Voluntary NICs

sandra_hesketh

Has anyone tried to get through to speak to someone about making voluntary national insurance contributions ?
The government website says contact the Pension Service . Every option I pressed came up with the suggestion of referring to the government website .
After numerous permutations I eventually got through to a human being who couldn’t help me because I had originally applied for my state pension online so she couldn’t see my details!. I asked if she could could transfer me to someone who could but she did not have the facility to do that . When iI asked who could give me some advice she said she would get someone to ring me …..sometime in the next ten days but she couldn't say when . Hardly the best solution , especially if I happened to be in Sainsburys at the time of the call !!!!
Needless to say it never happened .
I have tried again and was eventually connected with someone who could not help me but told me to ring the same number again but choose the option “change in circumstances “.
Eventually I spoke to a man who still could not help me but said he would pass my details to another department who would send me out a letter outlining what I would have to pay and how it would affect my pension in the future . I told him I had got details of how much I would have to pay for each year from government website …I just needed advice as to how it would affect my future pension .
He had no idea when the letter would be issued. I pointed out there was a deadline for payments to be made but he told me there wasn’t!,
I know the current deadline has been extended to 31 July . He said he would put urgent on my request but if I hadn’t heard by the 1st July I should ring back and there was a way he could “get round “ things and get my letter issued quicker .!!!! Oh , and they never phone people to discuss things over the phone 
All the time he was speaking to me I could hear him slurping a cup of tea/coffee.
Is it any wonder people get frustrated and just give up !,
Has anybody out there had any success in getting any advice from the pension service re these voluntary contributions ?? 

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Yes.

If you want some help here then why not post up all the relevant information.

What your current (weekly) entitlement is plus the years you are planning on buying would be a start.  How many pre 2016 years you have would also be useful as would the tax year you reach(ed) State Pension age.

xylophone

Have you got a copy of  your forecast?

 Post up the full details from your forecast.
 

Current £££.pp amount accrued up to April 2022 (or 2023 as some have been updated)

Number of pre 2016 NI years full

Number of post 2016 NI years full

Tax year you reach state retirement

Any COPE amount shown, in a click link in "You've been in a contracted-out pension scheme" if there is one.

Years which show not full and prices

sandra_hesketh

I don’t have a pension forecast … am already getting my state pension . I

molerat

The information requested is still valid though

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
Do you know if you had a Any COPE amount in your forecast ?
Years which show not full and prices

Linton

Some  simple figures will help:
In which tax year did you reach SP age?
What is your SP/week now?
Which tax years starting in the 2016/17 tax year up to but not including the year you reached SPA  did you not accrue any NI?

This should be sufficient to give a way forward, but possibly not the cheapest.