National Insurance - 2 year gap?

anskills

Hi guys, 

My wife has a 2 year gap in her National Insurance contributions that we are seeking to fill. The period in question was when we lived in Italy and she did not fully contribute either year. Whilst in Italy she did not work as she was raising our children. The years in question were 2017 - 2018 and 2018 - 2019.

I am doing some investigation prior to phoning HMRC and wanted to check if anyone would foresee see any issues with paying for these years? On the contrary, I read there may be the opportunity to pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions at a lower rate as she was living outside of the UK for this period? Appreciate any advice. 

pinnks

As she was not working in Italy she will not be able to pay at Class 2 but the first question is, does she need to fill those gaps?  Which years are they and what does her pension forecast look like?
 

QrizB

Which years were they?

Does your wife actually need to fill them, or will she qualify for a full New State Pension without them?

What does her State Pension forecast say?

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

anskills

Hi, 

Great questions, I should have listed the years. I have edited and added below. 

It seems she would need 17 more years, and to be honest, I suspect will not achieve that as we have plans to retire a bit earlier than in 17 years time. Therefore, if we can fill some gaps now, which I believe would cost about £1k, we would likely do it. 

2024 to 2025 Your record for this year is not available yet

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2018 to 2019 Year is not full View details (Italy)

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You need to continue to contribute National Insurance to reach your forecast

Estimate based on your National Insurance record up to 5 April 2024: £118.68 a week

Forecast if you contribute another 17 years before 5 April 2052: £221.20 a week

Dazed_and_C0nfused

anskills said:

Hi guys, 

My wife has a 2 year gap in her National Insurance contributions that we are seeking to fill. The period in question was when we lived in Italy and she did not fully contribute either year. Whilst in Italy she did not work as she was raising our children. The years in question were 2017 - 2018 and 2018 - 2019.

I am doing some investigation prior to phoning HMRC and wanted to check if anyone would foresee see any issues with paying for these years? On the contrary, I read there may be the opportunity to pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions at a lower rate as she was living outside of the UK for this period? Appreciate any advice. 

Have you done the basics of understanding what she has accrued to date and how many additional years (if any) are needed to reach her personal maximum (probably £221.20/week).

Just because a year can be bought doesn't mean it should be bought.

anskills

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

anskills said:

Hi guys, 

My wife has a 2 year gap in her National Insurance contributions that we are seeking to fill. The period in question was when we lived in Italy and she did not fully contribute either year. Whilst in Italy she did not work as she was raising our children. The years in question were 2017 - 2018 and 2018 - 2019.

I am doing some investigation prior to phoning HMRC and wanted to check if anyone would foresee see any issues with paying for these years? On the contrary, I read there may be the opportunity to pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions at a lower rate as she was living outside of the UK for this period? Appreciate any advice. 

Have you done the basics of understanding what she has accrued to date and how many additional years (if any) are needed to reach her personal maximum (probably £221.20/week).

Just because a year can be bought doesn't mean it should be bought.

Hi, yes please see above.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

anskills said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

anskills said:

Hi guys, 

My wife has a 2 year gap in her National Insurance contributions that we are seeking to fill. The period in question was when we lived in Italy and she did not fully contribute either year. Whilst in Italy she did not work as she was raising our children. The years in question were 2017 - 2018 and 2018 - 2019.

I am doing some investigation prior to phoning HMRC and wanted to check if anyone would foresee see any issues with paying for these years? On the contrary, I read there may be the opportunity to pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions at a lower rate as she was living outside of the UK for this period? Appreciate any advice. 

Have you done the basics of understanding what she has accrued to date and how many additional years (if any) are needed to reach her personal maximum (probably £221.20/week).

Just because a year can be bought doesn't mean it should be bought.

Hi, yes please see above.

👍

16 post 2016 years would take her to £219.80. 

The final year year would just add the remaining £1.40.

Is the £1k you mention the total to buy both 2017-18 and 2018-19?

anskills

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

anskills said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

anskills said:

Hi guys, 

My wife has a 2 year gap in her National Insurance contributions that we are seeking to fill. The period in question was when we lived in Italy and she did not fully contribute either year. Whilst in Italy she did not work as she was raising our children. The years in question were 2017 - 2018 and 2018 - 2019.

I am doing some investigation prior to phoning HMRC and wanted to check if anyone would foresee see any issues with paying for these years? On the contrary, I read there may be the opportunity to pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions at a lower rate as she was living outside of the UK for this period? Appreciate any advice. 

Have you done the basics of understanding what she has accrued to date and how many additional years (if any) are needed to reach her personal maximum (probably £221.20/week).

Just because a year can be bought doesn't mean it should be bought.

Hi, yes please see above.

👍

16 post 2016 years would take her to £219.80. 

The final year year would just add the remaining £1.40.



Is the £1k you mention the total to buy both 2017-18 and 2018-19?

Yes, slightly more but in that region, in terms of timelines, 7 years from now would be a nice time to call it a day!

2018 to 2019 Year is not full View details

You have contributions from

National Insurance credits: 28 weeks

These may have been added to your record if you were ill/disabled, unemployed, caring for someone full-time or on jury service.

Pay a voluntary contribution of £380.40 by 5 April 2025. This shortfall may increase after 5 April 2025.

2017 to 2018 Year is not full View details

You have contributions from

Paid employment: £116.45

Pay a voluntary contribution of £697.40 by 5 April 2025. This shortfall may increase after 5 April 2025.

molerat

Both those years become unavailable from April. She has 28 years to get the necessary 17 years and IMO there is little point in paying for them, maybe the £380 one at a pinch.

anskills

molerat said:

which I believe would cost about £1k.

Each year will state how much it costs to buy, £824.20 is the full price.

Both those years become unavailable from April. She has 28 years to get the necessary 17 years and IMO there is little point in paying for them unless they are exceptionally cheap.

Hi, posted the payment details above. 

I think the optionality of having the two years in the bag would work better in our circumstances. To be frank, my dad died when he was 60 (I'm 45) so as soon as we have enough investments, pensions and savings we plan to chuck in the towel a bit earlier than anticipated. I suspect me in the next 3 - 5 years and my wife in the next 5 - 8 years, as she is a bit younger than me, hopefully a bit of context but no need to go into any specific details on that early retirement planning. 

QrizB

If you are both planning to retire before you are 50, you're going to have to continue paying voluntary NI after that happy day in order to qualify for a full state pension. In your wife's case, potentially until she's 60.

But if you might carry on working beyond that date, even if only part-time or on a self-employed basis, you might be able to fill more years at a lower cost to you.

Buying 2018-19 might be worth it, but 2017-18 probably isn't.