Shortfall in NI contributions

maryroberts

Will try to keep this as brief as possible: my husband is almost 56 - now working full time. For many years he was self employed and we also lived abroad for a few years. He has gaps in his NI record - received a statement last year and currently only has 15 years' worth of contributions. He is planning on working for the next 10 years or a little longer. He is gradually saving up to pay for the missing NI from 2006/7 to 2011-12 (according to their letter) and has until 2019 to make these payments (approx £689 for each year).

My question is - would any of the recent changes to the Pension system make any difference to the contributions that still need to be paid for the missing years, i.e. should he still be saving up for the amounts quoted in their letter about a year ago or should he ask for another calculation?

Sorry if this seems like a daft question. I presume the amounts still stand as they relate to years prior to the changes, but I thought I should check with some knowledgeable folk on here.

drumtochty

It takes some months for the dust to settle in the NI records and you will not get an accurate number of contributions your husband has nor the amount of Second State Pension etc. until say mid September 2016 or maybe a bit later.


Therefore keep on saving and apply for a written pension statement then and when you get it talk to the future pensions people and let them give you the up to date advice then.

GunJack

...and just confirm with HMRC/DWP/Pensions service that buying pre-2016 years WILL actually improve his starting amount for the new pension, before forking out for them - it could be money wasted...

molerat

GunJack wrote: »

...and just confirm with HMRC/DWP/Pensions service that buying pre-2016 years WILL actually improve his starting amount for the new pension, before forking out for them - it could be money wasted...

A bit of wishful thinking there

maryroberts

Thanks for the wise advice - we will keep saving but won't send a cheque off just yet - we were going to pay for one back year at a time, as soon as the money was saved, but will wait until later in the year & ask for a revised statement. I'm sure it will still be necessary to pay something but perhaps the amount will be a bit different.