national insurance

[ianqisam]

having just reached 60 and with more than 44 years contributions do I still have to pay the full stamp as it were

[Ethel]

I assume you are a man, so yes, you pay full stamp until you are 65.

[buildersmate]

Yes, it is one of those 'equalising' anomalies.
If you didn't have enough qualifying years but could afford to give up working, men over 60 get credited with qualifying years, so the number of qualifying years still keeps racking up as you don't work.
If you do have the necessary 44 years (for a male), you don't get a higher Basic State Pension at age 65 for accruing more qualifying years.
And finally the number of qualifying years required for the full basic State Pension gets slashed to 30 for those retiring at state pension age after April 2010 anyway.
I suppose the line had to be drawn somewhere.