Check your National Insurance record

The payment of National Insurance contributions entitles people to certain state benefits such as the state pension, maternity allowance and bereavement benefits. NICs are payable if you are:

• aged over 16;
• an employee earning more than £242 a week;
• self-employed with profits over £6,725.

The New State Pension and State Pension

You'll be able to claim the New State Pension if you're:

• a man born on or after 6 April 1951
• a woman born on or after 6 April 1953

You'll need at least 10 qualifying years (years where you were working and paying NICs, were getting NIC credits or paying voluntary NICs). Your pension will be based on the number of qualifying years you have accrued.

Everyone who qualifies for the basic State Pension has now reached State Pension age. The State Pension is payable to:

• men born before 6 April 1951
• woman born before 6 April 1953

In order to get the State Pension, you must have a minimum number of qualifying years. Your pension will be based on the number of qualifying years you have accrued.

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How do I check my National Insurance record?

For the most recent available information, the best place to check your national insurance record is online using your personal tax account if you have registered for this service. This will cover up to the start of the current tax year.

Or, you can request a National Insurance statement from the GOV.UK website for tax years that ended more than 12 months ago.

Both will tell you:

• what National Insurance payments or credits you have for the tax years requested;
• what class of contributions you made;
• if there are any payment or credit gaps (years with payment gaps may not count towards your State Pension);
• whether you can pay voluntary contributions to fill the gaps and how much it will cost.

However, neither tell you how much State Pension you're likely to get. You can check your State Pension forecast on the GOV.UK website.

You can also call the National Insurance helpline on 0300 200 3500 to request a statement.