migxpat

Hi BE'ers,

I've wanted to ask a question for ages to those folk who've successfully applied to pay voluntary Class 2 NICs whilst living/working abroad here in Canada.

My family and I migrated in Aug 2019 and we both have jobs with Canadian employers with no ties or offices to the UK. When we left the UK, I had 29 out of 35 full years of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) under my belt up to and including end tax year 2019/20; so currently I'm only 6-years short of getting a full pension in the future when I eventually start claiming it. In my situation, paying for just 6-years voluntary NICs at Class 2 is a no-brainer to get the uplift in pension I'd be due (currently c.£150pw rising to c.£175 if I complete the full 35 years worth).

We have a house (rented out) back in the UK and some family and friends we hope to visit (when COVID restrictions aren't so, well restrictive). So some evidence of ties to the UK; but are they strong ones?

I've read all the posts from these two informative threads:
Making UK National Insurance contributions after emigrating to Canada
National Insurance Contributions

And read and re-read the following UK government advice on making social security contributions whilst working abroad.
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ty-abroad-ni38
...but I'm still a bit confused about one of the questions on Form CF83.

Pages 6-8 of the NI38 publication are meant to guide you to answer Question 12 on Form CF83 ("Are you ordinarily resident in the UK"?).

Page 6 says "When you tell us your ‘ordinarily resident’ status you must base this on your circumstances at the time you left the UK." Well, in Aug 2019 I was ordinarily resident in the UK having had continuous UK based employment for 20+ years and other NIC credits for mature study. But I've effectively switched to being ordinarily resident in Canada since that point (i.e. Aug 2019).

Does it improve or hinder my chances of being approved for Class 2 depending on how I answer Question 12? What are the experiences of other folks please and (whilst recognising that no two people's circumstances are the exactly the same) would people have any do's and don'ts about how to answer the rest of Form CF83?

Thanks in advance for people's comments and perspective.

scot47

I had no problems and anecdotal evidence from colleagues in my situation was that National Insurance people will agree to most requests to pay @ Class 2.

migxpat

Hi Scot47,
Thanks for posting your comment. Given my circumstances as I've outlined them in the original thread, would you have a view on how I should answer Q12 about 'my ordinarily resident status'? Thinking about it, I believe they want me to imagine or hark back to what my ordinarily resident status was then at the time I left the UK. If this is the case, I would answer 'Yes'; but I'm just not sure.
Thanks to you (or any others) for posting new comments. Cheers.

Twitcher1958

I don’t think you’ll have any issue. We left the UK in 2010, still have a house there, rented out, and only went through the stages of applying for top up Class 2 contributions this year. We found the person we spoke to at HMRC extremely helpful and remember a couple of slightly awkward sounding questions on the application but answered honestly along the lines of it being our intention to return at some point, exact date to be determined.
That was March - they confirmed things back in May/June, we then made the relevant payments which took two or three months to be reflected on our records. I suspect the complete process took a bit longer than under normal circumstances.

migxpat

Thanks for your reply Twitcher1958; your reply gives me a bit more reassurance about the process.

tdrinker

You were ordinarily resident at the time you left the UK. I'd say you will qualify for Class 2 NI.

Due to the transitional arrangements between the old and new pensions, if you were ever a member of a company pension scheme you may have been "contracted out" for a period (basically, paid a reduced NI rate), and will probably require a few extra years contributions to receive a full new pension. You can check you pension entitlement online:

http://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

migxpat

Thanks for your reply tdrinker. (And to answer your query, I was contracted out of the two contributory pension schemes I was a member of in my UK working life).

scot47

The question refers to the position when you left. Cast your mind back !

migxpat

Thanks for the reply. At the time I left the UK, I was 100% ordinarily resident. No question about it.

scot47

There you go ! Apply, wait and pay !