Should a voluntary contribution show on my NI record

kitla

my record tells me I have 39 years of full contributions, but 6 years when I did not contribute enough. A couple of years ago I paid the £800 needed to top up, but this is not showing anywhere on my NI records, should it be?

molerat

Yes, voluntary contributions should show as such in your NI record.  Have you checked all the years in case it was allocated to other than the year you requested ?  How did you pay and were you advised by DWP to pay a certain year ?

kitla

I paid the total amount that covered all the years that were missing, as advised by their helpline. I paid via my bank, but made a typo with the long code they gave me, which took a few months to sort out. They confirmed on the phone the money had been received to my account, but I've noticed its not showing on my record. 

molerat

You need to call the HMRC NI help desk to get it looked at. 0300 200 3500

kitla

Thanks, I will follow it up but I do have a grumble about that number. The wait time is around 20 mins & apparently costs 45p p/min. Is there another way to contact them? I cant find online chat.

Ayr_Rage

If you have a phone plan with inclusive 01/02/03 minutes use that.

molerat

kitla said:

Thanks, I will follow it up but I do have a grumble about that number. The wait time is around 20 mins & apparently costs 45p p/min. Is there another way to contact them? I cant find online chat.

0300 numbers are at standard call rate, same as any standard geographical number.

kitla

I eventually managed to speak to hmrc, they really are very helpful there. My voluntary contr had been split up & allocated to the  relevant years. I had wrongly been looking for a lump sum on my record. I also learned that as I have a max pension forecast now, the NI payment "request" I recently received was not actually a "bill" as I had thought & I dont need to pay it. The person I spoke to admitted that some hmrc letters are not very well worded & easily misunderstood. So that phonecall saved me £160!   I wonder how many people just pay these without question?  
Anyway thankyou all for your advice.

player1_2

I have a similar question so hope it’s ok to ask in this thread. I know I was contracted out for a number of years however the NI record within my SP forecast on Government Gateway shows 45 years of full contributions, maximum SP forecast and no additional NI payments required ( although while I am working I will continue to pay NI).
Does that mean my NI payments when no longer contracted out ‘filled’ any gaps in prior years?
(Sorry OP for piggybacking on your thread) , hope you don’t mind).

molerat

Post 2016 contributions add to your 2016 starting amount, there is no filling gaps involved.  You had £xxx.xx at April 2016 and each year since you have added £5.82 to it.

player1_2

molerat said:

Post 2016 contributions add to your 2016 starting amount, there is no filling gaps involved.  You had £xxx.xx at April 2016 and each year since you have added £5.82 to it.

I guess my question is..... given that I was contracted out for a number of years, what are the possible reasons that my NI record on Gov Gateway would show as complete for the purposes of SP for each year of my working life ?