Voluntary National Insurance

Following on from the pension thread I checked my national insurance record and it has a few gaps. Some from my student days in the 90s. No real surprise there, I was earning in the holidays but not much. I do however have a couple of more recent gaps which it would be nice to see if these can be resolved.

For the missing years it says:

“Year is not full
We are checking this year to see if it counts towards your pension. We’ll update your record when this is finished, you do not need to do anything.”

For the 90s gaps it says “It’s too late to pay for this year. You can usually only pay for the last 6 years” so I guess the clock is ticking for the more recent ones, but one is 2010-2011 so has the chance gone by for this year, but also how long do they need to do the checking and updating?

think it’s 35 years you need anyhow(was 30 I think, so might still be for older folks), you be under that threshold come retirement? Consider that before you start paying extra?

You can always top it up.

think it’s 35 years you need anyhow(was 30 I think, so might still be for older folks), you be under that threshold? Consider that before you start paying extra?

If I work until ‘normal’ retirement age then I’ll be fine but I’m just looking at options. Current plan is possibly some kind of early semi-retirement with a lifestyle/part time job so I wouldn’t want lose out later for the sake of a few quid now. Just no idea how to work out what that “few quid” actually is or how to pay it if I wanted to

I paid the requisite 30 years (as it was) before I took early retirement but I still pay NI on income from my current part-time job too. 😡

fair do’s.

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/deadlines

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/rates

I paid the requisite 30 years (as it was) before I took early retirement but I still pay NI on income from my current part-time job too

You stop paying NI when you retire and stop working, not when you have built up the requisite number of years.

To the OP certainly sort out the errors if there are any, you never know what the future might be but I’d be reluctant to top up many years unless it was a small amount that is required.

certainly sort out the errors if there are any,

That was my thought but how do I know? The record for the years that aren’t full state:

“Year is not full
We are checking this year to see if it counts towards your pension. We’ll update your record when this is finished, you do not need to do anything.”

It shouldn’t take too long to sort out and if you still have your P60s you should be able to double check the numbers that they have.

I just checked mine. I have 18 qualifying years and 5 years of gaps which are too late to do anything with. It says I have until 2049 to contribute another 12 qualifying years to get the full amount. That will be 30 in total. Hopefully that won’t change between now and then. Seems it is 35 years you need only if your record started after April 2016? Dont know why I have 5 years of gaps because I worked these years in full time employment, yet years when I was still in school and not working qualify.

You stop paying NI when you retire and stop working, not when you have built up the requisite number of years.

I know that now! I’d naively assumed otherwise. As it happens I’m now paying all of my wages into a workplace pension anyway.

You could try phoning them. They have been very good when I have contacted them. The number of years before and after the change in pension scheme also affects whether you should top up or not.

My estimated pension is less than my maximum forecast. I was told not to top up any payments pre April 16 as it wouldn’t make any difference to my final pension. However I will be able to add additional payments post 2016 to get the max forecast.

ie even if you have the qualifying years pre 2016 (I did) continuing to pay after 2016 will increase the amount you eventually get under the new system.

Give them a call if any doubt, for the 2 years I needed to fix 1 of those they just fixed over the phone, they could spot instantly why it wasn’t working.

You should have credits from your student days if it was a full time course. I am paying voluntarily, yr 32 i think i am at, but as above, if i max out at 35 years and start working, then i still pay ni.

Worth considering, but then from the 35 years max entitlement you have to deduct any contracted out years, so in reality, few people will actually qualify for the full state pension.

Tbh the future of the state pension as it is now looks a bit shaky, be prepared for more age setbacks, means testing by stealth, upping max years.

The formula for adjusting for contracted out years is hard to find and hard to apply; they still count to some degree, but you need more than 30 years for a full pension if you had some years contracted out.

You pay NI for as long as you’re working or until you reach whatever the state pension age is for you. If you defer your pension I think you can still stop paying.

Does the NI based state pension count towards the lifetime allowance (max non-taxable pension pot) does anyone know?

Does the NI based state pension count towards the lifetime allowance (max non-taxable pension pot) does anyone know?

No, it doesn’t count towards that. Yet.

Hmmm. Might be worth buying years when I finish my 40 years of defined contributions. I was contracted out for years.

How do you check?

Good thread.
I don’t know you could check so easily, so I’ve just logged on and checked mine. 31 years unbroken contributions…… It started when I was still at school (16-ish) so I guess they pay it if you’re of working age but in full time learning?

wallop – Member

How do you check? https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record