Class 2 National Insurance: has it been abolished?

Class 2 National Insurance has not been abolished outright, but for most self-employed people it is no longer something you have to pay. The requirement to pay Class 2 contributions was removed from 6 April 2024¹, and from April 2024 self-employed people with profits above £12,750 are no longer required to pay Class 2 NICs². If your profits are at or above the small profits threshold, your contributions are treated as having been paid, so your National Insurance record is protected without any money leaving your account³.

The threshold that matters for 2026-27 is £7,105 a year. That is the small profits threshold, which rose from £6,845⁴. The lower profits threshold remains at £12,570⁴. Between those two figures, your record is protected by a credit rather than by a payment. Below £7,105, nothing is automatic: you can choose to pay voluntary Class 2 contributions at £3.65 a week to avoid gaps in your record⁶.

So the practical answer depends on one number, your level of self-employed profits. The sections below set out what happens in each band, what voluntary contributions cost, when Class 3 applies instead, and what changes once you reach State Pension age.

Class 2 is no longer compulsory for the self-employed

The change is a removal of a requirement, not the deletion of a class of contribution. The legislation that took effect on 6 April 2024 is described as removing the requirement to pay Class 2 national insurance contributions¹. TaxAid's guidance puts it more bluntly: "Class 2 NI is abolished from April 2024"¹⁰. Both describe the same shift, and the practical effect for a self-employed person with profits above the threshold is that no Class 2 bill arrives.

What Class 2 did was buy access to benefits. It currently allows the self-employed to access a range of benefits such as the state pension, bereavement benefits and maternity allowance¹¹. That is why the treatment of your contributions matters even when you pay nothing: the record still has to show the right years.

There are exceptions written into the rules. Earners in receipt of carer's allowance, the carer support payment component of carer support, or an unemployability supplement are excepted from Class 2 contributions¹². The history is also worth knowing, because it explains why so many people are unsure. Abolition was originally planned for April 2018 and was delayed for a year, "presumably until April 2019, in order to fully consider the implications"¹¹. The change that finally took effect came in April 2024.

Profits over £12,570: Class 2 treated as paid

Above the lower profits threshold, the state treats your Class 2 as settled. Self-employed earners with profits at or above the small profits threshold are treated as having actually paid Class 2 National Insurance contributions, and the liability to pay them is removed³. GOV.UK's own wording is that your contributions "are treated as having been paid to protect your National Insurance record"¹³.

This is the band most self-employed people with a full-time income fall into, and it is the reason the abolition question has a reassuring answer for them. You pay Class 4 on profits instead, and Class 2 is deemed paid for the purpose of building entitlement.

One caution about the figures. One independent guide states that if your self-employed profits are £6,725 or more, Class 2 contributions are treated as having been paid¹⁴. Another states that a self-employed person with profits below £6,845 will not need to pay Class 2¹⁵. The official thresholds for 2026-27 are £7,105 and £12,570⁴. The older figures reflect earlier tax years, and the two guides give different current lines, so the year you are asking about determines which figure applies.

Profits between £7,105 and £12,570: credits protect your record

Between the small profits threshold and the lower profits threshold, you do not pay Class 2 and you are not treated as having paid it through profits alone. Instead, a credit does the work. GOV.UK describes the position for those in the £129 to £242 a week band, or £7,105 or more a year, as having contributions treated as having been paid to protect the National Insurance record¹³.

The effect is the same as payment for record-building purposes: the year counts. What differs is the mechanism, and the mechanism matters if you ever need to prove your position, for example when claiming a benefit that depends on contributions.

Below £7,105, there is no automatic protection. You do not have to pay anything, but you can choose to pay voluntary Class 2 contributions to avoid gaps in your National Insurance record⁶. That is the choice the next section covers.

Paying Class 2 voluntarily: £3.65 a week

The ordinary Class 2 rate increased to £3.65 per week for 2026-27⁴. It was £3.50 a week in 2025-26, which worked out at £182 a year¹⁴. The legislation substitutes £3.65 for £3.50 in the relevant provision, applying to Class 2 contributions in Great Britain and Northern Ireland⁷.

Voluntary Class 2 is aimed at people whose profits fall below the threshold. If you earn under £7,105 you will not get the credit, but you can still opt to buy Class 2 contributions voluntarily¹⁷. The weekly rate of a Class 2 contribution is currently £3.65 for April 2026 to April 2027¹⁸.

There is a separate rate for one group. Volunteer development workers pay £6.45 per week at 2026 to 2027 tax year rates⁸. That is the only special Class 2 rate the sources give.

If you decide to pay, you may need to register with HM Revenue and Customs if you do not pay through Self Assessment¹⁹. Payments are made to the National Insurance helpline, and if no payment request arrives by the end of November, the helpline is the contact point¹⁹.

Voluntary Class 2 or Class 3: which one applies to you

Class 2 and Class 3 are both voluntary, and they are not interchangeable. Class 3 National Insurance contributions are voluntary contributions²⁰, and they are the route for people who are not self-employed. You can pay Class 3 if you are unemployed and both of the following are true: you are not claiming benefits, and you are not getting National Insurance credits¹⁸.

