The cost of buying missing State pension years is going up next month

From April 2010 the Government is changing the way that entitlement to the basic State pension is calculated. People will require fewer ‘qualifying years’ but the cost of buying any missing years will increase from 6 April 2009.

Currently, the full basic State pension for a single ‘qualifying’ person is £90.70 a week. Worryingly 70 percent of women and 15 per cent of men do not qualify for the full amount, yet more than half (57 per cent) of adults are planning to solely or partly use the state pension to fund their retirement, according to recent research conducted by Friends Provident.

To buy back each missing year (up to a maximum of six years) today costs £421.20 but from 6 April it will cost £626.60, a 49% hike.