Edo

Do you know how long they take to get back to you after you apply?

BristolUK

Do you mean if you've got the odd half year in, whether you can just pay 26 weeks to make it up to a full year?

I don't know if they work with part years. It's hard to see where my 32 years comes from with my employment span of 31 years and 3 months.

But the confirmation I got from them told me the cost of the available years I could 'buy' and in each case a full year was needed. The rates may differ, though.
I can pay for 2006-07 onwards 52 @ £2.65 = £137.80, changes to 53 @ 2.65 = 140.45 for 2008-09 and back to 137.80.

For 2011-12 I'm quoted 52 @ 2.50 = 130 and back to 2.65 the next year. 52 @ 2.70 = 140.40 then 53 @ 2.75 (145.75) and finally 2015-16, 52 @ 2.80 = 145.60.

I'm missing three years and I don't see anything to stop me just picking the three cheapest years. I could save over £20

Pulaski

I don't remember exactly how long it took for me, but not long, a few weeks, maybe.

bats

I should look into buying a few years. I did have enough years paid in to get a full pension but the rules have been changed and now I don't due to having been employed by the NHS and opting out as advised. It's all a bit sucky.

Pulaski

Get in quick and you can get six years in arrears plus this year and next year at the Class 2 cheapo rate.

Tangram

No I wasn't talking half years. I went on the site and apparently I have 26 full years and I wondered how much it costs to add a year at a time i.e. how much minimum of a lump sum do I need to pay them to get a full year credit

Pulaski

About £145/yr Class 2 and about £715/yr Class 3.

BristolUK

Ah...okay....

I haven't seen anything about minimums, just a reference in my letter to needing a full year's worth before it counts so installments towards each year must be okay.

The rate varies according to which years you are eligible to pay and that would be detailed in the response to your application.

The weekly rate varies from £13.25 from 2006 to £14.10 for the current year and some years will need 53 weeks worth instead of 52. https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-nationa...ibutions/rates


So...if you sent a cheque for 52 x £14 and it so happened that 53 weeks were in that year that you wanted to pay for, you might miss the full year for the sake of a missing £14. The accurate amounts need to come from them.

Tangram

Thanks guys, will look into it, might be worth getting mine up. Wife's seems to be so close to the max ( short $20pw ) mine seems more beneficial.

CDNReturner

Can someone explain the difference between Class 2 and Class 3. I was a computer contractor for 14 years of my 22 contributing years so don't understand. Mind you I never did understand the whole system. I requested a breakdown a year or so ago and I was quoted at 400GBP to 700GBP per year (depending on the year) to buy back years so presumably it was quoted at Class 3.

I've been waiting to offload my Scottish timeshare (which so far has taken 3 months for the transfer documents to complete) and then with the remaining monies I have in the UK I want to buy back as many years as I can.

Pulaski

Class 2 and Class 3 are just rates at which the government has determined different people in different circumstances are required, or can voluntarily pay in to the NI scheme. £715/yr is the Class 3 rate, but I don't know what the £400/yr would represent as it is much more than the Class 2 rate of around £145/yr.

What I do know is that you have to "apply" to be allowed to contribute at the Class 2 rate, and among the criteria are that you were employed in the UK before you left and took up employment after you settled oversees. The application form for Class 2 asks for your employers before and after leaving the UK, and the dates you worked for them. I am not at all certain that if you are self employed/ a contractor that you would be permitted to contribute at the Class 2 rate.

CDNReturner

Thanks for the explanation Pulaski. I take it as I was employed by myself thru an off the shelf company those last 14 years then I won't have a case for Class 2.

I can't find the letter at the moment with the amounts (and here I thought my filing system was pretty good) but some of the past payments requested were significantly less for some years than other years. And since I've been back in Canada I've been self-employed with just a small home-based craft business.

Pulaski

I think you're right, but I'd still double check with the DWP because Class 2 contributions are such a killer deal

bgpz

I've just got off the phone with a really helpful person at HMRC, and thought it would be worth sharing some data if anyone is looking at pursuing this.

The number to call is +44-191-203-7010

You'll need to deal with the bloody annoying voice recognition system before you can speak to anyone. The magic phrase is "national insurance contributions while abroad" (if you say something similar, it should come back to you with this phrase - but when I had to call back after getting interrupted with some work stuff, I just said this and saved some time).

This will get you a pre-recorded spiel about recommending that you get a state pension statement... when it asks you if you want to hear it again, say yes - you may get a repeat of this, but afterwards will then be asked to say your NI number (which took three goes for their system to hear it right.. be patient and clearly enunciate!).

You should then (finally!) get through to a human being (pretty much instantly for me - at least there weren't any frustrating hold times on top of the above!). He was able to update my address (as we'd moved house here since emigrating - but giving my previous Canadian address, which was the one they had on file, plus my last UK address, was enough for him to be able to update their system).

The form you need to complete and send back to the UK is the last two pages of the "NI38" booklet entitled "Social Security Abroad" - the PDF can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload.../NI38_CF83.pdf

Current processing time at their end is 4 weeks.

The other useful tidbit I learned is that due to the changes that took place last year with UK state pensions, you can go back 10 years (and not the usual 7) - which is very good news for those of us who can max out our class 2 contributions!

If you elect to pay annually, apparently they send you out a physical invoice (how quaint!) and you can then pay by bank transfer.
Direct debit from a UK bank account is also possible, if that is better for you.

Hope this is useful for others.. and thanks to the BE peeps that started and added to this discussion. YMMV, but from the digging around I've done over the holidays, it looks like I can max out my Class 2 contributions and make a significant boost to my UK state pension... after April 2019, Class 3 looks like it'll still be worthwhile, but there is definitely some major gains to be had here for very little!

CDNReturner

I really appreciate you giving a follow-up to this. I tried their website on New Years Eve and the auto call-back did not work so as soon as I've finished painting the bathroom it's top priority to get back to this. From what I read I have even less pension than I thought due to being contracted-out for a time so what they sent me 2 years ago is no longer applicable from what I can see.