The clock is starting to tick as the extended deadline to plug gaps in state pensions is now just six weeks away.
The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) extended the last date to buy voluntary National Insurance (NI) payments after a campaign to urge the public to check their pension entitlement led to queues on the phone lines as people scrambled to act before the original April 5 deadline. The cut-off date was extended until July 31 to give people more time to ensure they get the full state pension when they retire.
The new state pension was introduced on April 6, 2016 and as part of the "transitional arrangements", taxpayers have been able to make voluntary contributions to make up for any incomplete years in their NI record between April 2006 and April 2016. After July 31, you will only be able to go back six years, so from August, you will only be able to go back to 2017.
