NI Contribution record is showing year upon year of phantom contributions- how do you fix this?

MeicPierce

Hi Gang

This is a bit of a different one.

Following Martin's excellent advice at the tail end of last year, my wife and I set about checking our projected UK State pensions.  We had done a little on this a couple of years ago (again, at Martin's flagging of the topic) but this had lapsed as it got tricky to progress.  This is why I am coming to the Forum now.

I am 61 and am fortunate to be in work, Indeed, I have worked full-time all my life since leaving Uni in 1984- apart from 1998-2000, when I took voluntary redundancy and retrained for my now career. Basically, though, I am headed for a maximum State Pension.

Lorna (my real wife but not her real name) is 52.

Lorna's position is a little more complex.

Lorna has not been blessed with the best health since her early 20s.

She completed her degree (after an illness break) in the mid-1990s.

Between then and 2004, she sometimes worked, sometimes did not. Sometimes sickness benefit may have been claimed. She does not remember- on account of not being well and living at home when not well.

Since 2004, when we moved to the Isle of Man for 10 years where I worked for the Government (sounds posher than the job was ), Lorna has neither worked nor claimed any benefits. We returned to the UK in 2013- where we have remained since.

The problem we have is that Lorna's NI record shows full contributions for every year since 2004. These are utterly spurious and incorrect. Moreover, as we first looked at this a couple of years back, we can see that the spurious contributions continue to accrue.

This is worrying in that it is not correct. Lorna is not due these credits. 

We are in the extremely fortunate financial position of being able to make 'extra year' contributions to top up Lorna's State Pension to at least a basic pension.

However, before we can do that, we need to stop the spurious credits accruing and clear the incorrect record.

We have three areas of worry around the current situation

1. Lorna is not due these credits. They are neither correct nor lawful. It is just not correct as a matter of principle and social fairness 

2. If we leave things as they are, the error may be found at a point when we cannot make 'top up' payments- or, worse still, after Lorna has received an incorrect pension for a time - and repayment is required! Not to over share, but Lorna's health challenges are around her mental health. The prospect of a 'wrong pension' paying for maybe as long as 20 years and then being requested back is already causing stress and anxiety.

3. We cannot begin the process of making top-up payments when the System thinks nothing is owed...

We made a couple of Inquiry line phonecalls in January and got as far as setting everything out in a letter. We sent this to 'The Manager, Individual Case Worker, NICEO, HMRC BX19 1AN'. We sent this recorded delivery (although I since understand that the address may be a mail clearing centre?).

We have heard nothing back.

Before we do anything else, I wonder if anyone here has walked this path ahead of us. We can't be the only ones with this issue?

Cheers Gang
Meic

molerat

What is it showing in the detail for each year ?  £xxx.xx paid, xx weeks or simply full year with no description ?

When you called the enquiry line what did they say ?

xylophone

and got as far as setting everything out in a letter. We sent this to 'The Manager, Individual Case Worker, NICEO, HMRC BX19 1AN'. We sent this recorded delivery 

If this was sent in January and you have still had no reply, this is just another glaring example of the dreadful service we are now all expected to endure.

I would suggest that you contact your MP setting out the situation, enclosing a copy of the letter and requesting his /her help to resolve matters.

Grandmama

From a Manx resident. It is in your interest to check.your.own pension contributions as if you paid your national pension contributions to the Manx government when you were here working you now have to.claim UK and Manx pensions as separate entities. That is a part of your state pension will be directly from Manx and the other part from UK. They no longer put the contributions in one pot. This new rule came in a number of years ago. 

MeicPierce

Grandmama!- great to hear from a Manxie . Gura mie ayd/thanks ever so for taking the time to reach out. Treasury have been great in helping us sort the Manx side of this. They have also provided me with a forecast for my period of IOM residency. Friendly, responsive and efficient- as is the Manx way! lhiats/cheers

Grandmama

Glad I was of help. Luckily I retired before the rules came in so all my UK contributions were added to the Manx ones. Also I was advised by the Manx that since I was still working past 60 it would be in my interest to defer state pension on old.rules, 10.4 %. I did that for 8 years. With the deferred amount and triple lock and high CPI added , I am now 77, I get a reasonable state pension. And also I have now completed.the 9 years to break even!! It was the Manx pension government that advised me.