NI contributions shortfall

worn_out

My friend is French, and back in the 70;s came to the UK with her husband where he had work..she looked after the children at home. Do these years entitle her to NI credits ? Decades later she came to UK and herself and worked for 7 years, thus earning 7/35ths of a state pension which we now know doesn't pay anything as it's less than 10 year. Hence the question about the earlier period.

JoeCrystal

worn_out wrote: »

My friend is French, and back in the 70;s came to the UK with her husband where he had work..she looked after the children at home. Do these years entitle her to NI credits ? Decades later she came to UK and herself and worked for 7 years, thus earning 7/35ths of a state pension which we now know doesn't pay anything as it's less than 10 year. Hence the question about the earlier period.

I am not entirely sure but did she get child benefit paid to her name? If she is a parent who got Child Benefit for a child under 16 between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2010, but she did not get Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) automatically. She might be able to claim HRP to get Class 3 credits. Link to National Insurance credits

xylophone

How old is your friend now?

Has she been resident in the UK since the early seventies?

Was she claiming child benefit and if so, for what period?

nigelbb

Is she still resident in the UK?

How old is she? When can she claim her pension?

Is she still able to pay for missing years? If resident abroad she could be eligible to pay Class 2 NI contributions at £150 for each added year instead of Class 3 at £800.

Failing everything else if she has worked in France or any other EU country then years of contributions there will count for eligibility for UK pension so at very worst she would get 7/35 of £168.60/week (£33.72/week) but do explore the possibility of buying added years. Buying Class 2 added years is the deal of the century as the payback time is just 32 weeks although even Class 3 is a bargain with a payback of just 3 years & 16 weeks.

worn_out

She returned to France in 2017 to be a full time carer for her aged and unwell father ...she's 63. She's a French national.


She has a NI number (of course) so I'm going to get her to enrol in the state pension forecast website to see what's what, and then ask if she qualifies to buy the missing years with Class 2 contribs. ..she is after all overseas...


At the moment the 7 year NI contribs will get her nothing, so a one off £450 would earn her £876 per year ..



Thank you for your comments and advice...

nigelbb

worn_out wrote: »

She returned to France in 2017 to be a full time carer for her aged and unwell father ...she's 63. She's a French national.


She has a NI number (of course) so I'm going to get her to enrol in the state pension forecast website to see what's what, and then ask if she qualifies to buy the missing years with Class 2 contribs. ..she is after all overseas...


At the moment the 7 year NI contribs will get her nothing, so a one off £450 would earn her £876 per year ..

She can purchase added years back to 2006 plus the three years before she retires so that's sixteen added years she can purchase in total that will give her £110.79/week (£5,761/year) in total pension for a cost of £2,400 if Class 2 & £12,800 if Class 3. She will have until 2023 to purchase added years so doesn't need to find all the money now but could spread it over the next 3-4 years.

worn_out

that's useful to know, certainly if class 2 are an option...strictly speaking she's an unemployed but full time carer now and will be as long as her father remains with us. your last comment...does that mean she can pay HMRC in installments or just that she can save up to pay the whole bill when she decides..?She worked from 2011 to 2018 for her 7 years NI, and I guess she'll get it at 67 ? or is it 66 ..so from 2006 to 2022 that's 16 years , less the 7 she has...so 9 years to buy..£1,350, and then a pension of 16/35ths x £168.60...£77.07pw ?

nigelbb

worn_out wrote: »

that's useful to know, certainly if class 2 are an option...strictly speaking she's an unemployed but full time carer now and will be as long as her father remains with us. your last comment...does that mean she can pay HMRC in installments or just that she can save up to pay the whole bill when she decides..?She worked from 2011 to 2018 for her 7 years NI, and I guess she'll get it at 67 ? or is it 66 ..so from 2006 to 2022 that's 16 years , less the 7 she has...so 9 years to buy..£1,350, and then a pension of 16/35ths x £168.60...£77.07pw ?

She can set up a direct debit to pay in instalments for added years. She will have to pay Class 3 for any years where she was resident in the UK. It’s only when she is/was abroad that she may be able to pay Class 2. There is no rush so she can get everything confirmed by HMRC. First step is to register on the website & get details of her NI contributions to date & projected pension amount & date.

Even if she has to pay Class 3 contributions for added years it’s still a fantastic deal paying £800 to get £250/year for life & on average she can expect to draw her pension for twenty years.

Has she never had paid employment in France or other EU country apart from seven years in the UK?

xylophone

But before doing anything at all, get a pension forecast.

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

worn_out

yes she's worked in France too, so there'll be some state pension there too, plus maybe some credits for maternal duties when she didn't work while bringing up the kids, ...haven't gone into that as I have no knowledge of French system.

nigelbb

worn_out wrote: »

yes she's worked in France too, so there'll be some state pension there too, plus maybe some credits for maternal duties when she didn't work while bringing up the kids, ...haven't gone into that as I have no knowledge of French system.

If she has worked in France then the number of years of contributions gets added in terms of qualifying years. It won't make her pension any larger but will get her over the ten qualifying years limit. As I said earlier in that case if she buys no added years she will get a pension for seven years contributions pro rata.

Her years of contributions in the UK will be also added as qualifying years for her French pension. It may mean that she can take her French pension at an earlier age with an extra 28 trimestres (contributions in France are counted in quarters). She needs to register with https://www.lassuranceretraite.fr where she will find a record of contributions plus an estimated pension, the earliest date that she can take her pension & what age she is eligible for a pension at full rate (au taux plein). Currently I think that she will need 166 trimestres.