Unable to Contact Future Pension Centre

Robbo11

I will be paying for 5 gap years of missing class 3 NI Contributions starting from 2017-18 after retiring early in 2016. That will get me to within a few pence of the full State Pension that I can start claiming later this year. I had done all the calculations in advance after checking my pension forecast online so just wanted the Future Pensions Centre to confirm the cost and answer a couple of queries I had before paying online.  

I rang the Future Pensions Centre late in the morning yesterday and waited for my call to be answered for 45 minutes before having to hang up to do something else. I tried a few times later in the afternoon but, like others have found, the call was cut off almost immediately each time. Today, I tried ringing every 10 minutes in the first hour after 8am as that is the time their website say they open but was again cut off every time. I finally got into a call queue when I tried ringing at 9am on the dot, then waited 25 minutes before it was answered, so not too bad I suppose. 

I was passed through to a member of the Tech support team after providing my details, and they confirmed the amount I needed to pay, and answered all my questions. They seem to know their stuff. Something worth mentioning is that when I said I intended to pay the cost of the 5 NI gap years as a lump sum online, he put me directly through to the HMRC National Insurance Contributions office to get the 18-digit reference number I need to pay it via the gov.uk website.

That saved me the hassle of making a further call to the 0300 200 3500 number to get the code and probably having to face another wait to be answered or getting cut off again, so my advice to anyone else who wants to pay online is to ask the FPC agent to do the same for you. 

I was also warned that due to how busy it is currently with so many people still wanting to pay voluntary NICs going back to 2006, the changes to my NI record could take up to 8 weeks to process after payment but that would be unusual and the most it should take. 

xylophone

I was also warned that due to how busy it is currently with so many people still wanting to pay voluntary NICs going back to 2006, the changes to my NI record could take up to 8 weeks to process after payment but that would be unusual and the most it should take. 

Well....

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6433232/paid-contributions-missing-at-hrmc

Workshy1

Hi all, I'm trying to navigate the state pension stuff; i.e. paying for shortfalls. I have tried ringing the helpline, but get cutoff as soon as it goes to 'busy'. No queuing. But, anyone, please clarify this; I retired early from the NHS in 2017, not eligible for state pension til 2026. So the gaps from 2017-2018 are not in jeopardy with the current July 31st deadline? Only up until 2016? (Though I was doing less hrs in 2016 - 2017, for 2 years after this the NI record states they are 'We are checking this year to see if it counts towards your pension.' (Dont get that). Thanks

molerat

The "checking" is usually down to being self employed and not paying class 2 - is that the case ?

The main problem is that after July those earlier £824.20 years will increase to £907.40.

What exactly does your forecast show ?

Current £££.pp amount accrued up to April 2022
Number of pre 2016 NI years full
Number of post 2016 NI years full
Tax year you reach state retirement
Any COPE amount shown
Years which show not full and prices