Guide discussion: Voluntary national insurance contributions

p00hsticks

molerat said:

23-24 will not increase in price from its current amount until April 2026.  I believe the only way to pay it in year is by setting up a direct debit but he may have missed the boat on that now.  There would be no saving though.

In my experience HMRC will accept a direct debit set up a few months into the tax year as starting  in the current year, and just take the shortfall as part of the initial monthly DD.

There is a point in the year at which they say a new DD won't apply for the current year and will only start taking the money at the end of April / beginning of May the following year, but I'm not sure when that cut-off is though. 

paradiselover

Hiya,
I am receiving state pension but they said I had 33 years contributions so don’t get full pension. After watching Martin Lewis I decided to pay the 2 years and requested my NI record. On the record it says no contribution for 1976/77 and 1977/78 but I had a baby in 1976 and 1978 and was claiming child benefit and statutory maternity pay both times.

I have rung on numerous occasions and most are working from home and don’t know. I got through to an actual office once and she said to claim home responsibilities for those years. I did this and after 6 weeks was told that only started in late 1978. 

The thing is you cannot speak to the department that deals with it you just have to wait 45 minutes on the help line each time.

I then contacted my local MP and even though she keeps ringing them and they say someone will ring me they do not. 6 times I have contacted her and 6 times she has got in touch with them.

Can anyone please help me it would be much appreciated, it’s been going on since January.

molerat

Home responsibilities protection, later converted to NI credits, only started from the 1978-79 tax year. It is also possible those years would have no effect on your pension anyway.   Post up some details and someone will talk you through your best options.

Current weekly £££.pp pension amount
Number of pre 2016 NI years full
Number of post 2016 NI years full
Tax year you reached state retirement
Any COPE amount if known, were you in a contracted-out pension scheme ?
Years which show not full and prices

paradiselover

Hiya,
£187.65 per week
33 years pre 2016
nil post 2016
6th January 2020 I was eligible for state pension
never opted out
I did have some credit in 76 and 77 which I thought was for maternity allowance I think it was about 18 each year. They just have not put my child benefit on those years

thank you for your reply

molerat

They just have not put my child benefit on those years

Correctly so as there was no entitlement to any form of credits for those years.

You must have been contracted out at some stage as the figures do not work without a COPE. Do you have a work pension ?  With 33 pre 2016 years and no COPE you would be on £192.17 now.  Those 2 years would unlikely have affected your pension.

You need another 3 years to reach the full £203.85. 2 will take you to £199.30 at £5.82 each and the 3rd will add the final £4.55. You should have 3 post 2016 years available to purchase, 16-17, 17-18 & 18-19.  Any pre 2016 gaps are unlikely to add to the pension, again without the COPE amount it cannot be certain.

paradiselover

sorry I don’t understand,
I finished work in June 76 had a baby in October claimed statutory maternity allowance and child benefit for the remainder of the year. I had another child in July 78 and was still entitled to maternity allowance much to my surprise and then claimed child benefit. So those two years should be covered.
I received child benefit from 76 until I went back to work when they had grown up. Those 2 years would give me 35 years which is what is needed now.
When I took early retirement I was supposed to get my state pension at 60 and only needed 30 years NI contributions 

They wrote to me at 58 and told me what I would be getting and my retirement date. A month later they decided I would be 65 and then 66.

I don’t know what COPE is and I do have a small works pension but I have never opted out

paradiselover

I had 6 full years prior to 1976/77

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Those 2 years would give me 35 years which is what is needed now

Where have you got that understanding from?

You are under transitional rules, the 35 years rule only applies to those starting to pay NI (or get credits) from 2016 onwards.

paradiselover

They sent a letter after they told me what my pension would be at 60, it said that I needed 35 years now instead of 30 years for a full pension 

molerat

Many pensions were automatically contracted out, you did not have a choice or have to make a conscious decision..

It is unlikely they told you that 35 years were needed.  The "new" pension needs 35 years but you are not under the new pension but a hybrid mix of the two which gave you the better of your entitlement under the old or new schemes at April 2016..You are currently receiving what you had earned under the old rules which is more than you would have received under the new scheme.

Child benefit for 76-77 and 77-78 would not have given you any credits, the scheme did not exist until April 1978 and was not backdated.  And as I have already said it is unlikely they would have affected your pension anyway.

You lost your entitlement to the state pension at 60 in 1995 transitioning you to 65 which changed to 66 in 2011.

Your only option now is to top up with those 3 post 2016 years at £824.20 each to reach the magic £203.85.