Do I need to claim National Insurance credit for 16 hours per week?

peteduk

Hope this is the right place for this. If not please point me in the right direction - and forgive me if answered but I couldn't find it.

I am working 16 hours per week (with minimal overtime) and in most months do not earn enough to pay any National Insurance (NI).
The .gov website states that you get Class 1 NI credits automatically if working 16 or more hours per week if not paying NI.

Does this have to be claimed in some way? And if so how?
If it is automatic how can I check it is being credited correctly?

I am in the privileged position of having taken early retirement with a small pension so am not receiving benefits but need to work part time at least until I receive my state pension - I also need to work for several more qualifying years to get the full state pension.

Thank you for your help,

chrisbur

Provided that you are earnings at least £120 a week (which you would be well over if on minimum wage) and your employer is doing everything correctly then you are over what is called the Lower Earnings Limit.  This means that although you pay no national insurance you are treated as if you have paid national insurance.

peteduk

Thank you chrisbur,
That's great, so there should be no need for me to claim anything. I couldn't find anywhere where it said I needed to, or that my company would sort it out.

I'm now a little bit worried that it's not all been done correctly between my employer and the JSA when I got the job in the 2020 / 2021 financial year as I don't have a full year's credit on the NI website (yet?).
I'll give it a month or so and then check / follow up if it hasn't changed - it was a letter from the JSA today that made me check, and then ask.

Thank you again,

Savvy_Sue

It may be that your employer is making contributions even if you are not. What's on your payslip?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Check your personal tax account on gov.uk, what really matters here is that your employer is reporting your pay under the RTI (Real Time Information) system.

peteduk

Thank you for your replies:

Savvy_Sue: Both my employer and I have made a minimal payment only because in most months my monthly earnings did not trigger the need to pay NI. My payslip reflects that - it doesn't say that a credit is being made each month on my behalf by my employer. If it did it would be easier for me to understand.

Dazed_and_C0nfused: I checked the .gov.uk website which made me ask here. It mentions payments made while working but it is minimal (<£5) and states there is a shortfall. Hence my questions here.

My letter was from the JSA asking as to whether or not I was still out of work and did I need to continue to claim NI credits.
I had already informed them I had started work so I have repeated this and gave them the start date again.
My confusion arises because obviously there has been some credit for my NI contribution but it is not enough - either due to the JSA not having contributed anything, or my employer not contributing anything except the small payment. That detail is not available on the .gov website.
Based on the comments above and because the shortfall is low (<£50), I am thinking that my employer must have done whatever needs to be done to credit the NI system, and that the JSA have not credited it with anything, yet. (I started my job in July 2020 so ~3months into the tax year). Unfortunately because my earnings do not trigger a NI payment, nothing tells me where (or when) the credit will come.

Does that seem reasonable, and is there a way to check? (Ideally I'd rather not ask my employer directly).
Anyway that is why I suggested I'd leave it a month before checking again.

Thanks again

chrisbur

Have you checked your personal tax account on gov.uk, as suggested by Dazed...  If your earnings are showing and they are over £120 then you are classed as paying NI.

peteduk

Thank you again chrisbur.
I had previously checked my NI record but not personal tax status.
It shows what I was paid by my employer with the tax and (minimal) NI paid. I know that I was on minimum wage so it is more than £120 / week equivalent  (except maybe the 1st month where I was underpaid. Caught back in the 2nd month hence the NI payment).
There is a record for the JSA and it says HMRC have not been advised of tax or NI payments which is correct because I was not receiving any benefit apart from the NI credit claim.
For FY19 - FY20 I have National insurance credits but there is no record of anything from JSA in the tax account
For FY20 - FY21 I have 4 weeks of National Insurance credits and have a shortfall of only <£50. So I am now assuming that my employer is doing everything correctly and that the JSA must somehow update HMRC that I need more NI credits as I did not work for 3 months after April 2020 ~ 12 weeks

Hope this makes sense and thank you for your kind help.
Sorry for my ignorance as to what is available in my tax account.