Voluntary Class 3 NI Contributions – How to Pay

I made a voluntary payment for 16/17 on 20th March. It still hasn't shown up in my record, so it seems you might wait a while longer...

Shocking service at HMRC. Why does it come out of bank account immediately but not show up at their end?

laineybabes wrote: »

Shocking service at HMRC. Why does it come out of bank account immediately but not show up at their end?

The money is there instantly but your record not just updated instantly. Mine took around 6/7 weeks to show on my record but other than checking it's there what's the problem?

I after a lot of thought and research (mainly from MSE) I decided to bite the bullet and purchase extra years.
My first port of call was the NI dept who confirmed how many years short I was and which years to purchase...non pre 2016. I was told to speak to Future Pensions and they also confirmed how many and which ones to buy and what the outlay would be.

I went back to NI dept who took the details of which years I wanted to buy, added the figures and also gave me a balance to pay, I was given the long reference number and sort code and account number (all of which I read back to them) in which to pay.

I went on to my bank website and found that the sort code and account number I had been given was in the drop down box when I put in that HMRC as the recipient ( there were a lot of depts. on there such as VAT, Farm Allowances etc) I chose the one that matched the bank info I had been given and that said Voluntary Contributions Class3.:)

I paid using the faster payment system and that was it.

The only thing I found a bit neglectful (at this stage) was that there was no receipt system telling me that the payment had arrived.
Even more worrying was that (as others have said here) was that my NI record was unchanged, I did ask how long would it be before I would see a change in the record and I was told " it could be months". I was told to give it 10 working days and if nothing had changed call them.
It was a long 10 days!

I called, and I am pleased to say that I had confirmation that the payment had been received on the day I sent it plus the record would be updated whilst I was on the phone, the changes would show the next day....and indeed they did and all was correct.

I was asked at this point would I like a paper confirmation of what years had been bought, what the total years are and how much had been paid for each year and the combined balance paid? I said yes and this arrived a couple of days later, again all correct.

So my experience in purchasing extra years was smooth and was fully explained....it was just the fact that I didn't have some sort of confirmation that they had the money that was a bit stressful.

The call handlers on both lines were very easy to deal with and at no time did I feel rushed....obviously it was made fully aware that they can only tell you how you stand, they cannot advise what you should do....I would have found it a bit strange if they had done so really.

I can still buy a few more years...more expensive to do so now though since April....but I have to balance that to having to make sure I will live long enough to break even!:D

If anyone is apprehensive of doing this.....all I can say is that the system worked for me and was all done in no more than an hour.
Always print off the screen too such as your pension forecast, NI years balance and the payment screen on the banking website...just in case!

I agree, some sort of 'receipt' would be good. Just this week, after speaking to Future Pensions and HMRC, was asked specifically which years I wanted to pay for and given the 18 digit code beginning with 60 and paid for two 'missing' years by BACS. I came on here today to find out how long it will be before it shows up on my online record, as so far £1521 has disappeared from my bank account, but nothing has appeared in my NI record, and that's quite a worry!
I've set up a DD to pay the rest as I have another 5 years to pay.
Future pensions were really very helpful. They advised me not to pay 2015/16 as it would be of zero benefit, and also my final year as it would only improve my pension by 34p a week! Glad I rang them, otherwise I would have just coughed up for the lot.