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National Insurance - who pays?
craobhan
Posts: 45 Forumite
My partner has been off sick for 6 months now and his employer has stopped paying SSP - this was all he had been getting as his employer does not pay him any wages while sick.
He has just applied to the DSS for them to start paying Employment Support Allowance and has had a negative response. They say he has not paid enough NI contribitions for the tax years ending 2009 and 2010. We don't understand how this can be. He had a previous period of illness right enough but in those 2 tax years he worked continuously for 18 of the 24 months.
What we want to know is while his employer was actually paying him SSP, who is legally responsible for paying the NI? Should the employer have been taking the NI off of his SSP or was it up to my partner to take over paying it direct by himself? We've just noticed that on the last couple of payslips there have been no deductions for either tax or NI. The tax we can understand as he now below the threshold but surely they should have been taking NI on his behalf?
He has just applied to the DSS for them to start paying Employment Support Allowance and has had a negative response. They say he has not paid enough NI contribitions for the tax years ending 2009 and 2010. We don't understand how this can be. He had a previous period of illness right enough but in those 2 tax years he worked continuously for 18 of the 24 months.
What we want to know is while his employer was actually paying him SSP, who is legally responsible for paying the NI? Should the employer have been taking the NI off of his SSP or was it up to my partner to take over paying it direct by himself? We've just noticed that on the last couple of payslips there have been no deductions for either tax or NI. The tax we can understand as he now below the threshold but surely they should have been taking NI on his behalf?
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Comments
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SSP is below the threshold at which Ni has to be paid. But I don't think that's relevant: I think the problem is that if he only worked for 18 out of 24 months in the two relevant tax years (those ending 5 April 2009 and 5 April 2010), then he doesn't have adequate NI payments in those years. I think you have to have paid regular contributions in both of those years.
However, I thought there was something else which should be paid: did the letter he was sent not say what he could apply for instead?Signature removed for peace of mind0 -
As advised the SSP rate is below the lower earnings figure for NI, this is the figure that means a week or month is counted as NI having been paid even if none is paid. If you are getting SSP and this results in your NI record falling below that which is required to qualify for benefits then you can get NI credits, details at
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/intro/credits.htm
You have to apply for them they are not given automatically as they are for example with jobseekers.
I am not sure from your post if the qualifying years were affected by SSP and I do not know what time limit there is on claiming credits, but might be worth seeing if they are still claimable.0 -
I always thought that if one was on SPP, you got NI credits.The greater danger, for most of us, lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark0
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You might get the NI credits while on SSP, but they wouldn't show on the payslips, and they wouldn't be in the qualifying years.
Surey they would be continuous.The greater danger, for most of us, lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark0 -
The current period of sick leave is in the tax year 2010-20011. The OP's OH has been told they don't have enough NI contributions for 2008-09 and 2009-10, because they only worked 18 out of the 24 months: the current year is therefore irrelevant.Surey they would be continuous.
It's not entirely clear to me whether those 'missing' 6 months are a previous illness or not being in work. I'm also not sure whether the NI credits from SSP would 'qualify' or whether they have to be actual PAID credits, if that makes sense.
However, the OP's OH should have been told what to do next, either in terms of claiming something else or disputing the figures, so doing it would be the next stage ...Signature removed for peace of mind0 -
It's not entirely clear to me whether those 'missing' 6 months are a previous illness or not being in work. I'm also not sure whether the NI credits from SSP would 'qualify' or whether they have to be actual PAID credits, if that makes sense.
The credits given for time off while sick are class 1 credits which I believe would allow you to qualify for all contribution based benefits. They are claimable after the end of the tax year but I do not know how long you have to claim, so if the 6 months missing was sickness it may be to late now to claim, but worth a try if that's the case. For possible future use it would be advisable to claim for this year if credits are needed.0
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