Guide discussion: Voluntary national insurance contributions

alfonso

Looking for advice as telephone sytem totally clogged, in fact now closed despite being 5pm

between 2011 and 2022 i have not contributed at all due to early retirement Oct 2010

I have full years in from 1976 to 2010 2011

The attached shows my forecast

Looking at empty years Im presuming I must pay 4 yrs ( 3296gbp ) in order to get the full SP in 2027

Am I correct ?

molerat

laser01 said:

Apoogies .  New here. I seem to have started a new thread in error. Hopefully in correct place now.

Many thanks for all the very helpful information on this thread, absolutely fantastic. I  telephoned the Future Pensions Service (on Friday 17/2/23) and like nickutd  couldn't  get further than being told by answering machine to call back after April as they are only dealing with pre 2016 years.

I am not sure whether paying additional years will improve my pension and if so how many do I need to pay. 

Key notes from my online forecast and NI records:

You can get your State Pension on xx xx 2024

• Your forecast is £169.85 a week, £738.54 a month, £8862.53 a year.
• Estimate based on your National Insurance record up to 5 April 2022: £159.27 a week
• Forecast if you contribute until April 2024: £169.85 a week

You have:

41 years of full contributions
2 years to contribute before 5 April 2024
7 years when you did not contribute enough

until 2015- 2016 I had 39 years and from 2016-17, 2017-18 I have 2 full years then I retired from my job in the NHS  so

2018-19, 19-20, 20-21, 21-22, 22-23 missing as well as (1977-78, 78-79, 79-80) when I was at university.

Since I worked in NHS I was contracted out, my COPE is £80.44 per week

Answered in your other post but

You need 5 more years to reach the full £185.15.  You have 2 years going forward, 2022-23 and 2023-24 and 4 empty looking back so need all but one to fill up.

2021-22 and 2022-23 will be staying at £800.80 and £824.20 after April, anything earlier will be increasing to £907.40.

The problem you have now is the scrabble to buy years and getting in touch with DWP / HMRC.  If you are confident you could just phone up HMRC and pay for 3 or 4 of the available years, 18-19, 19-20 and 20-21 as the cheapest (£824.20, £824.20 & £795.60) and pay 21-22 and 22-23 after April.

molerat

alfonso said:

Looking for advice as telephone sytem totally clogged, in fact now closed despite being 5pm

between 2011 and 2022 i have not contributed at all due to early retirement Oct 2010

I have full years in from 1976 to 2010 2011

The attached shows my forecast

Looking at empty years Im presuming I must pay 4 yrs ( 3296gbp ) in order to get the full SP in 2027

Am I correct ?

No, you need 9 years to get  the max £185.15.

£185.15 - £142.49 = £42.66 / £5.29 = 8.06

The 9th year will only add 34p so not really worth buying.

You need to continue contributing to reach £163.65 and then buy some back years to reach the max.

How many years does it show you having ?

What is your COPE amount ?

Any part filled cheap years ?

edit:  Looks like you have 35 years and a  COPE in excess of £36

Only post 2016 years can add value to your pension.

alfonso

Thank you, that scares me. Big lump to find at short notice

cozzer

Hi all
been on hold with NIC for 1hr15 today, then they just cut me off saying they couldn't take my call. I phoned at 14:30 hrs. Really annoyed with all that wasted time.
How is everyone getting their quotes for what they owe to complete a year?
I have this info on mine:

"2013 to 2014

Year is not full.We are checking this year to see if it counts towards your pension. We’ll update your record when this is finished, you do not need to do anything."

No amount stated on what I already have in contributions for that year, or what I need to pay to complete the year.
Am I missing a trick?
Thanks

alfonso

molerat said:

alfonso said:

Looking for advice as telephone sytem totally clogged, in fact now closed despite being 5pm

between 2011 and 2022 i have not contributed at all due to early retirement Oct 2010

I have full years in from 1976 to 2010 2011

The attached shows my forecast

Looking at empty years Im presuming I must pay 4 yrs ( 3296gbp ) in order to get the full SP in 2027

Am I correct ?

No, you need 9 years to get  the max £185.15.

£185.15 - £142.49 = £42.66 / £5.29 = 8.06

You need to continue contributing to reach £163.65 and then buy some back years to reach the max.

How many years does it show you having ?

What is your COPE amount ?

Any part filled cheap years ?

It says 35 years full ( up to and including 2010/2011 )

There is no mention of COPE, although Im sure after a company take over in 2006 there was an opt out but this not showing

No part years

You have:

• 35 years of full contributions
• 4 years to contribute before 5 April 2026
• 11 years when you did not contribute enough  ( my years since retiring )
  

molerat

cozzer said:

Hi all
been on hold with NIC for 1hr15 today, then they just cut me off saying they couldn't take my call. I phoned at 14:30 hrs. Really annoyed with all that wasted time.
How is everyone getting their quotes for what they owe to complete a year?
I have this info on mine:

"2013 to 2014

Year is not full.We are checking this year to see if it counts towards your pension. We’ll update your record when this is finished, you do not need to do anything."

No amount stated on what I already have in contributions for that year, or what I need to pay to complete the year.
Am I missing a trick?
Thanks

You need to speak to the HMRC NI desk for that as something is wrong with your record but as it is pre 2016 will it make any difference to your forecast ?

If you are not sure post up all the details and someone will help

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

molerat

alfonso said:

molerat said:

alfonso said:

Looking for advice as telephone sytem totally clogged, in fact now closed despite being 5pm

between 2011 and 2022 i have not contributed at all due to early retirement Oct 2010

I have full years in from 1976 to 2010 2011

The attached shows my forecast

Looking at empty years Im presuming I must pay 4 yrs ( 3296gbp ) in order to get the full SP in 2027

Am I correct ?

No, you need 9 years to get  the max £185.15.

£185.15 - £142.49 = £42.66 / £5.29 = 8.06

You need to continue contributing to reach £163.65 and then buy some back years to reach the max.

How many years does it show you having ?

What is your COPE amount ?

Any part filled cheap years ?

It says 35 years full ( up to and including 2010/2011 )

There is no mention of COPE, although Im sure after a company take over in 2006 there was an opt out but this not showing

No part years

You have:

• 35 years of full contributions
• 4 years to contribute before 5 April 2026
• 11 years when you did not contribute enough  ( my years since retiring )
  

If you look further down the page there should be a statement " You were in a contracted out pension scheme" with a click link to the COPE amount, looking at your forecast numbers there will be one.

pinnks

alfonso said:

Thank you, that scares me. Big lump to find at short notice

Not sure you need to find a massive amount immediately.

You need to pay 2022/23 (unless you are already paying it in some way).  It will remain at the current £825(ish) until 5 April 2025.  You then need to pay 2023/24 to 2025/26 as they arise, though those too can be paid up to 2 years in arrears without changing the price, though of course, state pension age and your claim come before those time limits are reached.

Looking back, you need to pay 3 pre-2022/23 years, so 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22.  The price for 2021/22 stays the same until 5 April 2024, so the only immediate years to pay are 2019/20 and 2020/21.  The currently cost £825(ish) each and will increase to £907.40 on 6 April.  That price will stay the same until 5 April 2024.

I have popped all my years into a spreadsheet/table so I can see how much they will cost if I pay them by the cut-off dates and how much more I will have to pay if I miss the boat.  That way I can manage my finances better while also not paying more than I need

molerat

alfonso said:

Thank you, that scares me. Big lump to find at short notice

Not really short notice.  This was all known about in 2016.