Cheaper to buy extra years from abroad

MrBcam

Hi everyone,

Wish I'd found this forum sooner! Sorry if the answers are already here somewhere but I'm up against this deadline. So a couple of questions. I lived abroad for a few years (and am doing so again) so I have a gap in my NI contributions - am I right in thinking that I can buy cheaper class 2 contributions for those years (and any future years I'm abroad up to six years in arrears going forward)?

Secondly my wife has about 5 years iirc and then maybe another couple of partial years. I think she needs to pay for at least ten years to get a pension. My question is does she have to do this now for those partial years + recent years abroad, or can she also buy more years going forward whilst living abroad to get to the ten minimum?

Thanks!

QrizB

"Living abroad" doesn't, in itself, make you eligible to pay Class 2 NI.

You have to have been employed, self-employed or seeking employment in the UK immediately before moving abroad, and to have then been employed or self-employed while abroad.

MrBcam

Thanks QrizB. Yes we were both working in the UK before leaving and going to work in another country. So that means we can both buy class 2 contributions going forward? So I guess my other question is does my wife lose anything if she doesn't buy earlier years back (assuming that none of them would be cheaper to buy as class 1 because she'd worked for most of a given year) given she doesn't necessarily care about getting a full UK pension but wants to ensure she does get back at least what she's paid in (about five years) and has enough years going forward to be able to get to ten years to do this by buying class 2 contributions. Hope that makes sense!

Bighitter32

Check out this link, fill in the CF83 form (online available) and you will get a response/decision, detailing if Class 2 are pertinent for you:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-to-pay-voluntary-national-insurance-contributions-when-abroad-cf83

Response (in my case at least) took circa 3 months.