national insurance when unemployed through redundancy

silversnail

I wonder if anyone can advise me. I was made redundant at the end of August, having been a teacher for almost thirty years. I haven't claimed any benefits, although I now understand I could have done, because I was signing up with supply agencies and assumed that I would be working almost instantly.
The process of registration with the agencies ended up being rather tortuous, and it is only the last couple of weeks that I have had a day or two of work. That means for six weeks I haven't had any income, and so haven't paid any national insurance.
A friend told me that if I don't top up what I have missed, even for a few weeks, it will adversely affect my pension. I tried ringing various HMRC/other government numbers, but the automated message wouldn't allow me to speak to a real person to help me. Do I need to pay the extra NI that I have missed, and if so, how do I do that?
Thank you lovely and wise people in advance!

Silvertabby

How old are you, and have you obtained confirmation of your foundation amount State pension (as at April 2016)?

molerat

silversnail wrote: »

A friend told me that if I don't top up what I have missed, even for a few weeks, it will adversely affect my pension. I tried ringing various HMRC/other government numbers, but the automated message wouldn't allow me to speak to a real person to help me. Do I need to pay the extra NI that I have missed, and if so, how do I do that?

Incorrect advice from friends. You can get a full year without a full 52 weeks of contributing and if you do not achieve a full year you have several years to make up any shortfall, no need to panic.;)

p00hsticks

Get a State pension forecast here
https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

This will show how many more years (if any) you need.

marlot

silversnail wrote: »

I wonder if anyone can advise me. I was made redundant at the end of August...

Depending on your salary, you may well have paid enough NI to cover the entire year already.

I got some great advice from Xylophone, MLB and Greenglide when I asked this question http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5586387

jobbingmusician

Another vote for not panicking here. I missed a week, about 10 years ago, due to JSA incompetence. I have also missed a couple of years in the past, I believe. However, my current records show me as being fully paid up for state pension, which will kick in within the next few years.

Pennywise

Long term, probably won't matter as the likes of state pension are based on NIC record for each full year, and as others have said, you've probably already paid enough for the year anyway.

However, for the short term, a gap of several weeks "could" be a problem, i.e. for statutory sick pay, or mat/paternity pay, as they are more usually based on having an up to date record for x number of weeks before the trigger date of claim. Maybe also for other earnings related state benefits, perhaps JSA, etc?