Voluntary national insurance contributions,

The_Gardenman

Hi all  I am short by 6 years contributions, I  am self-employed but get state pension in about 1 month,can these years be paid at class 2 price or is it class 3 when state pension age is reached ? Can't seem to find answer to this on goverment gateway. 

QrizB

How long have you been self-employed?

Do HMRC know you are self-employed, and have you been submitting Self Assessment tax returns?

The_Gardenman

Self employed most of my life and yes self assessment through a accountant.

p00hsticks

The_Gardenman said:

Self employed most of my life and yes self assessment through a accountant.

So how come you have missing years ?
Were they ones where you did not earn enough to have to pay Class 2 ?
Are you sure that the years in question will increase your  pension amount (if you post the details here someone would be able to confirm)

The_Gardenman

Yes some were low earning years and the others are years I have proof of payment but they are on my gateway as not paid,I have rang future pensions but they can't help and gave me a 0300 number to ring,tried twice but just keep getting cut off.
Yes they will increase my pension amount as that is all the future pensions guy could tell me.

QrizB

The_Gardenman said:

Yes some were low earning years and the others are years I have proof of payment but they are on my gateway as not paid,I have rang future pensions but they can't help and gave me a 0300 number to ring,tried twice but just keep getting cut off.

That's not ideal.

If the paid-but-not-showing years were counted, would you still need extra years?

Yes they will increase my pension amount as that is all the future pensions guy could tell me.

Years after 2016 are pretty much guaranteed to increase your pension. Yesrs before 2016 might, or might not.

Which years were you thinking of topping up?

The_Gardenman

Until I speak to someone about missing years I  am not topping up anything,that's the reason for my first post asking about are they more money once pension age is reached.?

QrizB

The_Gardenman said:

Until I speak to someone about missing years I  am not topping up anything,that's the reason for my first post asking about are they more money once pension age is reached.?

In principle, you can top up at Class 2 rates.

In practice, there has been the occasional thread here where people have been told they can't, and would have to pay Class 3 rates. I don't recall whether that was the final position or if they managed to persuade HMRC to accept Class 2.

p00hsticks

The_Gardenman said:

Yes some were low earning years and the others are years I have proof of payment but they are on my gateway as not paid,I have rang future pensions but they can't help and gave me a 0300 number to ring,tried twice but just keep getting cut off.
Yes they will increase my pension amount as that is all the future pensions guy could tell me.

Yes, the Future Pensions Service is part of DWP - if you believe you have made NI payments that haven't been creditted it's HMRC you need to talk to.

I presume that will be the 0300 number you've been given
National Insurance: general enquiries - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)