Logging into Government Gateway to check NI contributions

Possom

I believe it used to be possible to log in at the link below (from Start Now) with a Government Gateway User ID number in order to check which previous tax years would require topping up with voluntary contributions in order for that year to become a "qualifying year" for NI purposes.

https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

Is it still possible to login at the link above? It looks like it's possible to recover a password using an e-mail address, but it's so long ago since I registered I'm not sure what e-mail address I used and I may not be using that e-mail address any longer in any case.

I'm not 100% sure, but from what I can ascertain the Gateway card scheme is no longer operational, so presumably a new card cannot be obtained?

If I can't login using Gateway, presumably therefore I need to fill in the following in order to determine which past tax years need NI topped-up in order to qualify for a qualifying year?

https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/shortforms/form/NIStatement
It states, "What is the first tax year you need on your statement?" - how far back can I request?

Thanks.

Marcon

Try https://www.signin.service.gov.uk/prove-identity and you can register using gov.uk Verify

Possom

Thanks Marcon.

fifeken

I use this link:

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension/sign-in/prove-identity

and my Gateway ID. If you forget the ID number you can set up a new one if you follow the prompts in your link.

molerat

The problem is that the NI statement only tells you which years are not full - paying pre 2016 years may not actually make any difference to your pension. You can currently buy any years back to 2006-07 until April 2023 after which the usual 2 year / 6 year rules will apply. If applying for a paper statement you can go back as far as you want - back to age 16 is probably best as you can then check if any years that should be full are not.

Possom

fifeken wrote: »

I use this link:

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension/sign-in/prove-identity

and my Gateway ID. If you forget the ID number you can set up a new one if you follow the prompts in your link.

It's that many years since I registered for Gateway, I've no idea which e-mail address I used back then to register. And I won't be able to login to an old e-mail address at this stage in any case i.e. an e-mail address which I haven't used in many, many years.

Consequently I can't recover the password (or set a new password).

fifeken

Possom wrote: »

It's that many years since I registered for Gateway, I've no idea which e-mail address I used back then to register. And I won't be able to login to an old e-mail address at this stage in any case i.e. an e-mail address which I haven't used in many, many years.

Consequently I can't recover the password (or set a new password).

After pressing Start Now on your original link use the Forgotten ID path, say you can't find it and it'll prompt you to create a new one.

Possom

molerat wrote: »

The problem is that the NI statement only tells you which years are not full - paying pre 2016 years may not actually make any difference to your pension.

Why would paying pre 2016 tax years potentially not make any difference to state pension? I was under the impression the purpose of making voluntary NI contributions for past tax years (i.e. years which did not qualify as "qualifying years") was because this would make a difference to state pension.

If paying pre 2016 tax years might not contribute to state pension, why is there the opportunity to pay for these? What would be the benefit in doing so?

Linton

Possom wrote: »

Why would paying pre 2016 tax years potentially not make any difference to state pension? I was under the impression the purpose of making voluntary NI contributions for past tax years (i.e. years which did not qualify as "qualifying years") was because this would make a difference to state pension.

If paying pre 2016 tax years might not contribute to state pension, why is there the opportunity to pay for these? What would be the benefit in doing so?

Because in April 2016 your SP at that point was assessed and this value formed the basis of future increases as you paid in more NI. So for example if in April 2016 you had 30 years NI this would giuve you the then standard SP of around £128/week. 5 more post 2016 NI years would give you the new SP level. In those circumstances extra pre-2016 NI would not help you.


To get a definitive advice as to which years would be worthwhile buying contact the Future Pensions Centre:https://www.gov.uk/future-pension-centre.


The reason why the option of buying pre-2016 NI years is available is that this will help some people - for example those who had not achieved 30 NI years in 2016. It can get quite complicated so that is why you should consult the FPC.