UPDATE: |Martin Lewis’ MSE warns thousands of HMRC error and vital deadline News

The final day for the extended top-up period was this Saturday (April 5) ahead of the new tax year – but now Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com has warned how there was an error

Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com has alerted that thousands of individuals were prevented from topping up their state pension ahead of a crucial deadline.

The past weekend was the final opportunity to purchase missing National Insurance years dating back to 2006.

After this deadline, you can only go back six tax years. Your state pension entitlement is based on the number of National Insurance contributions you have made throughout your life – so if there are gaps in your record, you won’t receive the full state pension, reports the Mirror.

The last day for the extended top-up period was this Saturday (April 5), before the new tax year – but MSE reports that the website for making the top-ups was erroneously taken offline early.

According to MSE, as many as 21,000 people attempted to log in on Saturday to check their National Insurance record, but were greeted with a message stating that the deadline to claim had passed.

One individual posted on Twitter: “Unfortunately, it seems that @GOVUK closed the portal for NI top-ups yesterday ahead of today’s deadline! @MartinSLewis.

“Shame they didn’t stick to their own published deadline of today!” If you were affected by this error, MSE advises that HMRC should get in touch with you so you can still fill any gaps in your National Insurance record. MSE added: “In the meantime it’s worth hanging onto any proof you took of the problems, such as screenshots.

“And if you don’t hear anything, you can try to contact HMRC yourself via its various NI channels.”

A spokesperson for HMRC has apologised to MSE, stating: “We’re sorry that customers were unable to use our online service on Saturday to top up National Insurance contributions for years prior to 2021. We will contact anyone affected directly about the payments they wanted to make to ensure they don’t miss out.”

MSE recently advised individuals between 40 and 73 years of age to review their National Insurance record for any gaps. Typically, filling a missing National Insurance year costs £824 and this could boost your pre-tax state pension by approximately £328 annually.

Costs may be lower for those with partial year gaps or for self-employed persons.

Those who registered an inquiry with the Future Pension Centre before the deadline can expect a callback within eight weeks and will still have the opportunity to address any National Insurance record discrepancies. Additionally, some individuals managed to secure a one-month extension on the deadline by checking their National Insurance record on GOV.UK prior to the cutoff date.

Pensioners will see an increase in benefits, with the new state pension now at £230.30 per week for the full amount, and the full basic state pension at £176.45 per week. Eligibility for the new state pension applies to men born on or after April 6, 1951, and women born on or after April 6, 1953.

The basic state pension is claimed by men born before April 6, 1951, and women born before April 6, 1953. To qualify for the new state pension, most individuals require 35 qualifying years on their National Insurance record to receive the full amount.

For the old state pension, typically, you need 30 qualifying years if you’re a man born between 1945 and 1951, or 44 qualifying years if you’re a man born prior to 1945.

For women, usually, 30 qualifying years are needed if you were born between 1950 and 1953, or 39 qualifying years if you were born before 1950.