Guide discussion: Voluntary national insurance contributions

molerat

He must have contracted out / back in at different times to me, but could that have made that much difference?

Being contracted in is what makes the difference, that could add up to another £185 to the old pension basic £141.85.

p00hsticks

Frozen_Out said:

I happen to have a relative who is 8 days younger than me and, generally, in a similar situation (i.e. contracted out for some years, same retirement date). But he is, apparently, getting about £35 a week (SP) more than I am (so even more than the £185 'full amount'!).

Does that make any sense?

He must have contracted out / back in at different times to me, but could that have made that much difference?

Yes, it could. 
If they are getting more than £185.15, then they must have been contracted in and built up more 'additional state pension' (SERPS/S2P) than you. 
When everyone's 'starting amount' was calculated in 2016, if it came to more than the new State Pension maximum, this additional amount was honoured as a 'protected payment'. 
The new State Pension: How it's calculated - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Frozen_Out

molerat said:

He must have contracted out / back in at different times to me, but could that have made that much difference?

Being contracted in is what makes the difference, that could add up to another £185 to the old pension basic £141.85.

Aaahhh, so that would be why then!

But I suppose as long as I'm getting something from my private pension, to at least cover that differential, then I'm probably doing OK!

So, all in all, it sounds like I probably won't need to bother the Pension Service.
Thanks very much for all the very helpful responses here.
I now have a much better understanding of where I am, and why thanks to you guys

Oldman2

Just a quick encouragement note for those still trying to get through on the phones.
 I tried again this morning at 8am and got put on hold with music for around 50mins. I then got a nice chap who went through everything with my wife and once we had agreed on what to pay he transferred us to a lady who gave us the banking details and 18 digit ref for HMRC. So I have been able at last to pay for her pension so that if she continues to work until retirement age she gets the full state pension.

So don't give up trying but zone in on 8am calls.

Thanks also to those helping others in this thread.

Rogerrabbit777

Good morning everyone. I,like many others would like some advice from you good people. My situation is a little complex compared to others. I have a pension forecast and managed to get through yesterday to discuss my options as i have many missing and short years. So i would like your opinions on what the forecast centre said.

Iam 44 this year with only 7 qualifying years even though I have worked since around the age of 20 until 34 (2014) where i moved abroad which is where Iam now (i plan to return to the uk in the near future and  work) I have been caught out by working part time zero hours contracts in several jobs at the same time where i have only just found  out about the minimum amount needed to get a qualifying year. I also worked part time hours to help my father who was/ is on DLA but I was never told about carers credit and its to late to back date as they are now on the lower rate due to moving abroad. My pension forecast if i work for the next 25 years with no more breaks is £171 a week from 2047

From 2006 upwards i have five short or missing years upto 2014/15. 14/15 upto now i have nothing due to living overseas. The pension centre advised me paying for the three cheapest top up years just to get me over the ten year threshold so i actually have something. Also advised filling in the CF83 form to see if i can get the cheaper class for 14/15 & 15/16 as i worked abroad but i only worked very few part time hours on a temp contract so i dont know if i will be entitled but she said no harm in trying as its hugely cheaper than the standard class

anyway the amount to pay to top up the three cheapest years to get me to ten years is

08/09 £ 301
09/10  £317
10/11 £237

= £855 

the other two missing years are just over £1,000 added up! 

So my question and tbh i think i know the answer but would like your input is should i top up the three years. Is it worth it even at a cost of £850 and at the age Iam As its not just a odd £30 here and there as martin talks about which would make it a no brainer.but if im correct in saying  that one year as a whole cost over £800? Then logically i should do it? And it is a no brainer as iam getting three years for the price of one? Is it possible to tell me how much my forecast of 171 a week would increase if those three years were added today? The forecast centre said to get to 185 now i would need to buy around 5,6 years so what would three take me to? £178?

 Sorry for the long post and thank you for reading. Look forward to your opinions

molerat

As you are going to need more years than you have available going forward then it looks fairly sensible to buy those years.  Those 3 will add either £15.87 or £14.19 to your pension - valuing pre 2016 years is not straightforward without some specific information, that top line forecast though means you paying every year from 2022-23 until you reach state retirement so picking up a few gaps at class 2 would likely be a good idea.

Rogerrabbit777

molerat said:

As you are going to need more years than you have available going forward then it looks fairly sensible to buy those years.  Those 3 will add either £15.87 or £14.19 to your pension - valuing pre 2016 years is not straightforward without some specific information, that top line forecast though means you paying every year from 2022-23 until you reach state retirement so picking up a few gaps at class 2 would likely be a good idea.

Thank you for your reply. So buying these three “today”would increase my weekly pension as it stands now by £14 or 15 a week? And then if i worked every year until state P age it would get me the maximum as it currently stands?

molerat

From the limited information provided it looks that way.  If you pay those 3 that will put you at the 10 years needed and hopefully before July a pension forecast would be generated giving you the full picture and can make some more decisions.  Still worth investigating the class 2 situation.

Rogerrabbit777

molerat said:

From the limited information provided it looks that way.  If you pay those 3 that will put you at the 10 years needed and hopefully before July a pension forecast would be generated giving you the full picture and can make some more decisions.  Still worth investigating the class 2 situation.

Thank you very much. That makes it easier to understand interms of any possible future payments in the years to come aswell. I will certainly get hold of the form to claim class two for overseas work. As the forecast centre said you have nothing to lose by finding out if Im entitled to it and its a huge difference interms of payment cost.

Rogerrabbit777

Iam looking at the CF83 regarding seeing if it is possible to claim class 2 for the time i have worked abroad and it is a little confusing. It says read the notes N138 page 31 before filling it in but unless Iam missing something there is nothing on page 31. The applications seems to cover different scenarios. I just want to find out if Iam entitled to claim class 2 for the short period of time i worked overseas. Can anyone link me to a template or notes where it shows you how to fill it for my situation as the form seems to be a mix of different things