Voluntary Class 3 NI Contributions – How to Pay

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  • SeeMe
    SeeMe Posts: 343
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    edited 9 January 2019 at 6:04PM
    coastline wrote: »
    I was given an eighteen digit number starting with 60 (no letters all numbers). I intended to pay two years from 2016 - 2018 and the figures given were £733.20 and £740. I was told the number was fine to use in the future.
    I'm going to pay one year by post then see what happens.If it shows up online in my pension forecast then I'll pay the next one.Hopefully my account will show a bit of continuity by then and maybe I'll start using online banking.


    I have just been given a ref number over the phone for 16/17 and 17/18 and told i can pay the 2 years together or just one at a time with a bank transfer, so i take it the ref number is not unique to any one year/payment, but can be used for other years.
    Also i was given the acc name HMRCNICO but notice online that it adds Telephone Banking to it, which i was not given over the phone. So hopefuly my first payment of £733.20 for 16/17 will be linked to my ref number.


    Also if i went with the cheque option without HMRC payslip and using the ref no and not my NI number, should the ref no be on the front of the cheque with payee etc, or write in on the back.
  • SeeMe
    SeeMe Posts: 343
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    coastline wrote: »
    I was given an eighteen digit number starting with 60 (no letters all numbers). I intended to pay two years from 2016 - 2018 and the figures given were £733.20 and £740. I was told the number was fine to use in the future.
    I'm going to pay one year by post then see what happens.If it shows up online in my pension forecast then I'll pay the next one.Hopefully my account will show a bit of continuity by then and maybe I'll start using online banking.


    Your post is the exact same as me, so i have just posted my cheque off for year 2016/17 and pay 2017/18 a bit later.
    Did the way you sent yours work out ok?
  • coastline
    coastline Posts: 1,647
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    SeeMe wrote: »
    Your post is the exact same as me, so i have just posted my cheque off for year 2016/17 and pay 2017/18 a bit later.
    Did the way you sent yours work out ok?

    Paid two years by post and sent a note with the cheque. I clearly stated the years I was paying for and added a comment about pre 2016 payments would be of no benefit to me. This was to clear up any confusion about other gaps in my NI. I asked for a receipt and that arrived a few weeks later. The following month a summary of the payments arrived clearly stating the full years I had paid.

    https://www.gov.uk/pay-voluntary-class-3-national-insurance/by-post
  • SeeMe
    SeeMe Posts: 343
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    coastline wrote: »
    Paid two years by post and sent a note with the cheque. I clearly stated the years I was paying for and added a comment about pre 2016 payments would be of no benefit to me. This was to clear up any confusion about other gaps in my NI. I asked for a receipt and that arrived a few weeks later. The following month a summary of the payments arrived clearly stating the full years I had paid.

    https://www.gov.uk/pay-voluntary-class-3-national-insurance/by-post


    Ok thanks.


    I never wrote about any gap years i have, but i have 42 full years and clearly stated the payment is for the period 2016/17, also have asked for a reciept so will wait and see now.
  • sham63
    sham63 Posts: 1,063
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    I have just spoken to HMRC regarding payment by cheque. They said you don't need a ref number, just write your NI number on the back of the cheque.


    They also said that it is likely that the payment will just be credited against my NI number and not allocated to the specific years I am asking to pay. I will have to phone back in a few weeks and ask for this to be done! They said this is because they are currently being inundated with payments due to the April deadline.
  • SeeMe
    SeeMe Posts: 343
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    sham63 wrote: »
    I have just spoken to HMRC regarding payment by cheque. They said you don't need a ref number, just write your NI number on the back of the cheque.


    They also said that it is likely that the payment will just be credited against my NI number and not allocated to the specific years I am asking to pay. I will have to phone back in a few weeks and ask for this to be done! They said this is because they are currently being inundated with payments due to the April deadline.


    When i first got in touch by phone i was asked which years did i want the payment for, so i stated this with the cheque and posted it just over a week ago, and included the ref number i was given
  • Tom99
    Tom99 Posts: 5,371
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    sham63 wrote: »
    I have just spoken to HMRC regarding payment by cheque. They said you don't need a ref number, just write your NI number on the back of the cheque.
    They also said that it is likely that the payment will just be credited against my NI number and not allocated to the specific years I am asking to pay. I will have to phone back in a few weeks and ask for this to be done! They said this is because they are currently being inundated with payments due to the April deadline.
    You just enclose a letter saying which years you are paying for.
  • sham63
    sham63 Posts: 1,063
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    Yes, I enclosed a letter with a breakdown of the years I want to pay and explained this to them when I phoned.
    Despite this, I was still told it would be unlikely that the payment would be allocated to the years I specified given their current workload and that I should call back to get this done. We shall see.....
  • SeeMe
    SeeMe Posts: 343
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    sham63 wrote: »
    Yes, I enclosed a letter with a breakdown of the years I want to pay and explained this to them when I phoned.
    Despite this, I was still told it would be unlikely that the payment would be allocated to the years I specified given their current workload and that I should call back to get this done. We shall see.....


    Just because they have a large workload it would be very wrong would it not to ignore the specific years stated by people, with clear instructions.
    Would that mean i would be paying for years pree 16/17 which will not add anything to my state pension as i already have 42 years up to 15/16
  • Tom99
    Tom99 Posts: 5,371
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    sham63 wrote: »
    Yes, I enclosed a letter with a breakdown of the years I want to pay and explained this to them when I phoned.
    Despite this, I was still told it would be unlikely that the payment would be allocated to the years I specified given their current workload and that I should call back to get this done. We shall see.....
    I have just helped a relative do exactly this and, after about 6 weeks, the correct 8 yrs have been allocated. I suspect you have been mis-informed with any luck.
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