A gap in a National Insurance record is not always a gap in what was owed. Years spent unemployed, ill, caring or raising children were credited, some automatically and some only on application, and a record with missing years can be a record with missing credits. This page sets out GOV.UK’s table of who gets what, the years that had to be claimed, and the pre-2010 scheme HMRC is still putting right.
The two classes
GOV.UK says Class 1 credits count towards your State Pension and may help you qualify for some other benefits, for example New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance, and that Class 3 credits count towards your State Pension only (GOV.UK, National Insurance credits, checked 1 November 2026). For the State Pension the distinction does not matter; a credited year of either class is a qualifying year.
A qualifying year is the unit that counts. GOV.UK says you need 10 qualifying years to get any new State Pension, and 35 for the full rate if your record started after April 2016 (GOV.UK, The new State Pension: eligibility, checked 1 November 2026). Our forecast page covers why an older record needs a different number.
Credits that arrive by themselves
GOV.UK’s table gives credits automatically with several benefits. Jobseeker’s Allowance, where you are not in education or working 16 hours or more, Employment and Support Allowance, Maternity Allowance, and Carer’s Allowance, or in Scotland Carer Support Payment, each bring Class 1 credits automatically (GOV.UK, National Insurance credits, checked 1 November 2026).
Universal Credit brings Class 3 credits automatically, as does being a parent or guardian registered for Child Benefit for a child under 12, even if you do not receive the money. That last rule is why a parent who opted out of the payment under the high income charge should still have registered.
Credits you have to ask for
Others need a letter or a form. GOV.UK says that on Statutory Sick Pay, where you do not earn enough for a qualifying year, and on statutory maternity, adoption, shared parental or parental bereavement pay, you apply for Class 1 credits by writing to HMRC at PT Operations North East England, BX9 1AN (GOV.UK, National Insurance credits, checked 1 November 2026).
Jury service, where you are not self-employed, is applied for the same way, and a conviction quashed on appeal qualifies for Class 1 credits on application. Carers and grandparents are the two that matter most to this site’s readers. GOV.UK says that if you care for one or more sick or disabled people for at least 20 hours a week and are not on Carer’s Allowance you apply for Class 3 carer’s credits, on the Carer’s Credit application form, CC1 (GOV.UK, Carer's Credit application form, checked 1 November 2026). A grandparent or other family member who looked after a child under 12 while the parent worked can apply for Specified Adult Childcare credits, on our grandparents’ childcare credits page.
The years before 2010
Credits replaced an older scheme. GOV.UK says Home Responsibilities Protection was a scheme to help protect parents’ and carers’ State Pension, that National Insurance credits replaced it in 2010, and that you should have received it automatically between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2010 in two cases (GOV.UK, Home Responsibilities Protection, checked 1 November 2026).
Those were being awarded Child Benefit for a child under 16, or Income Support because you were looking after a sick or disabled person.
Some did not. GOV.UK says you may have missed out if your National Insurance number was not linked to your Child Benefit claim at the time, that this could lead to underpayment of your State Pension, and that you can still apply if you think it is missing from your record. For someone who reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010, it says HRP for full tax years before then was converted into credits, up to a maximum of 22 qualifying years. A mother now in her seventies whose pension seems low for a working life is the person this paragraph is written for.
Checking the record
GOV.UK’s service shows what you have paid up to the start of the current tax year, any credits you have received, whether gaps mean some years do not count, and whether you would benefit from paying voluntary contributions (GOV.UK, Check your National Insurance record, checked 1 November 2026).
It also shows how your forecast would change if you paid, and whether you can pay online and what it would cost.
A year showing as incomplete is the prompt to ask whether a credit should have covered it: Child Benefit, a benefit claim, caring. GOV.UK says that if credits you applied for are wrong on your record you should contact the office where you applied, and that you can ask HMRC online or phone the National Insurance helpline if you have questions about credits (GOV.UK, National Insurance credits, checked 1 November 2026). A decision about credits can be challenged, and GOV.UK’s mandatory reconsideration page names National Insurance credits among the decisions it covers (GOV.UK, Challenge a benefit decision (mandatory reconsideration): eligibility, checked 1 November 2026).
Paying for a year instead
Where no credit applies, a year can be bought. GOV.UK says the 2026/27 voluntary rates are £3.65 a week for Class 2 and £18.40 a week for Class 3 (GOV.UK, Voluntary National Insurance, checked 1 November 2026), which makes a Class 3 year £956.80.
Our voluntary National Insurance page covers the six-year window, the deadline of 5 April, and the check that a bought year would raise the pension at all.
Check for a free credit before paying for anything. A year spent caring for a parent, or looking after a grandchild while its parents worked, may be claimable for nothing.
Where this fits
The record decides the pension, and the is my pension on track page names the forecast that shows the total. Carers on Carer’s Allowance have credits already; those on fewer hours have Carer’s Credit. The State Pension hub covers claiming what the record has earned.