Guide discussion: Voluntary national insurance contributions

Popppins

Hello there.

I'm self - employed and have just checked my NI contributions. There are some gaps between 2006 and 2016 but when I click for more detail the message reads 'we are looking into whether this year counts towards your pension. You do not need to do anything.'

Does anyone have any idea why this would be? What could there be a query about?

Now the deadline for voluntary payments back to 2016 has been extended into the summer there's less urgency on this. I could simply wait a few weeks and check again, but if anyone has any light to shed on this I'd be grateful. 

p00hsticks

Popppins said:

Hello there.

I'm self - employed and have just checked my NI contributions. There are some gaps between 2006 and 2016 but when I click for more detail the message reads 'we are looking into whether this year counts towards your pension. You do not need to do anything.'

Does anyone have any idea why this would be? What could there be a query about?

Now the deadline for voluntary payments back to 2016 has been extended into the summer there's less urgency on this. I could simply wait a few weeks and check again, but if anyone has any light to shed on this I'd be grateful. 

I'm not an expert on self employment, but from other posts on the board I believe the 'checking' message most commonly appears when you were self-employed and is down to the fact that (I think ) you opted not to pay Class 2 NI at the time because it was voluntary.....

Aristotle67

molerat said:

Sumselkb said:

So after paying through my digital banking on Wednesday I logged into my gov gateway today to see if there was an update yet on my national insurance record.

I know it can take up to 8 weeks but thought I would check anyway.

I sent a payment which was to pay for the years 2009 to 2010, 2010 to 2011 and 2017 to 2018.

The year 2017 to 2018 has been updated so that it now says Full year. However, 2009 to 2010 and 2010 to 2011 still both say Year is not full.

Is it just a case of wait and they will update them eventually over the coming weeks separately? Or is this something that should have been done in the one go and they have made an error?

I cannot phone up again because it costs too much and have already had to give my mum £30 to cover the cost of the phone bill. If I have to contact them then I could do it through the post?

Thanks.

I think it has come up before that post 2016 contributions seem to be added quickly but pre 2016 not, maybe they do more of a check on them.

Yes, it has, molerat, it is what happened in my situation. The post 2016 year was added very quickly but not so the pre 2016 years. This was resolved by a telephone call at 8.00 am; the agent was able to apply the pre 2016 years as there was a note on the file from my original call to obtain the 18 digit number that these years were appropriate to the payment made. She missed one out, unintentionally I am sure, and a further phone call the follow day resulted in the error being rectified. It does seem as if they prioritise the post 2016 contributions or check the pre 2016 ones more.

Sumselkb, as you have already made the payment with the 18 digit number I suppose you could write to them to follow this up, but do not expect a response for some considerable time. Alternatively, do you know anyone who has a telephone package where all calls to numbers beginning 01, 02 and 03 are free for up to an hour? If so, and they would kindly let you use their phone, I would suggest you call at 8.00 am. You should not have to wait for an hour at that time of the morning. If you do get through, point out that you understand that payments can take some time to be applied but that as the post 2016 one has gone through you thought you ought to check just in case there has been an oversight. I found them very understanding and helpful.  

RoyCross

Martin's guide states

"Spouse of a member of the armed forces: You're married to, or are a civil partner of, a member of the armed forces and went with them on an overseas posting (additional eligibility rules apply here)."

Does anyone know if this also applies to Foreign Office and British Council staff spouses on overseas postings, please?

Eamsey2

Hi All....I think I am okay and do not need to contribute further, but to double check that I am not being dim I would greatly appreciate a viewpoint on the following:

Background: I am 61 at the moment, not working having retired 2018 but have a holiday let which started July 2020 and ended November 2022 and now I rent out that property.  I had it as a business for a year and half only.  I made no voluntary NI contributions in that time.

State Pension Summary

You can get your State Pension in September 2028
Forecast is £185.15 a week

£185.15 is the most you can get
You cannot improve your forecast any more

Your forecast may be different if there are any changes to your National Insurance Information

You've been in a contracted out pension scheme

Your National Insurance Record
41 Years of full contributions
6 years to contribute before 5 April 2028
4 years when you did not contribute enough

2022 to 2023 Record for this year not available yet
2021 to 2022 You did not make any contributions this year, you can make up the shortfall £800.80
2020 to 2021 You didn not make any contributions this year you can make up the shortfall  £795.60
2019 to 2020 Year is not full you can make up the shortfall £824.20
2018 to 2019 You have contributions from paid employment £21.18 shortfall £618.15

So my question is...does the sentence in italics mean that the forecast of £185.15 per week can change to a lower amount due to the lack of 6 years contributions from 2018 onwards?  its a bit confusing as when I looked at it I though i was okay and will get the max amount and cannot improve it any more by making the above shortfall contributions?

