Has my brother paid enough NI to claim?

Ponsienella

bspm wrote: »

You must have made the following level of National Insurance Contributions:

in one of the last two complete tax years, you must have paid Class 1 or 2 contributions to the value of 26 times the lower earnings limit; and
in both of the last two complete tax years, you must have paid or been credited with, Class 1 or 2 contributions to the value of 50 times the lower earnings limit.
The 2 tax years that are relevant are the ones that were completed before the benefit year in which your period of limited capability for work began. The tax year runs 6 April - 5th April. The benefit year runs from the first Sunday in January.

The lower earnings limit for the 2013/2014 was £109 per week 2014/2015 tax year was £111 per week.

Hi bspm,

It was this post of yours I found confusing where it states "you must have paid Class 1 or 2 contributions to the value of 26 times the lower earnings limit".

So you are now saying it is just that your earnings have to be that amount and not your NI contributions?

nannytone_2

by 26 times, it means 26 weeks.
so you have to have earnt the LEL 26 times in that period.

the 109 is the amount earned and not the amount of NI paid

TELLIT01

Ponsienella wrote: »

Hi bspm,

So you are now saying it is just that your earnings have to be that amount and not your NI contributions?

That is correct, he must have earned at least the LEL for 26 weeks in the year. So, for example, 13 weeks earning double the LEL wouldn't qualify him for Contributions based benefit. He may still qualify for Income Related benefits, but there are many other factors involved there e.g. savings, a partner's income...

TELLIT01

Brighty wrote: »

When on ESA and SSP, you only get class 1 credits, which count towards your pension, but not benefits, for that you need class 2 or 3. Makes sense really, being on a sickness benefit does not not make you eligible to receive more sickness benefit

https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility

Brighty

Not strictly true regarding SSP. Somebody could be getting company sick pay on top of SSP, with the 2 combined being enough for the person to exceed the LEL.

chrisbur

Brighty wrote: »

When on ESA and SSP, you only get class 1 credits, which count towards your pension, but not benefits, for that you need class 2 or 3. Makes sense really, being on a sickness benefit does not not make you eligible to receive more sickness benefit

https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility

Brighty

Class 1 credits count towards all of the following it is class 2 and 3 that are limited. The chart does not format very well so have only quoted the class 1 part the full chart can be seen in section 5 of https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance/what-national-insurance-is-for

National Insurance contributions count towards the benefits in the table.


Benefit Class 1: employees
Basic State Pension Yes
Additional State Pension Yes
New State Pension Yes
Contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance Yes
Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance Yes
Maternity Allowance Yes
Bereavement benefits Yes

In the case of SSP the credits have to be requested.
You’re on Statutory Sick Pay and you don’t earn enough to make a qualifying year Apply for Class 1 credits. Write to: National Insurance contributions and Employers Office, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AN. Include your National Insurance number and say when the credits are for and why you’re eligible

From https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility
Ill, disabled or on sick pay section.