Guide discussion: Voluntary national insurance contributions

GanDoonToonPet

skycatcher said:

GanDoonToonPet said:

pecunianonolet said:

What are the timelines or where can one find out how long it will take HMRC to allocate paid class 2 and 3 payments to the NI record? 

Payments were made early April by FP so I am aware it's been only ca 5 weeks and HMRC quotes to get in touch if not allocated after 8 weeks. However, I think they have a large backlog. 

According to the last estimate I saw on the (now defunct) HMRC pension forum, the time from payment to updating NI record was 65 weeks.

I paid for a mixture of class 2 and 3 back in Feb and my record still hasn't been updated. 

After raising a formal complaint with hmrc as mine hadn't updated after paying in April I was told that they didn't update the NI record until December but as i was due to get my pension before that date they manually put it through! Begs the question why you would bother paying them much before that date!

I could try making a complaint but I doubt it will make much difference as the backlog will not change. I suspect you 'jumped the queue' due to being close to retirement age. I did call them after 8 weeks and they confirmed that the payment had been received and relevant years allocated correctly.

The rest of your post doesn't make much sense. I paid ASAP as I observed the backlog getting longer as the 5 April deadline was approaching. Also, I just happened to be back in the UK at that time so it made sense to do it then. I don't know if you've ever tried dealing with goverment agencies from abroad. It's very time consuming and expensive!   

skycatcher

jem16 said:

skycatcher said:

GanDoonToonPet said:

pecunianonolet said:

What are the timelines or where can one find out how long it will take HMRC to allocate paid class 2 and 3 payments to the NI record? 

Payments were made early April by FP so I am aware it's been only ca 5 weeks and HMRC quotes to get in touch if not allocated after 8 weeks. However, I think they have a large backlog. 

According to the last estimate I saw on the (now defunct) HMRC pension forum, the time from payment to updating NI record was 65 weeks.

I paid for a mixture of class 2 and 3 back in Feb and my record still hasn't been updated. 

After raising a formal complaint with hmrc as mine hadn't updated after paying in April I was told that they didn't update the NI record until December but as i was due to get my pension before that date they manually put it through! Begs the question why you would bother paying them much before that date!

It’s also not true. My son paid voluntary Class 2 in May and was updated within a week. Previous payments took much longer but December had nothing to do with any of them. 

Not the first time I've been told untruths by HMRC then.

pritchah

Is the voluntary contributions callback service still operating?

We think my wife requested this, but she's terrible at picking up from unrecognised numbers (which of course HMG usually is) and I fear she might have missed the boat

What's the best number to call DWPP to get the ball rolling again, if poss

JimTheseus

Hi all, Newbi warning. I wonder if someone can nudge me in the right direction please; I have trying to pay Vol NI contributions for well over a year and fell like Im being sent from pillar to post. To the extent that I missed the deadline in March this year. Having accepted that I now wish to pay the 6 years that i can but again cant get this over the line. Have spent hours on the phone and being told to do this or that, doing it and again no progress. I would say that i have lived in the NLs for 40 years but worked in UK (N Irl) before leaving and have now been back for two years. 

Latest situation; was in touch with HMRC but eventually got a letter stating that  they had sent my enquiry to Intl Pension center (IPC), who had sent me to HMRC. That was in July. Sent a letter in October to IPC asking for an update and till now nothing. Really feels a bit frustrating.....

Any advice most welcome!

Regards,

Sheila

jem16

JimTheseus said:

Hi all, Newbi warning. I wonder if someone can nudge me in the right direction please; I have trying to pay Vol NI contributions for well over a year and fell like Im being sent from pillar to post. To the extent that I missed the deadline in March this year. Having accepted that I now wish to pay the 6 years that i can but again cant get this over the line. Have spent hours on the phone and being told to do this or that, doing it and again no progress. I would say that i have lived in the NLs for 40 years but worked in UK (N Irl) before leaving and have now been back for two years. 

Latest situation; was in touch with HMRC but eventually got a letter stating that  they had sent my enquiry to Intl Pension center (IPC), who had sent me to HMRC. That was in July. Sent a letter in October to IPC asking for an update and till now nothing. Really feels a bit frustrating.....

Any advice most welcome!

Regards,

Sheila

Are you already in receipt of your state pension or not?

JimTheseus

Yes I have my state pension for about one year now. Thank you

jem16

JimTheseus said:

Yes I have my state pension for about one year now. Thank you

Then yes it now has to be handled by the DWP, so the International Pension Centre as you’re presumably resident abroad. They should be liaising with HMRC for the correct class of NI that you’d need to pay. 

Other than keeping on at them there is no other way to do it I’m afraid. 

JimTheseus

OK Jen, many thanks. 

Haydn_T

I've been looking at this discussion a lot recently, having read through the main piece and been particularly interested in this part:

Unemployed and actively looking for work: You needn't have been claiming Jobseeker's Allowance, but will need to prove you were looking for employment.

I saw a few others comment on this slightly tricky sounding option previously, so wanted to share my experience.

I was unemployed and looking for work a couple of years ago, and didn't sign up for Jobseekers Allowance (because, of course, I thought I'd get a job soon enough, and didn't realize it was linked to national insurance credits).

Now there's a gap in my contributions record I've been looking to fill. It's for the 2023 - 2024 period, so still with the 'payable' period. It would cost me the best part of £1000, so I thought I would try and pursue the retroactive benefits approach.

On the government website one can find the following, so I started by calling the job centre phone line.

They then told me to call the jobseekers allowance specific benefits line on 0800 055 6688.

The person I spoke to there was helpful, and told me the key info:

Go to any job centre - no appointment needed - and get the form JSANC1.

This worked!

I haven't yet filled in and returned the form, so the final result is TBD, but flicking through it, it appears to be exactly th right thing to get national insurance credits for a past period of no seeking when not claiming JSA.

Hope this is useful for for anyone seeking the same.