I phoned up the H&M customs office to enquire and they said i need to get an up to date forecast to see how much I have payed in which I am going.
They also said I could be entitled to 3 years of extra youth credits as in work at a very young age as an apprentice which will count towards the 30 year qualification period. They said once you have all this information they can decide if you need to pay class 2 credits or class 3 credits. They dont have to be payed straight away so can take your time when abroad from over seas via an annual bill or a UK bank account.

i rang the tax bods after reading this useful thread

mentioned paying additional contributions - £12.05 per week

q) dont know if this is class 2 or 3 ?

i have about 22 years in the UK as normal taxpayer - presently unemployed

so looks like if i pay 8 years of additonal then i can claim
the full (30 years) pension in the future - sounds a good deal to me

lets face it , we have earned it anyway - think how much the MPs get
in their fiddles and lavish pensions - so stuff them . . .

£12.05 is the 2010 - 2011 class 3 rate on the H&M revenue and customs rates and allowances table.

Can you claim for a UK and Canadian state pension if you have contributed the qualifying years in each one?

Yes.

So is that working on you retiring at 46 if you only have to pay 30 years?

No I'm not so lucky.
I get my pension at 68 my forecast says at the moment but you know the politicians they can move the goal post.
I have to pay 30/30 years to get a full pension if I'm correct.
I have payed in 17 years and need to pay a further 13 years to get the 30/30

Dear Jonboy
I was born in june 1945, and according to your article I only needed to pay 30 yrs contributions to get a full pension.Iam now drawing a full state pension but I paid in for 40 years does this mean I am entitled to a rebate of ten years payments. Thanks.

No rebate. You are required to pay National Insurance contributions on your earnings, and this is independent of your qualification for the state pension, or any other NI benefit.

Ah well worth a try .Cheers Jonboy

oooh am gonna give em a ring

Generally speaking if you're working you should pay Class 2. Only if you're unemployed do you pay Class 3 and it's basically down to what you put on the form anyway, there's no way of their checking.

Class 2 contributions are around £150 a year at the moment, the pension you receive is £6,500 pa as of today so obviously it makes a lot of sense to make voluntary contributions - you need 30 years worth to get a full pension. HOWEVER, if you live in Canada you are not permitted to receive the cost of living adjustments, but it's still a bargain.

Three things all (former) UK taxpayers should do when moving to Canada after filing their P85:

Fill in the application form from HMRC NI38 and send it in and make voluntary Class 2 contributions;
Get a pension statement from the Dept. of Work & Pensions so you know when to stop making contributions;
You need a bank account in the UK to do the direct debits from - make sure you file an R105 with the bank so they don't withhold UK income tax (you pay Canadian income tax and declare the income on your T1).

Class 2. Class 3 is over £100 a month.

steve

good advice


turns out i have 26 years (who am i to argue !)

so only 4 for me to pay

ron - best give them a ring - cant see the UK giving you a rebate but worth a ring

Where do I get the NI38 and R105 from?