Started receiving my State Pension last month all very straightforward gave me plenty of information before it was due & exactly what my payments would be & when they would be paid.
Yes, but for those of us not being given the unsustainable civil service pension, we need to be able to work out our state pension so we can adjust our DC pensions appropriately 
.
Don't know your age, but it is very simple to get a pension forecast on line it will inform you of everything relating to it NI payments etc.
I actually rang them because my forecast gave an estimate of right now, but didn't tell me how many years I had NI contributions for (but I know, as its every year since I left school), but more importantly how many years I was contracted out (which reduces my state pension).
In my case, because I potentially have more working years paying NI without being contracted out, I might be able to claw back some of the years when I was contracted out. Hence I rang them. But the dickweed who answered was a civil servant, and unsurprisingly useless.
So I'm none the wiser really.