Britons could potentially receive £74,100 more in state pension over their retirement years by making a phone call and a few simple checks, according to Martin Lewis.
The money saving expert has advised Britons to make sure they are fully paid up on their National Insurance (NI) in order to receive the full state pension.
People can buy back a full year of missing NI payments by paying £800 to the HMRC. This will increase the pension by £330 a year which means the cost can be covered in less than three years.
Using this scenario, a man who typically lives to 85 would get back £5,400 while a woman with a typical life expectancy of 87 would collect £6,100.
However, Martin Lewis points out that these figures soon multiply when someone buys back multiple years of missing NI contributions.
The maximum number of missing years of NI contributions that an individual can buy back is 13, which would cost £10,400. While that might seem an enormous figure, the potential rewards for those who live into their 80s are significant.
Based on average life expectancy the maximum boost to the
pension throughout retirement would add up to £74,100 - £70,200 for a man and £79,300 for a woman.
The founder of
moneysavingexpert.com highlighted the need for people to check they are fully up to date with NI contributions on the
Martin Lewis Money Show Live on ITV on Tuesday.
He said the situation is becoming increasingly urgent as a deadline to claim back missing years of NI contributions is set for April next year.
In general, you need around 35 full NI years to get the maximum
state pension. However, people may have missed out through their normal working lives.
The
HMRC said this could be because you were: employed but had low earnings; unemployed and were not claiming
benefits; self-employed but did not pay contributions because of small profits; living or working outside the UK.
There are number of ways to check whether you are fully up to date with NI contributions and how much you will receive by making up any gaps.
The
HMRC prefers people to use its websites to assess where they stand via the links available
here.
You can call the
National Insurance Contributions Office on 0300 200 3500 if you'd prefer. Calls cost up to 12p a minute from landlines and up to 45p a minute from mobiles, but it should be free if you call from your mobile and have landline calls included in your contract.
The
moneysavingexpert.com website offers a calculator to see what topping up NI contributions could be worth. It can be found
here.
