10 things people get wrong about the UK State Pension after leaving the UK

Figures are for the 2026/27 tax year. We are not HMRC. Check your own record on gov.uk before paying anything.

Most people who leave the UK carry a few beliefs about their pension that were half-true once, or true for someone else. Several of them changed in April 2026. Here are the ten we hear most often.

1. "I can get my National Insurance back when I leave."

No. National Insurance is not a savings pot. It is a contribution to a pension and benefits system, and it is not refunded when you leave, no matter how permanently. The only refunds are for genuine overpayments, such as paying full contributions on two jobs at once.

What you have instead is a record. That record is what everything below is about.

2. "I left, so my UK pension is gone."

No. If you have 10 or more qualifying years, you can claim a UK State Pension from anywhere in the world when you reach State Pension age. It is paid to you abroad.

If you have fewer than 10 UK years and you have worked in the EU, EEA or Switzerland, your years there can usually be counted alongside your UK years to reach the 10-year minimum. The UK then pays you for the UK years only. Five UK years are not worthless.

3. "Anyone can top up their years from abroad."

Not any more. Since 6 April 2026, paying voluntary contributions from abroad needs ten years in a row of UK residence, or ten qualifying years on your record; credits and voluntary contributions paid for other periods abroad do not count towards the ten. Class 2 no longer exists for periods abroad, and from 2026/27 only Class 3 can be paid. People who applied to HMRC on or before 5 April 2026, for 2024/25 or 2025/26, have a transitional route with a 5 April 2027 deadline. Whether someone applying for the first time after 5 April 2026, without the ten years, can still pay for the back years 2020/21 to 2025/26 is a question the sources do not settle: only HMRC can answer it, on your application.

The threshold is set out in HMRC's guidance on paying from abroad and the policy paper of 16 March 2026.

4. "Topping up is cheap. It's a few pounds a week."

Rarely now. Class 2 (about £190 a year in 2026/27) survives only on the transitional route, for a back year in which you were employed or self-employed abroad, provided you worked in the UK immediately before leaving; every other back year is Class 3. From 2026/27 onward the only route is Class 3, at £18.40 a week, or £956.80 a year.

A five-fold difference between the two classes. Whether it is still worth it is a maths question, not a feeling. See point 10.

Check what your UK years are worth — free, 2 minutes→

5. "I can fill my gaps whenever I get round to it."

No. You can normally pay for the current tax year and the six before it. Each April, the oldest year drops off for good. Right now, 2020/21 can only be bought until 5 April 2027. Then 2021/22 expires the April after, and so on.

Gaps do not wait for you.

6. "Every year I buy adds to my pension."

Not always. If you were contracted out of the additional State Pension before 2016, or your record is already at the maximum, an extra year may add nothing. HMRC will happily take the money either way.

Check your State Pension forecast on gov.uk before you pay. If you are under State Pension age, the Future Pension Centre will tell you which years actually increase your pension.

7. "35 years means the full pension."

Usually, but not for everyone. Thirty-five years is the figure for people whose record started after April 2016. If you have a record from before then and were contracted out, you may need more than 35 to reach the full amount.

Your forecast tells you your own number. Use that, not the headline.

8. "My pension will go up every year, wherever I live."

Only in some countries. The UK increases the State Pension each year for people living in the UK, the EEA, Switzerland, Gibraltar and countries with a relevant social security agreement. In many others, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the amount is frozen at the level on the day you first receive it.

Where you retire changes what your pension is worth over 20 years.

9. "I'll sort it out when I'm close to retiring."

Too late for some of it. HMRC cannot process an application to pay from abroad if you are over State Pension age or within six months of it. Processing itself can take many months. And by then, several of the years you could have bought will have expired.

The right time to check is now, while there are still years to buy and someone to ask.

10. "At £957 a year, it can't be a good deal."

Run the numbers. The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026/27. One qualifying year is roughly one thirty-fifth of that, about £359 a year, for the rest of your life, rising each year if you live somewhere it is uprated.

At £956.80, a bought year pays for itself in under three years of receiving the pension. Few things you can buy do that. Whether it applies to you depends on points 3, 6 and 7, which is why you check your record first.

Not sure where you stand? Our calculator takes about 2 minutes and tells you how many UK years you hold, which can still be bought, and roughly what they are worth. No account; the result and a guide by email if you want them.

We are not HMRC and we do not handle your money. Everything here can be verified on gov.uk.