Guide discussion: Voluntary national insurance contributions

Falcon50

Hi, is there a way to pay voluntary contributions online, we cannot seem to find any way to do it? My wife is missing some years. I think she needs a reference to be able to pay but to get that she has to phone them and she can't get through and the deadline is looming to pay to qualify for the missing years. The government website sends you in circles.
Also some of her years from many years ago originally said paid up but for over a year now the online status has changed and it says pending. She can't get through on the phone, but about a year ago when she did get through they just said they'd look into it. The missing years are from a long time ago when she received tax credits so therefore it should of been paid by default.
She's been self employed now for over 10 years and earnt below the threshold to pay, so in particular the recent pandemic years she's also short too. If we knew how to pay we would as don't want her to miss out on her state pension.

MallyGirl

if she is registered as self employed then it is probably in her interest to pay class 2 NI which is much cheaper than class 3

MACKEM99

molerat said:

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.

Thanks for info.  That is a bit concerning as I have my letter all ready.  I am now going to call them to get the 18 digit ref instead.  Another hour on phone.

p00hsticks

Falcon50 said:

Hi, is there a way to pay voluntary contributions online, we cannot seem to find any way to do it? My wife is missing some years. I think she needs a reference to be able to pay but to get that she has to phone them and she can't get through and the deadline is looming to pay to qualify for the missing years. The government website sends you in circles.
Also some of her years from many years ago originally said paid up but for over a year now the online status has changed and it says pending. She can't get through on the phone, but about a year ago when she did get through they just said they'd look into it. The missing years are from a long time ago when she received tax credits so therefore it should of been paid by default.
She's been self employed now for over 10 years and earnt below the threshold to pay, so in particular the recent pandemic years she's also short too. If we knew how to pay we would as don't want her to miss out on her state pension.

I'm not sure on the position with paying when self-employed - is the option to pay not offered as part of the Self-assessment process ?

But apart from that, the answer to your question is that there isn't a direct way to pay online.
She should first call the Future Pension Centre 
Contact the Future Pension Centre - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Who will be able to see her State Pension Forecast and give advice on which years (if any) are worth buying to increase her pension. I understand from others on this board that they'll then be able to transfer her directly over to the HMRC NI Enquiries department who'll give her an 18-digit reference number for her to use when making an online payment. 

The only alterative to phone to make Class 3 contributions is by post, writing a cheque for the years you wish to pay - but you need to be confident that you know both which years to buy and how much they cost. 
Pay voluntary Class 3 National Insurance: By cheque through the post - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

jaffy60

My feedback regarding paying the Voluntary Contributions is this.
Like many others I kept trying to get through and instead of it ringing engaged at the first point I went pressing 1 for this, 3 for that etc... then it was engaged which was incredibly frustrating. I smiled to myself the other day when reading someone had tried "Six" times and given up as over the course of one week I actually totted up the calls that I had made and it was 141 attempts (yes 141) I would add the phone was beside me as I carried on with my days whilst pressing redial! But I was gutted that one day whilst out I had a missed call from the number I had been using - sods law and all that. Thankfully they attempted to ring me again when I was able to take the call and what they said was that they could see I'd made many attempts to get though and they are calling those numbers back! Lovely helpful chap, got all the information/clarification I needed but unfortunately he said they don't give out the 18 digit reference number to pay the money I then had to call another number which was a good hour in a queue this time not ringing engaged and then got the 18 digit reference number. To save hubby going through both numbers like me they accepted me handing the phone over and dealt with him as well so we are both sorted. If you just require the 18 digit number then the phone number we were given is 0300 200 3500 and say you are calling as you going to be "paying class 3", they then give you the bank account number, sort code and 18 digit reference number you don't pay them over the phone. That was my personal experience anyway.

HeySquirrel

Update on cheque processing time. Cheque sent to HMRC 3rd March, and it left my account Tuesday 28 March. Relieved it has been processed.

Tescodealqueen

HeySquirrel said:

Update on cheque processing time. Cheque sent to HMRC 3rd March, and it left my account Tuesday 28 March. Relieved it has been processed.

Thank you this gives me some confidence that the cheque I have sent will be cashed eventually 

HimInDoors

FYI about claiming Carer's Pension Credits. There is a twelve month window for claiming Carer's Credits, and the DWP is strictly enforcing this time limit. I tried to make a back dated claim for caring for my disabled son from 2012 to 2019 but it was automatically rejected as 'being out of time'.

jem16

HimInDoors said:

FYI about claiming Carer's Pension Credits. There is a twelve month window for claiming Carer's Credits, and the DWP is strictly enforcing this time limit. I tried to make a back dated claim for caring for my disabled son from 2012 to 2019 but it was automatically rejected as 'being out of time'.

Not entirely accurate. You can backdate a claim to the start of the last full tax year. So apply now and you can backdate your claim to April 2021. 

Frozen_Out

Can anyone please explain why I am getting less than the 'Standard New State Pension amount', and whether there is anything that I can now do about it?

I remember getting a letter from DWP, many years ago, saying I would need 30 years NI contributions to get 'a full pension'. Yet with 45 years, it seems I still don't!

I am currently receiving £169.59 per week and struggling to understand why I don't seem to get the 'Standard Pension amount' of £185.15 (I am £15.56 per week short).

My NI record says:

You have

45 years of full contributions

 (which is what the record was previously saying that I would need to for 'the most you can get').

5 years when you did not contribute enough

Years 'not full' include 2005-6, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 (so perhaps I can still pay some of those, if it would help?).

My NI contributions ended on 05/04/20, so I would have had 41 years full at 05/04/16.

My SPA was in January 2021.

I was contracted out of SSP/S2P (?) until around 2008?

My COPE estimate was £73.27 a week (quoted at 06/20).

Thanks in advance for any assistance.