Class 2 voluntary is narrower. You might choose to pay voluntary Class 2 contributions if you do not pay through Self Assessment, want to fill gaps in your National Insurance record, or work or live abroad or have done in the past¹⁹. There is also a list of specific jobs that can use Class 2 or Class 3: self-employed examiners, moderators, invigilators or exam question setters; landlords eligible to pay Class 2; ministers of religion without a salary or stipend; and people making investments not as a business and without a fee or commission¹⁸.

The two differ in how far back you can go and in what happens if you change your mind. Class 3 can normally go back a maximum of six years, though some people may be able to top up over a longer period, and when filling previous years you pay the cost for the current year²¹. On refunds, the position is firm: although payment of Class 3 is voluntary, HMRC cannot automatically refund it at a later date²⁰. That is a reason to check before paying rather than after.

What happens at State Pension age

You do not pay National Insurance after you reach State Pension age, unless you are self-employed and pay Class 4 contributions²². For the self-employed, the Class 4 rule has its own timing: you stop paying Class 4 National Insurance from 6 April, the start of the tax year, after you reach State Pension age¹³.

For employees and the generally retired, the position is simpler. If you keep working past State Pension age, you stop paying National Insurance²³. Age UK states it the same way for both the new State Pension and the old State Pension: when you reach State Pension age, you will not have to pay National Insurance anymore, even if you keep on working²⁴. Which is why voluntary contributions are usually about filling years before that point, not after it.

Do self-employed people still pay Class 4 National Insurance?

Yes. Class 4 National Insurance contributions are for self-employed people whose net profits are over a certain amount²⁰, and they are based on the level of your profits¹⁵. Class 4 is where the main self-employed contribution now sits, and it is calculated through Self Assessment.

If you have a job as well as a business, you may pay Class 1 National Insurance as an employee as well as Class 4 as a self-employed person, with lower and upper limits for contributions calculated through Self Assessment²⁶. The rates themselves have moved in recent years: the main rate paid by employees fell from 12% to 10% on 6 January 2024 and then by another 2 percentage points to 8% from 6 April 2024², and the employer rate is 15% for 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027²⁷. Those are Class 1 figures, given here only to show that Class 2 is not the whole picture.

What the HMRC letter about Class 2 means

HMRC contacted existing voluntary Class 2 customers in July 2026 about the closure of their Class 2 liability and the option to start paying voluntary Class 3 contributions instead⁸. If you received a letter and were not expecting one, that is the likely reason.

HMRC's guidance on genuine letters was updated on 10 July 2026 to add information about letter LCL2REG2MM, on Class 2 National Insurance contributions and State Pension entitlement²⁸. A separate update on 9 July 2026 added information about letter NISPAR1MM, on National Insurance contributions paid over State Pension age²⁸.

Can I get a refund if I overpaid Class 2 National Insurance?

You can claim back any overpaid contributions²⁹. The refund service asks for your claim reference number shown on your letter and your bank or building society account details, and it asks you to check that the values in your letter for Class 2 and Class 3 National Insurance contributions and National Insurance credits are correct³⁰. The guidance was updated on 22 June 2026 to cover refunds for overpaid National Insurance contributions³⁰.

Can I pay voluntary contributions for time spent living abroad?

Not Class 2, from 6 April 2026. From that date you cannot pay voluntary Class 2 National Insurance contributions for time spent abroad⁹. The measure abolishes voluntary Class 2 National Insurance contributions for periods working or living outside the UK²⁸.

The consequence is set out plainly in the government's own policy statement: the removal of the ability to pay voluntary Class 2 contributions will reduce entitlement to some Class 2 linked working age contributory benefits, because Class 3 contributions only build entitlement to State Pension⁸. There is also a bar on paying Class 2 for any period during which you are liable to pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions²⁰.

For periods abroad, the route is now Class 3. GOV.UK published guidance on applying to pay voluntary Class 3 contributions for periods abroad on 14 July 2026⁹.

Where the protection stops

The protections around Class 2 are real but bounded. Treating contributions as paid protects your record for State Pension purposes, and the credit between £7,105 and £12,570 does the same. What they do not do is cover every benefit. Self-employed people who only paid Class 2 National Insurance contributions are not eligible for New Style Jobseeker's Allowance unless they worked as a share fisherman or a volunteer development worker³¹.

Maternity Allowance has its own sliding scale. If you have not paid any Class 2 contributions you get the lower rate; 13 weeks of Class 2 contributions within the test period means you are treated as earning enough for the standard rate; fewer than 13 weeks means the amount is worked out on what was paid³². For self-employed parents, that makes the record worth checking before a claim rather than after.

The wider point is that Class 2 buys a narrower set of protections than many people assume. Class 2 contributions entitle you to the basic State Pension, but not the additional State Pension³³. If you are relying on your self-employed record for anything beyond the basic State Pension, the gaps matter.