Voluntary contributions, how do I know what's missing

Wig

I have wanted to pay voluntary for NI gaps for a while now, and then I read that you can only pay for last 6 years, so in a panic I phoned Pensions Service about 17 days ago and I explained what I wanted to do
"pay missing NI contributions" and I explained that as I only had 6 years to pay and it was getting very close to April 5th I wanted to know now (17 days ago) what I was missing so that I could pay before April....

The lady on the phone said "do you want a pensions forecast" or "you need a pension forecast" ..... to which I said "yes" as I assumed she knew what I was talking about and that she knew what she was talking about....

So after waiting 17 days the letter has finally arrived a "pension forecast" state pension statement but this is not what I wanted!!!

I needed to know how much gaps I have in the last 6 years and how to pay them OR more specifically If I have any gaps in the tax year 2005-06 which would have to be paid by 5 April 2012.

So how do I find this information out and be able to pay it in the next 12 days or so? I need to know what gaps there are in each year for the last 6 years and how much each gap will be to fill in.

I am aware I only need 30 years, and I will be able to get 30 years by the time I retire ***IF*** I continue to stay in UK. But the point is I might be leaving the UK to live in France.

After skim reading the HMRC site it talked about paying voluntary contributions from abroad....So If I do go to live in France will I still be able to pay Voluntary Conts up to the required 30 years and still get a full state pension? Are there any restrictions on how many years you can pay from abroad? Or restrictions on the reason why you are paying from abroad i.e. not living in UK?

The reason I think it might be worth while paying now is because those last 6 years will be cheaper to pay than the current rate and future years rates.

Whilst skim reading HMRC I also noted it said you could actually pay backwards beyond the last 6 years. (ie year 2000 - 01) ..but the rate would be higher.... Is this right? that I could pay all my missing gaps so far but at a high rate -What rate will be used? Will it be the current tax year rate?


Thanks

anmarj

your best bet would be the contributions agency

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/volcontr/abroad.htm


http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/intro/check-record.htm


there is a bit about paying contributions if you live abroad, I will see if I can get you the number

this gives you their phone number and address

http://search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kbroker/hmrc/contactus/search.ladv?raction=view&fl0=__dsid%3A&sm=0&ha=34&as=1&sp_scope=hmrc&sc=hmrc&nh=10&sr=0&cs=ISO-8859-1&tx1=&tx0=49620

Wig

thanks for finding that for me, I have submitted it online and hope they can get it to me before 5th April but I doubt it. I tried to speed it up by only asking for the single tax year 05 - 06 as that is the one which is going to run out on 5th April.

I reckon I would have had it on time if the person I spoke to on the phone head realised what I needed.