Interaction of voluntary NICs and deferring

SacredStephan

Your relative may be entitled to Attendance Allowance, currently £72.65pw at the lower rate.

https://www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance

nickane

Amazing! These are the sorts of hard numbers I needed @molerat

I appreciate nothing is certain given the number of unknowns but having such a narrow range to work from is incredibly useful.

I'm inclined to wait until the NI record is updated before applying, as you say, just to maximise chances that the deferment will uplift the additional NI contributions, in spite of the assurances I've received here that it won't.  I'm going to ask the same question in the HMRC forum @Marcon pointed me too.

I also did a gretel application today.  No joy, but they only let you add the NI number and past addresses after the initial search, then won't let you search again.  I believe they will search again in a few weeks.  Hopefully, something will turn up eventually.

Thanks again

nickane

SacredStephan said:

Your relative may be entitled to Attendance Allowance, currently £72.65pw at the lower rate.

https://www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance

Yes I think that's pretty much all she's entitled to.  Thanks!

nickane

molerat said:

With reference to child benefit, when was she claiming child benefit - you say up to 1998 but when was the first child born and did she receive child benefit from that first birth ?

Both her children grew up abroad, but she moved back when her youngest was 14, around mid-1997.  So I think 98/99 was the last full year she claimed CB and also the last full year in her NI record.

nickane

Her first child was born in 1980.  She would have been here for some of their early years I think.  But she was working then.  She mostly has full years in the 80s, as she made contributions even when she lived abroad.

nickane

Just wanted to update this, in case anyone finds it and wants the answer to the question.  In spite of what some asserted here, the uplift from deferring does compound with the uplift from making voluntary NICs after reaching State Pension Age in the way I'd hoped PROVIDED that you don't claim until the NI record is improved.

I learned this by speaking to the claims team.  They explained that they just get a snapshot of your NI record when you claim and use that to make the calculations.  The history of when you make the NICs is held by HMRC and never released to them.  The calculation is complicated enough as it is I suppose.  I was so elated when I got that answer that I forgot to ask my follow-up question: what happens if the NI record is improved but we backdate the maximum 12 months? Do HMRC give a snapshot of the NI record as it is now or as it was 12 months ago?

But the sense of urgency to claiming has gone now.  So, I'll ask once GG is showing that the NI record is improved and we come to claim.  Either way, it's going to make a huge difference waiting (~£1500/year in this case).

As for making voluntary NICs after SPA, HMRC won't give you a code, if you finally get through to them.  They insist that you contact the pension service and request a calculation letter, then wait for it to arrive, even though we know what we need to pay for each year via GG and that each year will improve the pension.  The cheque with the covering letter featuring her NI and a breakdown of what years we want to buy would appear to be the only option.  However, it's also almost certainly the slowest way to get years of NICs credited to your record.  The last time I spoke to the pension service, they said that the guidance had changed and that simply by requesting a callback or calculation letter before the deadline, we will be given the opportunity to make the payment after the deadline, even if the calculation letter arrives too late.

I'm a bit more relaxed about it all now, but I'll feel a lot better once I log into GG and see those years there.  We're kind of at their mercy, at this stage.