scot47

My recollection is that you must have worked for a period and paid full Nat Ins to be allowed to pay Voluntary Contributions.. Ask them. Overseas Branch at Longbenton/

Exp76

Check this is you are contemplating applying and are living outside of the UK and have no employment record in the UK. They are quite specific if you are living abroad.
https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-nationa...-contributions

valspal

Hi i already posted but its not showing so excuse me if its a double>

I have 7 years and have arranged for future direct debits. I also want to pay for past 3 years as lump some or 3 payments whichever is appropriate. Some of you have said that you just sent a check; what address do you send it to?
I cannot get into my bank account due to not being able to reset it without a UK phone number.

durham_lad

labmonkey

Hello again. Thanks for all of the help given in this thread. It took about six months and a little correspondence, but I just received the news that they accepted my application to pay voluntary class 2 contributions. My direct debit is set up to pay for future years, but I am a little unsure how to pay for the previous years and hope somebody here can clear it up for me. The letter I received contained a breakdown of the years that I can buy and a link to this page www.gov.uk/pay-class-2-national-insurance. I don't have a cheque book any more, so I want to pay by BACS from my UK bank account. The information for this is halfway down this page www.gov.uk/pay-class-2-national-insurance/bank-details. So, do I just need to transfer money to the account name, number, and sort code listed on that page with a reference in the style of " QQ123456AICJONESA "? Is that it? Do they then send me a receipt? Do I need to write them a letter to inform them of my payment, or is it all worked out automatically?

Lastly, should I sum up the total amount for all the missing years and transfer this as one payment? Or should I make separate payments for each year? (It's 9 years I am paying.)

Thanks again.

Edit: Apologies, but this forum won't let me post html links until I have made a few more posts.

scot47

When I paid I just used my National Insurance Number. It is a unique number and identifies you clearly.

durham_lad

labmonkey

Thanks all.

@scot47, the reference number I quoted in my previous message ( QQ123456AICJONESA ) is NI number plus name and initial. That's what the website asks for, although the letter says "As an overseas customr you'll need to quote your National Insurance number when sending any payments to us. Please do not quote any other reference shown on our correspondence...." So, do you remember if you used only your NI number, or the NI number plus name and initial? Did you send a letter as well? Did they send any kind of confirmation?

@durham_lad, So, did I understand that correctly that in the end you made a single payment to cover all of the years? Also, hopefully I don't need to phone up. It cost me a fortune the last time I had to phone the UK.

durham_lad

Yes, a single payment was all that was needed to pay all the back payments. What caught us by surprise when we phoned was the person not knowing how much this was so we had to add up all 11 years from the letter she had. (I know that 11 years back contributions is unusual but we never asked why).

When I paid my 7 years back contributions some years ago we were still living in Texas and I never made any phone calls at all, I did it by letter, and remember including a photo copy of the letter they had sent to me along with a physical check for the back payments. I paid 7 years because it was in February so it was current year plus 6 back years.

Beraider

Anyone know if one can continue with voluntary contributions if they return to the UK as a resident?

durham_lad

Beraider

Well thats good to know, thanks Durhamlad,