Class 3 voluntary National Insurance
The cheapest way to lift a State Pension forecast. £923 today buys £358/year forever after SPA. Payback is about 3 years.
2026/27 Class 3 rates
Weekly rate
£17.75
Annual cost (one qualifying year)
£923.00
Weekly SP uplift per year bought
£6.89
Annual SP uplift per year bought
£358.50
Source
Verified Q2 2026
gov.uk voluntary NI rates
Class 3 buy-back calculator
Total cost
£4,615.00
Weekly pension uplift
£34.47
Annual pension uplift
£1,792.51
Payback period
2y 7m
20-year lifetime gain
£35,850.29
When it makes sense
Class 3 makes sense whenever each of these three conditions hold:
- The years you would buy are eligible (within the 6-year window, or any back-year if you reached SPA after April 2016 and were over a transitional cohort)
- Adding them actually moves your forecast (you have not already hit the £241.30 ceiling, and COPE does not eat the uplift)
- You expect to live at least 3 to 4 years past SPA, the typical payback period
Before paying, call the Future Pension Centre on 0800 731 0175 to confirm which years will actually increase your figure1.
Deadlines and the 5 April 2025 close
Until 5 April 2025, men born after 5 April 1951 and women born after 5 April 1953 could fill any gap back to 6 April 2006. That window closed. From 6 April 2025 the standard 6-year window applies, so in 2026/27 you can typically fill gaps from 2020/21 onwards only2.
Adjacent
By Oliver Wakefield-Smith, Founder, Digital Signet.
Rates current for 2026/27 · Verified Q2 2026 · Next refresh after Autumn Budget 2026