Became Self-Employed Between 2015 and 2024? Check Your State Pension Record Now

HMRC has confirmed an error affecting potentially 800,000 people who became self-employed between 2015 and early 2024 — and it could be quietly reducing their State Pension by thousands of pounds if left unchecked.

What went wrong

The issue centres on Class 2 National Insurance contributions (NICs), which self-employed people pay to build up qualifying years toward their State Pension. If you didn't separately notify HMRC of your self-employment by completing form CWF1 — even if you correctly declared self-employment income on your Self Assessment return — your Class 2 record may not have been updated properly. The result, according to MoneySavingExpert, is incorrect gaps in some people's National Insurance records that could reduce their eventual State Pension by thousands of pounds over a retirement.

How HMRC is responding

HMRC will write directly to an estimated 160,000 affected taxpayers who are above State Pension age or within two years of reaching it, with letters going out by summer 2027. Importantly, those who receive a letter — or who spot a gap themselves using the online pension forecast tool — will be allowed to make contributions further back than the usual six-year limit, and at the original (lower) historical rate rather than today's rate. HMRC has also said it is not actively trying to collect any unpaid NIC as a result of this error, and has asked taxpayers not to contact HMRC or the DWP proactively at this stage while it works through the fix.

Why you shouldn't just wait for a letter

The letter-writing exercise only reaches people near or at State Pension age by 2027 — but the underlying error could affect anyone who became self-employed in the 2015–2024 window, regardless of their current age. Waiting years for a letter you may never receive isn't a sound strategy if a few minutes of checking now could confirm your record is correct — or flag a gap you can address on more favourable terms while the fix is still being rolled out.

Checklist: checking your own record

1. Use the free Check your State Pension forecast service on gov.uk to see your National Insurance record year by year.
2. Look specifically at years you were self-employed between 2015 and early 2024 — a "gap" or "not full year" marker in that window is the red flag.
3. Cross-check against your Self Assessment history — if you filed self-employment pages but never separately submitted a CWF1, you're in the affected group.
4. If you find a gap, don't rush to pay via the standard voluntary contributions process — first establish whether you qualify for the extended time limit and original lower rate under this specific correction before paying at today's rate.
5. If you're unsure, speak to an accountant or the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group guidance before making voluntary payments, since paying unnecessarily doesn't always improve your pension outcome.

International comparison

Contribution-record errors of this kind aren't unique to the UK. In the US, Social Security Administration earnings records can similarly contain employer-reporting errors that reduce future benefits, and workers are advised to check their annual Social Security Statement for accuracy. Australia's compulsory superannuation system sidesteps this particular problem structurally, since contributions are paid into a named individual account by the employer (or self-employed person directly) rather than accruing as an abstract "qualifying year" — making underpayment easier to spot in real time, though it shifts other risks onto investment performance instead.

Key Numbers

• 800,000 — estimated taxpayers potentially affected by the Class 2 NIC error
• 160,000 — number HMRC will proactively write to by summer 2027
• 6 years — normal limit for voluntary NIC top-ups, extended for affected taxpayers under this correction

Sources

• Self-employed taxpayers warned of Class 2 NIC issue — ICAEW
• Became self-employed from 2015 to 2024? — MoneySavingExpert
• National Insurance for the self-employed — Low Incomes Tax Reform Group
• Check your State Pension forecast — GOV.UK

Educational content only — not financial advice.