Hoping someone can make a viewpoint on this for me?
Many thanks

Eamsey2

Hi All....I think I am okay and do not need to contribute further, but to double check that I am not being dim I would greatly appreciate a viewpoint on the following:

Background: I am 61 at the moment, not working having retired 2018 but have a holiday let which started July 2020 and ended November 2022 and now I rent out that property.  I had it as a business for a year and half only.  I made no voluntary NI contributions in that time.

State Pension Summary

You can get your State Pension in September 2028
Forecast is £185.15 a week

£185.15 is the most you can get
You cannot improve your forecast any more

Your forecast may be different if there are any changes to your National Insurance Information

You've been in a contracted out pension scheme

Your National Insurance Record
41 Years of full contributions
6 years to contribute before 5 April 2028
4 years when you did not contribute enough

2022 to 2023 Record for this year not available yet
2021 to 2022 You did not make any contributions this year, you can make up the shortfall £800.80
2020 to 2021 You didn not make any contributions this year you can make up the shortfall  £795.60
2019 to 2020 Year is not full you can make up the shortfall £824.20
2018 to 2019 You have contributions from paid employment £21.18 shortfall £618.15

So my question is...does the sentence in italics mean that the forecast of £185.15 per week can change to a lower amount due to the lack of 6 years contributions from 2018 onwards?  its a bit confusing as when I looked at it I though i was okay and will get the max amount and cannot improve it any more by making the above shortfall contributions?

Hoping someone can make a viewpoint on this for me?
Many thanks

I forgot to add that I also have a cope amount of £14.68 a week but its says this will not affect my state pension forecast?

molerat

If that is the one and only amount shown on the front page then you are already there.

p00hsticks

Eamsey2 said:

You can get your State Pension in September 2028
Forecast is £185.15 a week

£185.15 is the most you can get
You cannot improve your forecast any more

If there's no statement following this along the lines of 'you need to continue to make further NI contributions gonig forward to attain this forecast' (sorry, I can't remember the exact wording) then it sounds like you have already reached the maximum and no further action is required.

Geronimo23

 Oh no - postal delays and more stress  .

To hopefully avoid any errors and confusion,  I sent a detailed letter to HMRC detailing my situation and  the years I wanted to be paid ( 2016-17 - 2021-2022). I also sent all of the  information requested and the cheque for the exact specified amount for the  relevant six years. I included the NI number and 18-digit reference number and all other information listed on the website. 
I have proof of posting the letter using First Class mail and paid for 'signing' so that I could ensure it arrived safely.  I  realised that it might take time for the cheque to be processed- although on the Gov website it  still says you should allow approx 3 days. I checked again today to see if the cheque had been cashed ( it hadn't) . More worryingly nothing has been updated on the Royal Mail tracking website in the last 10 days so no-one has even  'signed ' for receipt of the letter .  I phoned, and got through to HMRC this morning and a representative checked  to see whether the letter had been logged by  their staff at  the
'warehouse' holding  address - it hadn't.  So my choices seem to be : wait and hope the letter will be logged  so that at least I know they have received it , or  pay electronically  though online banking and cancel the  original cheque  and send yet another letter explaining things ???

molerat

Geronimo23 said:

 Oh no - postal delays and more stress  .

To hopefully avoid any errors and confusion,  I sent a detailed letter to HMRC detailing my situation and  the years I wanted to be paid ( 2016-17 - 2021-2022). I also sent all of the  information requested and the cheque for the exact specified amount for the  relevant six years. I included the NI number and 18-digit reference number and all other information listed on the website. 
I have proof of posting the letter using First Class mail and paid for 'signing' so that I could ensure it arrived safely.  I  realised that it might take time for the cheque to be processed- although on the Gov website it  still says you should allow approx 3 days. I checked again today to see if the cheque had been cashed ( it hadn't) . More worryingly nothing has been updated on the Royal Mail tracking website in the last 10 days so no-one has even  'signed ' for receipt of the letter .  I phoned, and got through to HMRC this morning and a representative checked  to see whether the letter had been logged by  their staff at  the
'warehouse' holding  address - it hadn't.  So my choices seem to be : wait and hope the letter will be logged  so that at least I know they have received it , or  pay electronically  though online banking and cancel the  original cheque  and send yet another letter explaining things ???

Signed for never does get signed for at these bulk mail handling centres.  Mail is taking at least a couple of months to get opened at the moment.  Unfortunately now they can technically prove it was not delivered if it comes to an argument.