Believe me I am very grateful for everyone's help. At the risk of revealing my ignorance yet again is class 1 the highest level of contribution?

Thank you for that. That's a relief.

Thanks for the help. I was more concerned about the contributions towards my pension as I don't claim pension yet. I appreciate your help though.

For some years I have been a registered carer and received carers allowance. Will that contribute to my pension contributions