How do I actually pay Voluntary National Insurance contributions for a shortfall.

pinnks

Given that the OP has posted info from their NI record and not a pension forecast and as the adviser apparently did not know how to create the 18-digit reference, one wonders whether apples and pears are being compared here.

DWP will tell the OP which of those empty years would improve their pension (if any) and HMRC NI Team will give them the reference number.  Perhaps it would help if they confirmed who the various contacts have been with?

Nelliegrace

Do all NHS staff know they were contracted out of part of their state pension? We paid the full NI amount. No one I have spoken to knew. I had 41 years full contributions and had to buy 5 more years. That and an unexpected six year wait for my pension. It has been upsetting. 

pinnks

About 80% of the population was in one or other contracted out scheme.  Virtually all (or maybe all?) public sector pensions fell into that category.  And how do you reach the conclusion that you paid the full rate of NI?  You can google the rules and look at your NI "letter" on your payslips or P60s to see whether you were contracted out.

And why you you appear to suggest that being contracted out was a bad thing?  A scheme could only contract out if it guaranteed to pay at least as much as the second state scheme and most scheme pay significantly more.  Also, had the new state pension not been introduced you would have ended up, in today's terms with a maximum basic state pension, based on a max of 30 NI years, of £141.85 per week plus your NHS pension.  The new rules allow you to increase that £141.85 to £181.15 and you still get your NHS pension.  Most people who were contracted out are winners.
  

Nelliegrace

I would have got less state pension than that, and NHS pensions are not all huge, especially for women who have to combine work, child care and care for elderly parents. 
So many women doing patient care have had to leave early due to injury as we did all of the patient lifting, moving equipment and bed making. 
We are not the ones on the golf courses.

By the way, why should someone who has worked for fifty years, who gets the full state pension, get £40 a week less that someone born a week later. Does he need less food or have lower bills?

molerat

Nelliegrace said:

Do all NHS staff know they were contracted out of part of their state pension? We paid the full NI amount. No one I have spoken to knew. I had 41 years full contributions and had to buy 5 more years.

Pension knowledge amongst NHS staff is very poor, not helped by the union reps going on about how much is being stolen from your pay for the pension.  You did not pay the "full" amount of NI, you paid the reduced contracted out rate.  Your starting amount at April 2016 was no less than you were entitled to under the pre 2016 scheme which would have been more than you would have got under the new scheme.  Those screaming for all to be paid under the new rules should be careful what they wish for. An added bonus is that you can make that up to the new higher pension.  You are a winner under the new rules.

Nelliegrace said:

 That and an unexpected six year wait for my pension. It has been upsetting.

5 of those 6 years were in the public domain from 1995, the 6th in 2011.  Hardly unexpected.  And that 2011 change also applied to men who had been disadvantaged by 5 years for many years.  Equality works both ways.

p00hsticks

Nelliegrace said:

By the way, why should someone who has worked for fifty years, who gets the full state pension, get £40 a week less that someone born a week later. Does he need less food or have lower bills?

What makes you think that that is the case ?

You seem to be labouring under the (not uncommon) misapprehension that every one who reached state pension age under the old system just got the basic (currently £141.85) basic pension, and every one who reaches it under the new automatically  gets the maximum £185.15. 

This simply isn't true. There are people under the old scheme who got £300+, and those under the new scheme who get far far less . 

People reaching state pension age a week apart with identical work histories NI records will be receiving identical state pensions, even if one reached state pension age on 5th April 2016 and one reached it a day later. The transitional rules applied ensured that.  

billy2shots

xylophone said:

That said, getting in touch with HMRC at the moment is very difficult. Trying at 8am might work.

Otherwise, if you are quite sure of the years and amounts, see

https://www.gov.uk/pay-voluntary-class-3-national-insurance/by-post

Opening times

9.30am - 3.30pm (got to love those public sector roles). 


Not OP but I've tried to call 15 times this afternoon, call gets cut off at various times before I even reach a queue. 

I'm at about attempt number 30 in the past week. 

p00hsticks

billy2shots said:

xylophone said:

That said, getting in touch with HMRC at the moment is very difficult. Trying at 8am might work.

Otherwise, if you are quite sure of the years and amounts, see

https://www.gov.uk/pay-voluntary-class-3-national-insurance/by-post

Opening times

9.30am - 3.30pm (got to love those public sector roles). 

I'm nto sure where you got those opening times from ?
The gov.uk site clearly says phonelines open 8am - 6pm Mon-Fri
National Insurance: general enquiries - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

unsync

I've been trying to make a payment today,  i've been on hold now with the funky music for about 20 minutes. Just waiting for 6 pm to roll around so I get cut off.

How many people must be trying and failing to do this? Its almost like they don't want the money.

molerat

unsync said:

I've been trying to make a payment today,  i've been on hold now with the funky music for about 20 minutes. Just waiting for 6 pm to roll around so I get cut off.

How many people must be trying and failing to do this? Its almost like they don't want the money.

I would suspect the majority of people have had since 2016 to sort this out but haven't bothered and left it until the last moment.  Could you really expect DWP & HMRC to increase their staffing level probably ten fold, and train them, for just a month or two's work because people could not be bothered to sort their pension out in time.