mikemike

I have at long last got my self completed on the Government gateway and have requested a modern method of payment via credit card. Very clear i can make up my lost years if I start now and they allow back payments.

will wait and see what happens

mikemike

Still waiting and watching.

No confirmation to email etc etc

I have a horrible suspicion I will need to return to the UK just to make the payment!! I do not have a Uk clearing bank any more as I use BPI express. Just goes to show how important it is to ensure that you do retain legacy banking arrangements no matter how much you wish to move away!!

Feidlimid

mikemike, I’m assuming you haven’t seen this link. https://www.gov.uk/pay-voluntary-cla...e/bank-details Here’s an extract:

Overseas payments
If you’re paying from abroad, the account you pay into depends on whether you’re using a UK or non-UK account.
Account type Sort code Account number
UK 20 20 48 30944793
Account type Account number (IBAN) Bank Identifier Code (BIC)

Non-UK GB49BARC20204830944793 BARCGB22
For either account, pay to account name ‘GBS Re NICO Receipts HMRC’.
Reference number
If you’re paying from an overseas account, use your National Insurance number followed by ‘IC’, your surname then your initial. Example If your name is Anne Jones, you’d write the reference as QQ123456AICJONESA

If you have seen the above link, are you saying you can’t make a transfer because the local Philippine bank will not sell you £Sterling? Other considerations: From previous discussions, I though you had UK remittances paid into a BPI Europe account (STAR) based in London and then had the funds transferred over to your local BPI account? If that’s the case, are you saying it’s not possible to arrange a transfer from a BPI STAR account in London to HMRC? If none of these are possible, can you not transfer funds via one of the money transfer companies such as Western Union etc, using the code as advised by HMRC?

mikemike

Feidlimid

Ty for answering. I have not seen that link and do not recall seeing it on the UK gov web page. I will ask the BPI here if hey can convert to sterling and send to UK Gov account, expensive , yet far cheaper than having to fly there to make the payment. Pay for other government services like passports using CC. Sad that as far as paying pensions there is a 21st century by-pass on the methods of payment.


BPI in London do not pay outside of the account, they do not have have s/o, d/d or cc. purely a money transfer into the Philippines. They will make payments to another UK bank in the same account holders name, so no good for me.

Feidlimid

mikemike, as your BPI account in London cannot facilitate this transfer, you may indeed end up having to transfer the funds back from the Philippines. Never a good idea as you suggest because (a) you’ve already gone through one exchange rate to get your funds here, now you’ll experience another to get it sent back to UK - and that’s in addition to the transfer charges of course. I’d have thought it would be worth an e-mail to the manager in London to see if he can help, although if it’s bank policy to only transfer to another account with your name, his hands may well be tied.

If needs must and you have to send funds back from here, then I think that in addition to checking out BPI and their international transfer charges, it’s probably worthwhile making a few enquiries with some other money transfer companies to compare costs. I’ve been using two different nationwide companies here for the past year or so (not for international transfers but exchanging money online) and have built up a good relationship with the managers who have not let me down to date. FYI, they've beaten the local banks everytime so far when it comes to exchange rates.

I’m sure you’re perfectly capable of making the calls yourself to companies in your area but if you want, I’ll be happy to pass on the contact details of these two. I’d also be willing to give them a call on your behalf to establish (a) will they do it, (b) what would they charge and (c) do they have a BPI account to eliminate the cost of a domestic transfer of funds. I don’t wish to pry into your personal situation but they are certain to ask how much you want to transfer. If you would like me to make the call on your behalf, let me know. If you prefer to provide any information via the PM facility, feel free to contact me via that mode.

mikemike

Feidlimid. Ty for your offer, the premium for this year plus last 6 is close to £5,000.

I will be calling HMG direct and see if this can be facilitated. I am pretty certain I am not the only expat that has had an issue such as this, then again who knows!! In the meantime I am seeing what excuse I can have to go to the Uk to make a journey such as this cost effective......shopping!!

Feidlimid

Mikemike, I’ve just come off the phone to the two money exchange companies and gleaned the following:
• They do not get involved with international transfers;
• They agree that your best bet is to try and arrange the transfer via your bank, BPI;
• Both suggested that Western Union could arrange a transfer but the ‘hitch’ is that they will only transfer funds to a person, not a company/ organisation, which would appear to rule out HMRC. One consideration on the Western Union option would be if you had a trusted family member/ friend in UK, you could transfer to that person and ask them to make the payment for you. However, I fear this route is all getting a bit ‘messy’.

To summarise, whilst this doesn’t look to be of much help, at least the information clarifies some of the options available to you, with a transfer via your local BPI here in the Ph. appearing to be at the top of the list. With regard to HMRC, generally speaking I’ve found staff to be friendly and helpful, but we're talking about a change of policy here re the use of a credit card to make payment, so I wouldn't hold out much hope of success anytime soon on that front.

Looks like you’ve now resolved yourself to doing some shopping in the UK anyhow so that will fix the problem if all else fails; unless your other half is going with you and the spending spree ends up costing more than the potential benefits of any pension increase. It’ll be interesting to hear how you finally manage to resolve this.

Gazza-d

To transfer money out of the Philippines you are likely to have to change it to dollars first. An extra expense.

Feidlimid

I agree Gazza-d; This would mean mikemike's money eventually having gone through a total of 3 exchange rates i.e., 1 - £ Sterling to Peso, 2 - Peso to US$, and 3 - US$ back to £ Sterling. Not ideal and best avoided whenever possible.

robt23

Hello and good morning ..

I just stumbled on this thread about hmrc and how to view tax / national insurance (voluntary) in my case.

Been trying to register online for a few years now , each time failure.

It´s the security question - your uk address .....

Problem is , i don´t have, been gone for 25 years:eek

Below is a screen shot of said anomaly .

I do not understand how folks here have gotten past that .

Thanks and my apologies for being a year late.

mikemike

Place your last known address

robt23

Hello mikemike,

Already tried that , doesn´t work, at least for me..

Below is the same screen shot i get


I emailed them and they say you can not look up your national insurance online being abroad. It must be the credit check part, is all i can figure.

mikemike

I think you are going to have to call them, I am already on line with them and have no issues

robt23

Hello again and good morning to you mikemike,

You folks have been very fortunate.

Here is a link to gov.uk web site explaining self assessment etc....

Go down to the comments section where folks from abroad have hit a wall with verify.

https://identityassurance.blog.gov.u...lf-assessment/

Again and again they say that they can not verify identity to people living abroad, however,

some folks may still have enough assets in the uk for verification.

The last comment was from late 2017 but things have not changed at all.

Very disappointed and incredible frustration .

All the best.

Stokkevn

Having read these posts I tried Gateway and all verification requirements were passport details, driving license details and my phone number. I then got an email confirming verifications. I have no assets in the UK except a bank account with very limited funds in it. I did access the HMRC site via a VPN ( HOXX ) on a UK address, so maybe that made the difference????