What are the benefits for making these? unemployment benefit etc... seems to be the main thing.

I originally thought that making contributions in any euro country essentially guaranteed something at the end, retirement, no matter where you lived in the EU due to the reciprocal agreements etc... .

It doesnt seem so clear now though.

I have moved from UK contract to an Italian contract and paying all tax in Italy at the moment. I am now having my TFR (whatever that is) put into a the company pension and currently not paying this class 2.

If I was to pay the class 2 can I do it for aslong as I want and regardless of residency status? I suppose this means I would get a full UK pension on top of whatever contribution to the italian system I have made.

Probably worth the £130 a year I guess (if in 2045 there are still state pensions) although the other benefits seem a bit less clear.

Thanks for any info.

will query my accountant tomorrow and let you know.
I still pay them because I'm legally bound to

Hi there sorry for delay in reply
this is from my accountant

"NIC: All self employed pay Class 4 NIC up to retirement age at a fixed percentage for profit between certain bands: for 2011/12 it is at 9% on profits between £7,225 and £42,475.
It is basically another tax and you receive bugger- all benefit from paying it. Individuals who are over pensionable age at the beginning of the tax year don’t have to pay it. This will happen sometime in the next 18 months for you ( me) because of the extension of retirement age to 65. ( you still have to pay it if you reach that milestone age during the tax year.)
Class 2 NIC contributions are again paid by all self employed persons who earn over £5,315 pa @ £2.50 per week.
They are not payable in respect of any period after the earner reaches pensionable age.
The contributions go towards certain benefits, especially the state pension
So you Connie will not have to pay it for much longer and ******* (my partner in life and business) will have to check with the contributions agency in the UK whether he has to pay it, if and when you obtain residency in Italy. He needs to ensure he doesn’t stop paying it as it jeopardizes his entitlement to a state pension."


Hope this is of some use to you-I just cough up as requested!!!!

Thickie question here -

I've worked in the UK and now I'm employed in Italy. Will the UK NI contributions go towards my Italian pension or will I receive a pension that is like half UK and half Italian? I've always assumed my UK years will go towards the shortfall in my Italian pension contributions and in the end I will receive just 1 pension.

Is there any way I could receive a full UK pension and a full Italian pension? e.g. If I topped up my UK NI contributions for those years I've been working here in Italy?

Duffer, don't know much. I do know that you can transfer your UK contributions to Inps at no cost. Whether this is your best option, I don't know.

Thanks for the replies.

From what I have seen you can top up upto the previous 6 years on UK NI contributions.
That topping up of the italian state pension is my next question as it seems to be a good investment for the return compared to most pension plans.

Problem is I have another 30+ years until I claim any of them. Looks like I will have to do it as I could be moving back to the UK at some time and there is then no question to what benefits I get.

I am sure looking at some old threads the state pensions are contributed by each country in the proportion that you contributed.

There's a very good thread about National Insurance on this forum (link below), and was my starting point for making enquiries, getting forecasts etc. I've just sent off my forms to apply to pay Class 2 as, on paper at least, it seems I qualify.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=702385