Gobsmacked !

Ayr_Rage

Completely gobsmacked at how quickly my added years have appeared in my online account.

Obtained the 18 digit code 3 weeks ago and the advisor said it can take up to 8 weeks to show in my account after payment.

Funds to pay my 6 missing years arrived in my bank account from a maturing bond on Tuesday 27th August and I paid HMRC NICO that morning.

Logged in today, Friday 30th August and both NI record and SP forecast have been updated.

As an aside, my 18 digit number does not have the amount I paid embedded in it.

molerat

I think the system works quickly when there is little to no human involvement, the computer just gets on with it.  Once humans get in on the act everything slows down.

Ayr_Rage

More info for anyone interested, pension due 1st Feb 2025

"Claim your pension" letter dated 1st Oct received 4th Oct.

Pension claimed online 7th Oct, email confirmation the same day.

Letter detailing pension amount and payment dates generated the same day, 7th Oct and received this afternoon, 11th Oct.

As @molerat said above, if there is no human input then it all seems to work very quickly.

pinnks

I had a similar experience with paying 2 years recently.  Took 5 days from memory.  My 2024 record is not up to date yet, so I had to get an 18-digit number for that and pay using the pull function.  That was a week ago but I was told to call if it has not been updated after 2 weeks...

bones1958

I also had a good experience paying up missing years a few months ago. I didn’t keep a note of exact dates but the 2 week turnaround when using the ‘new’ online payment system, was more or lees the same for me. With other advice received from the ‘sage experts’ on the forum, I also used the 18 digit manual process at the start of the 2024, which also went smoothly.

Now in receipt of first part payment of SP at end of September and due for first full payment later in October. Should be plain sailing from now on?

Thanks again to all forum members who have replied to me. Much appreciated.

Ayr_Rage

Another small update.

To manage your state pension you will need to register for the service which requires ID checks, I used passport and driving licence.

Once done, there aren't many options at the moment but the one I did choose was to change my payments to weekly, better I have the money as fast as possible!

This generates a new letter detailing the first and subsequent payment dates and amounts.

My pension is not yet in payment, the change of frequency can be done in advance and changed at will by the looks of the website.