As more than one million Brits across the country receive a boost to their state pension from today, many may be checking if they are eligible for the extra cash.
For those who are close to reaching the current state pension age, provided the government does not increase it before then, you may be wondering how much you are entitled to. Currently, there are two main types of state pensions - the basic state pension and the new state pension - either of which will be given to you depending on when you were born.
The basic state pension, which is available to men born before April 6, 1951 and women born before April 6, 1953, will receive an increase from £141.85 per week to £156.20. Meanwhile, the new state pension, which is provided to men born on or after April 6, 1951 and women born on or after April 6, 1953, will rise from £175.15 to £203.85 per week.
Read more: What benefits can I claim with state pension?
However, to receive the full claim for the basic state pension you need around 30 years qualifying years of national insurance contributions while for the new state pension, you need 10 qualifying years for part of the claim and up to 35 years for the full claim.
But, it can be hard to know if you have that many years of contributions throughout your many years of employment just from memory alone, which may give some anxiety when it comes to making your state pension claim. Fortunately, there are a few very easy ways to check your National Insurance record...
How to check your National Insurance contributions
Checking online
One of the easiest ways to check your National Insurance record is by using the government website. You will first need a Government Gateway uesr ID which you can set up on the same website before checking your contributions.
This may involve providing your National Insurance Number as well as other personal details so make sure you have them on-hand before starting. Once you have logged in with your account, you can sign into the 'Check your National Insurance record' service which activates your personal tax account and allows you to examine all of your HMRC record.
Other ways to check your National Insurance contributions
You can request the government to send a printed National Insurance statement which provides all of the documents you need to see your National Insurance contributions towards your state pension. You can ask for the post to be sent via an online application or by dialling 0300 200 2500 and telling the automated speech software that you want to 'question about National Insurance payments'.
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