Guide discussion: Voluntary national insurance contributions

[Deleted User]

bones1958 said:

@Dazed_and_C0nfused @molerat
Thank you very much to you both for your replies.
My mind is clear now what I need to do. Your advice has been most helpful.

I hope my story also puts your mind at rest.

I applied for my state pension in late March still having to pay a top up for 2023/2024 to achieve the new state pension minus a few pence after many years of being contracted out.My initial set of figures came through a week later.

At the beginning of May I paid the NI top up for 2023/2024 via a bank transfer. ( I contacted HMRC through their online chat service. I was given all the information I required to be able to pay). 2023/2024 was the final year I could pay NI towards my state pension as my birthday is in July.

My NI record was updated within a week and a couple of weeks later I received my updated figures for my state pension taking into account my final NI payment.

My state pension comes into payment at the end of July.

I am quite impressed with how smoothly it all went.

I have paid a total of 47 years NI and will receive, at current rates, £220.37 a week. I am very happy with the result after being contracted out for many years as a teacher.

I believe the process is easier if you manage to plug your gaps before the state pension is in payment.

pinnks

Thanks for that update as I am/will be in a similar position as I reach pension age next March, except you're 27p per week better off than my forecast, lol - weird that. 

I am currently sitting on the cash to pay 2021/22 to 2023/24 and was wondering how long still, to leave it in the bank, up to, about the time I pop my pension claim onto GOV UK. 

Based on your experience, I think I stick with Plan A, and pay it about the same time I claim, giving them about 4 months to get their ducks in a row. 

bones1958

@[Deleted User] @pinnks
You know how you feel as though you’re the only one in this position? Both your comments on your personal circumstances are so similar to mine, it has reassured me on what I must do now, rather than leave it until after SP starts being paid.

I now have to decide whether to pay my one and only remaining gap year by using the “new” online system or by phoning HMRC (again) to obtain another 18 digit reference number. Being from a semi technical work background, I would hope the online option will be quicker in processing the payment. However, where HMRC systems are concerned, that is not guaranteed!!

Wish me luck. 😃

homerhotspur

I am not altogether clear if the new online top up system is fully up and running. There was a suggestion of an update to the MSE article on top ups but nothing yet. I have been into the system via my HMRC account and the required yearly top ups are all set out, but when it comes to paying there are 4 options. The one which applies to me is ' do you still pay National Insurance contributions'. The answer is no as I retired a few years ago. This gives me the reply - you cant use this service and have to contact the pension service ( heart drops). Is this the new or still the old system? is it only current employees that can use this new system?

double_dutchy

homerhotspur said:

 Is this the new or still the old system? is it only current employees that can use this new system?

That's the new system.

It's been suggested that you can legitimately claim that you are still paying NI contributions and thereby pay online, see this thread - page 3:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6524584/boosting-your-state-pension-should-now-be-quicker-and-easier-as-new-online-tool-launches#latest

Smallpotato

I read MSE's "How to buy voluntary national insurance contributions" article  of 4 May in depth and also listened to his podcast .  I contacted HMRC and when I finally got through was told to complete a CF83.  The automatic response email gives no indication of time frames for an answer.  I called again and was told it would be May 2025 - AFTER the deadline for voluntary payments.  
Also the HMRC service "check when you can expect a reply" referred to in the email does not have a response time for forms CF83  -  so why direct a customer to this page.?
HMRC are clearly overwhelmed by people wanting to make voluntary payments yet its online services to allow pepper to do this are woefully inadequate.
Phone line help varies considerably according to the agent that answers .

Please MSE  you have dine a great job in highlighting the opportunity to pay can you now publicise the problems that we have in actually establishing  the correct amount and making the payments.

pinnks

You are correct that HMRC and DWP are overwhelmed. This is because so many people did nothing for over a decade until just before the original 5 April 2023 deadline was approaching.  That deadline has been extended by 2 years to 5 April 2025 but still people are only now beginning to consider the issue.  For context, one official figure I saw in early 2023 was that HMRC's phone lines, that normally deal with about 40,000 calls a month, suddenly had to deal with over 1 million in one month.  I would suggest every organisation, public, or private, would struggle to deal with such increase.

Be that as it may, I assume you reside outside the UK, or have done in the past, otherwise you do not need to complete form CF83. If you do need to complete it, and if you do so online, turnaround times seem to be a couple of months but if you send a paper copy it is more like 12 months.

However, HMRC have said that once they have your form you will not be disadvantaged by any delays on their part, meaning the deadline is essentially frozen.  Time to sit back and wait for your form to come to the top of a very big pile.

p00hsticks

Smallpotato said:

Please MSE  you have dine a great job in highlighting the opportunity to pay can you now publicise the problems that we have in actually establishing  the correct amount and making the payments.

If you haven't already done so, you would also be advised to contact the future Pensions Service (part of DWP, not HMRC) for advice on which gaps in your record would increase your state pension amount - not all years will. 

HMRC look after NI records and can tell you where you have gaps, how much it will cost to fill them and take payment, but they cannot advice on what impact, if any,  the purchase will have on your state pension - that's for DWP. 

Suhusa

Form CF83 turned up in the form tracker in my gov.uk account, although without a title - but the timings made clear that it must be this form.

Veteran1

Hoping members can help. I reach state pension age in June 2025. Including the current tax year I will have 33 years full national insurance contributions (just checked on Government Gateway) and am looking to purchase two additional years (2020/21 and 2021/22) at a combined cost of £1596.40.

However the Government Gateway calculator says this will only increase my weekly pension by £12.64 per week, taking close to three years to break out of deficit.

I’m confused as I thought 35 years would entitle me to the full state pension rate.

Your help is much appreciated.