-21, closes on 5 April 2027. In some cases it adds nothing, so check your forecast first.

Information, not advice. Voluntary contributions do not always increase your State Pension: check your forecast on gov.uk before paying.

2 years bought would add to your State Pension

+£717.01 a year

For £1,913.60, repaid after 2.7 years of drawing it (3.3 years after 20% tax). In today's money: the State Pension rises each year and the price paid does not.

Years you can still fill, and when each closes

2020-21£956.80Closes 5 Apr 2027, 185 days left
2021-22£956.80Closes 5 Apr 2028
2022-23£956.80Closes 5 Apr 2029
2023-24£956.80Closes 5 Apr 2030
2024-25£907.40Closes 5 Apr 2031, at its own year's rate
2025-26£923.00Closes 5 Apr 2032, at its own year's rate

One whole year adds, a yearA 35th of the full new State Pension, between 10 and 35 years: £358.50
Qualifying years at State Pension age: 33 to 35
Over 20 years drawn, after tax, less the cost: £9,558

Buying adds nothing if

Your record reaches 35 years anywayNot on your figuresby work or National Insurance credits before State Pension age.
It stays under 10 yearsNot on your figuresNo State Pension is paid on fewer than 10.
You were contracted out before April 2016Check yoursExtra years may add nothing, or you may need more than 35. Your State Pension forecast decides it.
You get, or will get, Pension CreditCheck yoursState Pension counts as income for it, so extra State Pension can mean less Pension Credit. The Pension Service can say.
The year is already coveredCheck yoursCredits (for example Child Benefit for a child under 12, or caring) can fill a year for free, and a part-year gap costs less. Your National Insurance record shows both.

Qualifying years on your record now

Your National Insurance record on gov.uk shows this, and each year that is not full.

Years still to come before State Pension age

Years you expect to add by working or through credits, without buying any. Your State Pension forecast shows what it assumes.

Income tax on your State Pension

Which you can pay

Years you draw it for

What a gap costs and what it would add on the figures you enter, at the rates in force today. Not advice, and not a forecast: check yours before paying. Reviewed October 2026.

Worked example, illustrative only

Someone with 26 qualifying years and 7 still to come reaches 33 at State Pension age. Filling the two oldest open years, 2020-21 and 2021-22, costs £1,913.60 and adds £717.01 a year to the State Pension, repaid after 2.7 years of drawing it. 2020-21 closes on 5 April 2027. Illustrative only, not advice.

How it works

The new State Pension depends on your qualifying years: 10 to get any at all, 35 for the full rate, and a 35th of the full rate for each year between.
A gap is a year that did not count in full. You can fill one from the last six tax years by paying voluntary National Insurance, and each year closes on 5 April six years after it ends.
The calculator adds the years you will reach anyway, then counts only the gaps that take your record towards 35, oldest first, because those close soonest. Gaps beyond 35 add nothing.
Repaid after is the cost divided by what the extra pays a year. Both are in today's money: the State Pension rises each year and the price you paid does not, so in practice it repays a little sooner.

Why the oldest years cost more

You usually pay the current rate. For Class 3, the two most recent past years are charged at their own year's original rate, which is slightly lower; any earlier year is charged at today's rate. So filling an older gap costs a little more, and it is also the one that closes first.

Class 2 or Class 3

Both buy the same qualifying year. Class 2 is far cheaper but only some people can pay it, mainly the self-employed with low profits. Class 3 is open to most people with a gap. HMRC's National Insurance checker on gov.uk says which you can pay.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a year of voluntary National Insurance cost?

A whole year of Class 3 costs £956.80 at today's rate (£18.40 a week). The two most recent past years are charged at their own year's rate, a little less; older years at today's rate. Class 2, for those who can pay it, costs £189.80 a year. A part-year gap costs less, and your National Insurance record shows HMRC's price for it.

How much does a year add to my State Pension?

A 35th of the full new State Pension: about £358.50 a year at today's full rate of £241.30 a week, for a record between 10 and 35 qualifying years. Fewer than 10 years earns nothing at all, and more than 35 earns no more.

How far back can I fill gaps?

Six tax years. Each year closes on 5 April six years after it ends, so the oldest year you can still fill, 2020-21, closes on 5 April 2027.

When does buying a year add nothing?

When your record will reach 35 years anyway; when it stays under 10 even after buying; often if you were contracted out before April 2016, which your forecast shows; when extra State Pension would only reduce Pension Credit, which counts State Pension as income; and when credits already cover the year.

Is it worth paying?

This page does not say. It shows the cost, what a year would add on your figures, how long the extra takes to repay it, and the cases where it adds nothing. Check your State Pension forecast on gov.uk before paying; the Future Pension Centre can also tell you whether a gap would increase it.

Is this financial advice?

No. It shows arithmetic from the figures you enter at today's published rates and does not recommend anything. It is not a State Pension forecast.

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This calculator shows what voluntary National Insurance costs and what it would add to the new State Pension on the figures you enter, at the rates in force today. It is not advice and not a State Pension forecast, and it does not model contracting out, the starting amount, Pension Credit or National Insurance credits. CoreFi is a trading name of JG Core Ltd (company 16218779). Figures reviewed October 2026.