Guide discussion: Voluntary national insurance contributions

MallyGirl

@olbas_oil you might want to supply your detailed forecast here as there are some very knowledgeable people who might be able to tell you if it is worth contributing extra. Alternatively you could start your own thread asking the question as it will get more views than this long running thread

p00hsticks

olbas_oil said:

I am already at state pension age. So I followed step 5 of the guide and rang the Pension Service on 18 May. I was promised a letter explaining whether voluntary contributions would raise my pension within 10 working days. Nothing arrived. I phoned again on 15 June. Again they said they would send a letter within 10 working days. Nothing arrived. I rang on 30 June and was promised a manager call back which didn't happen. I rang on 7 July and asked for this to be treated as a complaint. I have now received a letter saying they have written to the 'Voluntary National Insurance Section based in Newcastle' but  they are taking 8-10 weeks to reply.

When you published your guide on 15 May, did you think it would take this long?  Should there be a warning in the guide that the system seems to be broken?

I suspect that the guide itself has actually contributed to the backlog - we've seen before that as soon as MSE or Martin Lewis mention a potential way to cut costs or increase income, loads of people do it - this board has certainly seen a large increase in queries about topping up your contribution since the guide was published, and the DWP Pension Service and Future Pension Centre that the guide directs you to will I'm sure have seen a huge surge in demand in response to the publicity.

Those posting here who were not yet at retirement age and were advised to contact the Future Penson service did seem to report back, at least initially,  that they were getting prompt service with their queries being answered directly whislt on the phone to them, so that side of the system does appear to be working. 

 

It sounds like the Pension Service have actually passed your query on to the Future Pension Centre (who are indeed based in Newcastle).

Tergat

Hi, looking for some specific advice on my own personal circumstances.

I'm 36, born in UK and lived in England until I finished school at 18 before moving to Ireland for uni and stayed here since. I worked for only a couple of summers during uni (so sort of 2004-2008) making very modest ni contributions during those years only.

I am reading the info in the MSE guide and and on this thread too and at a broad level am I right in thinking that I am entitled to a UK state pension but given I haven't really made NI contributions before, save for those summer jobs, I would need to be looking at making the max 35 years NI contributions....

Given I live and work in Ireland and don't intend to move back to UK or work there I would need to be looking at making some backpayment years of NI to get me to the max 35 year contributions to max out what I could get in UK state pension?

Am I being overly simplistic here?

Thanks

Dazed_and_C0nfused

You would be under transitional rules so having 35 isn't what matters.

You should start be checking your State Pension forecast on gov.uk and read the whole thing, not just the headline figure.

You will then know how many year you need to reach them standard new State Pension of £185.15 

It may be 35 years but you cannot know for certain without checking your personal forecast.  In full.

Tergat

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

You would be under transitional rules so having 35 isn't what matters.

You should start be checking your State Pension forecast on gov.uk and read the whole thing, not just the headline figure.

You will then know how many year you need to reach them standard new State Pension of £185.15 

It may be 35 years but you cannot know for certain without checking your personal forecast.  In full.

Thanks. I tried to get setup on gov.uk site but only have my UK passport and not the other docs they needed so had to stop there...

p00hsticks

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

You should start be checking your State Pension forecast on gov.uk and read the whole thing, not just the headline figure.

I'm not sure that the OP will be able to get a forecast at present - I may be wrong but I think we've had some some else posting up in the past that because they had less than 10 years NI contributions  (and therefore hadn't reached the minimum required for a new State Pension, no forecast was available for them.

Tergat

p00hsticks said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

You should start be checking your State Pension forecast on gov.uk and read the whole thing, not just the headline figure.

I'm not sure that the OP will be able to get a forecast at present - I may be wrong but I think we've had some some else posting up in the past that because they had less than 10 years NI contributions  (and therefore hadn't reached the minimum required for a new State Pension, no forecast was available for them.

This doesn't mean I won't be able to qualify? More that the system cannot spit out a forecast right?

nigelbb

To be eligible to pay Class 2 voluntary National Insurance contributions you must have worked & paid NI contributions for the three years immediately before you leave the UK. Full details in the HMRC leaflet NI38 'Social Security abroad' https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/947544/NI38_12_20.pdf

Tergat

nigelbb said:

To be eligible to pay Class 2 voluntary National Insurance contributions you must have worked & paid NI contributions for the three years immediately before you leave the UK. Full details in the HMRC leaflet NI38 'Social Security abroad' https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/947544/NI38_12_20.pdf

Yeah I read that leaflet and it's not prescriptive as to how much NI contributions.... I suspect I did 3 years but at low amounts. Will give the pensions centre a shout. Thanks all for the help!

p00hsticks

Tergat said:

p00hsticks said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

You should start be checking your State Pension forecast on gov.uk and read the whole thing, not just the headline figure.

I'm not sure that the OP will be able to get a forecast at present - I may be wrong but I think we've had some some else posting up in the past that because they had less than 10 years NI contributions  (and therefore hadn't reached the minimum required for a new State Pension, no forecast was available for them.

This doesn't mean I won't be able to qualify? More that the system cannot spit out a forecast right?

Yes, I meant that a forecast may not be available until you have the 10 years NI now necessary to be entitled to any State Pension at all. 

I don't know whether you'd be able to qualify or not - I'm leaving that to those who know better than me. I know if you have previously worked in this country at all you can continue making voluntary contributions (at the cheaper Class 2 rate as well) to continue to build up your state pension, but I'm not sure if a holiday job during uni would count, or even if any sort of NI record built up in the UK before moving is necessary.