How many weeks of NICs are needed to be a qualifying year for a UK pension?
How is a "qualifying year" for the purposes of a UK pension defined? Is it a number of weeks of NIC contributions or is it the annual amount of NICs paid that matters?
UK National Insurance contributions are calculated weekly, with a Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) set at £116 (see www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-national-insurance-contributions/rates-and-allowances-national-insurance-contributions).
It is clear that if I have an income of at least £116 a week throughout the year, I will qualify.
But what if my income is not even throughout the year? Is it enough to exceed the annual total of 116 x 52 = £6,032?
Example:
Suppose I am paid £500 a week for 13 weeks, but work abroad for the rest of the year. In this case, my UK income is £6,500 and I will have paid 13 weeks of NICs.
Will this year be a qualifying year in my NIC contribution record?
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Answering my own question:
What is meant by ‘a qualifying year’?
Since April 1978 a qualifying year has meant a tax year in which a person received (or was treated as having received) qualifying earnings of at least 52 times the weekly Lower Earnings Limit set for that year.
[SSCBA 1992 section 122]
For the tax years 1975/76 – 1977/78, a qualifying year is 50 times the weekly
Lower Earnings Limit set for each year.
[SS Act 1975 Sch 3]
Quoted from NP46: A detailed guide to State Pensions for advisers and others (August 2008)
Is this information still current? I found NP46 on the National Archives website and couldn't find a more recent version on the Department of Work and Pensions website.
This "Standard Note" SN 3111 - Basic State Pension - contribution conditions [pdf] from the House of Commons Library was issued in October 2014 and still quotes the same regulations:
What is meant by ‘enough contributions’?
A person has to have paid, been treated as having paid or been credited with enough
National Insurance contributions on their earnings in a given tax year for it to count as
a qualifying year. [SSCBA 1992 section 122 (1)]
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