Why is "check my pension" so slow to update and so useless?

ProDave

So my case has just got even more ridiculous.

I was checking the "check my state pension" page again to see if there was any update, no.  I then went to my self assesment page where it is now telling me I have £164 overpayment (I forget the exact ammount) and I can request a refund.

So it looks to me like the "re allocation" they were supposed to do to show mi class 2 NI contribution has been paid, has in fact resulted in the NI contribution now being deleted and I am due a refund.

Totally incompetent.

No response to my complaint.

I am now going to try a written complaint to: 

Individuals Caseworker
National Insurance contributions and Employers Office
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1AN

Which is the address given if you think your NI record is wrong.

I doubt that will get a quick resolution either, but I don't see what else I can do.

BooJewels

After I saw your post I went and looked at mine again - I too had had the same comment about overpaid tax being held as a credit (amount for Class 2 last year was £163.80) and my 22/23 NI not yet having been credited.  I outlined it earlier in the thread.

On one of the pages, a web chat button appeared, so I decided to chance my hand - after a bit of a wait (less than it stated) I spoke to someone in self assessment who couldn't help, but transferred me to someone in NI credits.  

After a bit of back and forth ascertaining the details, she said that there was a specific problem for 22/23 only, where SA payments for voluntary NI were not being credited to the persons NI record.  She sent through some internal document to sort it out and gave me a reference no. and told me to just check periodically - that it should be credited in due course.  The SA people told me last time that the NI department had to claim the payment, she told me the SA department had to send the payment - so it looks to be dropping through the cracks between them.

I said I was reluctant to do my 23/24 SA Return and end up compounding the problem and she said that wouldn't happen, the delays were specific to the 22/23 tax year and known about.  Every time I speak to someone I get a slightly different story - so I shan't be sitting here holding my breath.  I'll let you know if there's any progress.

ProDave

BooJewels said:

After I saw your post I went and looked at mine again - I too had had the same comment about overpaid tax being held as a credit (amount for Class 2 last year was £163.80) and my 22/23 NI not yet having been credited.  I outlined it earlier in the thread.

On one of the pages, a web chat button appeared, so I decided to chance my hand - after a bit of a wait (less than it stated) I spoke to someone in self assessment who couldn't help, but transferred me to someone in NI credits.  

After a bit of back and forth ascertaining the details, she said that there was a specific problem for 22/23 only, where SA payments for voluntary NI were not being credited to the persons NI record.  She sent through some internal document to sort it out and gave me a reference no. and told me to just check periodically - that it should be credited in due course.  The SA people told me last time that the NI department had to claim the payment, she told me the SA department had to send the payment - so it looks to be dropping through the cracks between them.

I said I was reluctant to do my 23/24 SA Return and end up compounding the problem and she said that wouldn't happen, the delays were specific to the 22/23 tax year and known about.  Every time I speak to someone I get a slightly different story - so I shan't be sitting here holding my breath.  I'll let you know if there's any progress.

Most helpful post, thank you.  At least I am not alone.

Last time I spoke to anybody I was told mine was going to be "re allocated" but weeks later it has not happened.

Thanks for the reassurance that it is a problem specific to this year, I too have been holding back filing my 2023/4 tax return prefering 2022/3 to be sorted out first.  Perhaps I will get on and do that.

I am still going to do my written request as per my post above, the more ways I can poke at someone to get this fixed the better.

If it does not sort itself out by the deadline to pay this years tax, I might just take the refund which would leave 2022/3 short on my NI record, and instead pay class 2 again for 2024/5 which I expect to be my last tax year of self employment before I hang up my tools. But I will only take that avenue if 2023/4 at least goes through properly.

It is all a great big mess.

BooJewels

I was the same @ProDave - they told me in January that it would be sorted within a few days, as they'd sent the appropriate request internally.  The lady today said there was no note or messages even about that conversation in January.

It is all a big mess.  I was ticking along nicely paying my NI voluntarily, by them sending me a bill each September.  Then the DWP changed the dates for me being credited Class 1 for Carer's Allowance for part of a tax year and this meant I had paid a week too much one year and a week too little another year - their system just doesn't allow for someone to apply a sensible adjustment.  That resulted in 2 bills - one for zero and one for about 6 quid and a credit of £3-something floating around on my account too.  That's when it all really went to !!!!.  Each attempt to sort it out has created more problems and it's snowballed out of control from there.

I'll so my 23/24 Return shortly and see what happens.  

ProDave

Well to all those reading this class 2 NI saga for the self employed, finally mine is resolved and it is finally showing on my NI record.

To summarise, to save everyone reading the whole thread, late in 2023 I paid voluntary class 2 NI along with my tax return for the 2022/3 tax year.  But the NI that I paid failed to show on my NI record for my state pension.

As this thread and several related ones revealed there was a system fault and hmrc did not allocate the NI paid to your NI record in a lot of cases.

This thread will show that I raised the issue in a number of different ways, but the one that finally pushed the right buttons to get someone to resolve it was when I submitted a formal on line complaint as one poster suggested above.

A few days ago I finally got a reply to that complaint to say it has now been resolved and is now showing on my NI record.  And sure enough it is.  So to anyone in a similar situation I suggest you raise a formal complaint and I hope you have the same success as me.

BooJewels

That's fabulous @ProDave - I'm really delighted that it has finally resolved for you.  Mine was still unallocated a few days ago when I last checked, so when I'm back at the computer, I'll log in and have another look - just on the off chance that they've finally fixed whatever had caused the issue with 22/23.

Mine passed the 6 month point on Friday, so that was the unofficial deadline I'd set myself before making my own complaint.  So encouraged by your success, I may well follow suit, if it remains outstanding.  Really happy that yours is now sorted though.