Questions about paying voluntary contributions from abroad and perhaps topping up previous years

mountainsandoceans

I was hoping someone would be able to help me. I am hoping to fill in a CF83 to start paying voluntary Class 2 contributions, and I’m wondering whether I also should be topping up a couple of previous years that are incomplete?

I have called the Future Pension Centre and have requested a call back but I am not convinced that it will still count if I miss the call back (say I’m asleep due to time zone differences) so I’m trying to work out what to do by myself. 

I am 36 and have been living in Japan for just over 3 years. I am currently employed and have been employed since moving here. I did not realise I could be making voluntary contributions to my UK pension from abroad until recently but I would like to set that up now. 

I currently have 9 full years of pension contributions and many incomplete years (due to a lot of time spent only working part time while in education) from before I moved to Japan. I understand that I have to make 26 more years worth of contributions before I reach the age of 68 and that I have 32 years within which to do that. 

My questions are:

I know I have to fill in the CF83 form (I went through all of the NI38 information). But I also recently found a CA9107 form. This is a certificate for if I’m working in a country that has a reciprocal social security agreement with the UK. As far as I am aware, Japan does have such an agreement and the govt website suggested that I should fill one out. But after weeks of navigating the govt website this is the first time I’ve come across this form. So what is this certificate and do I need to fill one out? How is it different to the CF83 form?


Are class 2 voluntary contributions really £3.45 p/w (currently) and therefore roughly £179.40 p/y? Would contributing this amount yearly going forward really contribute to a full year of NI contributions each year?


I’m in full time employment and was employed before leaving the UK and lived in the UK continuously. So is there any reason that I wouldn’t be eligible for class 2 contributions? 


I don’t think I was eligible to have paid 52 weeks of class 1 contributions in my first year here (since I’m not hired by a company with a presence in the UK), so could I top up all 3 of the years that I’ve been living in Japan with 3 years of class 2 contributions, as well as paying class 2 annually moving forward? 
I moved late 2021. My current cost of filling the gaps for 2022-23 is £824.20 and 2023-24 £907.40 but that is because I haven’t updated them with any information since I moved? Is it likely that if I submit the CF83 form I’ll be able to pay the cheaper class 2 rate for the above years rather than the amounts they currently suggest?


My state pension forecast predicts that if I continue to work for the next 26 years  then I will complete my full state pension requirement by the time I am 62, even without filling in missing years. While I do have a buffer of of time between now and the state retirement age of 68 within which to continue paying for the state pension, in case of ill health, pregnancy etc (I know there are various credits but I’m not sure I’d be eligible from abroad), I’m not sure whether I should try and top up a couple of previous years that would disappear after the April 5th deadline. 

I was specifically thinking to add to a couple of years - 2008-2009 £412.10 and 2015-16 £507.20 - to complete them. Does it make sense to top these up? Or if I’ve understood the class 2 voluntary contributions correctly, will it be better to voluntarily pay the class 2 contributions from the past 3 years (if that really is about £170 a year) instead and continue to make payments going forward? 

Thank you in advance for all your help. I've been trying to understand this as best I can and just can't afford to stay on hold with the Future Pension Centre for too long. So any advice will be greatly appreciated.