Just hours left to boost your state pension by up to £330 a year ahead of deadline tonight

THOUSANDS of workers have just hours left to boost their state pension by up to tens of thousands of pounds over their retirement.

Today is the final day savers can top up their National (NI) record dating back to 2006 in order to boost the amount of they receive.

, worth £221.20 a week or over £11,502 a year, and ten years to get anything at all.

If you have any gaps in your record, you can pay to fill them in to boost your pension amount.

But normally you can only buy back the past six tax years.

Until today, the government has had a temporary extension in place to allow people to top up back to 2006, potentially boosting their income in retirement by thousands of pounds.

Anyone who has had career breaks, worked abroad, been self-employed, or spent years in low-paid may have gaps in their NI record.

Even if you’ve already started claiming your , you could still top it up, so it’s worth checking before the deadline.

However, before paying, check whether you could fill the gaps in for free first.

Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, explained: “If you qualified for such as Jobseeker’s Allowance or , you may be able to backdate a claim.

“These benefits come with NI credits, so you could fill the gaps for free.”

You can find out who’s eligible for these credits at www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility.

If you do want to pay to top your record up, the first step is to check your state pension forecast.

You can do this easily online using the government’s “Check your State Pension”; tool at www.gov.uk/check-state-pension.

You can also use the free app. To access your forecast, log in with your Personal Tax Account details. You can register on the gov.uk site if you don't have an account.

You can then view any missing years that you're able to buy back, as well as how much you could get for topping up. You can then pay for these online, without needing to call.

However, you can call the Future Pension Centre on 0800 731 0175 if you need help or advice.

If you’re already receiving your State Pension, you can’t use the online service – call the Pension Service on 0800 731 0469, but be aware that as the deadline is today phone lines may be busy.

Be sure to request a callback by April 5 if you can't get through on the phone.

Tom Selby, public policy director at AJ Bell, said: “As long as you request a call back by the April 5 deadline, the government will honour any requests to fill gaps from 2006 onwards.”

How else can I boost my state pension?

You can get NI credits to fill in your NI record automatically if you're a parent claiming Child Benefit for a child under 12.

Grandparents who look after children can also get the credits if the parent passes them to you.

Go to gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility to find out more.

You could also boost your income by delaying when you start taking state pension.

For every nine weeks you delay, your pension increases by 1%. That’s a boost of 5.8% more per year.

If you are on a very low income, claiming tops up your state pension.

Check if you qualify at gov.uk/pension-credit/eligibility.