celticgrid

Another one here who opened an account while in the US having not been back in the UK for nearly 20 years. Unfortunately I can't remember what address I used....but realistically the only one I could have given was the last one they had on record for me.

nearpost1

Lisboa

Hi guys,

Some really useful tips in this thread.

Back in 2012, I applied to back-pay my missing contribution years.
They sent back a letter, with a table listing each missing year, and the cost to purchase each missing year.
There are also 2 columns at the end; 'pay without penalty' date of April 2019, and a 'final pay date' of April 2023.

So I figured, back then in 2012, no reason to pay anything before I have to. Alas, now I'm a few months before the first deadline, so I'm prioritising this in my life now.

So I'm just curious if anybody knows, what is the penalty if I delayed until April 2023?
Does it just mean paying the 2023 price instead of the price quoted in my letter?

Of course it seems like a terrific investment nevertheless, so I am likely to pay the Piper before April 2019.

Also, I'm under the impression one has to contact HMRC after payment, in order to direct them how to allocate funds.
Anyone had any luck doing this by email? Is it quicker than post?
They seem to take weeks/months to finally getting around to opening mail sent through the post, and telephone - on top of being lengthy and expensive and with no paper trail - appear to be received by a general operator, not a specialist caseworker who can allocate my funds there and then over the phone.

Good thread, thanks for sharing your experiences!

celticgrid

Note that it seems not all years are equal. You have a list of all the missing years - factual. However not all of those years will necessarily add to your pension entitlement even if paid. You need to speak to the pension folks (don't have telephone number handy but easily googled) who were super helpful and super quick to advise which years from my list would count towards entitlement years.

I made my bulk payment earlier this year. Having got my 'list' and spoken to the pension people I simply sent off a check with a very detailed cover letter and an annotated copy of the 'list' making it clear which years were being paid. I was extra detailed having heard others' tales of hassle. It all went perfectly without need of any further contact. It didn't take weeks for them to open the letter!

I chose to send a check, which then gave the option of the detailed cover letter, rather than a bank transfer - simply because the latter doesn't allow you to provide the detail I mentioned. If paying electronically I suspect further contact would be necessary as they wouldn't know which years you were paying.

chawkins99

I paid by wire transfer as I don't have a UK bank account. I think I paid about 6 years back payments but I called them before sending the money. Told them what to allocate to which year which they noted on the system.

They are really helpful. Probably the most helpful government help line I've ever dealt with.

It took 3-4 months but all was correctly allocated except for the last one which was short due to wire transfer fees. Take note: make sure you take these into account and then add an extra tenner. Better to be over than under.

The following year, I paid that year PLUS the under-payment from the previous year PLUS extra just to be sure.

I will pay next year's in the same manner and I will be fully paid-up.

durham_lad

Lisboa

Thanks for the quick reply!

Under which circumstances can a full year of paid class 2 or class 3 contributions not count towards your pension entitlement?
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I haven't read anything like this before (except for folks who spoke about being contracted out for a few years, but decades ago).

The letter I received even states each qualifying year will entitle me to 1/30th of the full state pension. (Though now I believe it's 35 years).

Did they say why certain years wouldn't count, even if you had paid 52 week's worth of contributions?

Sounds good.
Seems there isn't an email address on their website anyway, and I don't have a cheque book, so I'll likely proceed with bulk electronic payment, and I guess telephone them 2 to 3 days later for confirmation and tell them how to allocate funds, year by year.

celticgrid

Need to separate out 2 types of year.

The fully-paid-as-they-went-by years are affected by whether you were contracted out, to what degree, etc. As you note. That's reasonable.

When talking about he years that would not count, these are ones where you were not paying and are now seeking to back-pay. When I had my list of (I think) 12 years of missing payments I was clearly told that for them to count towards a pension I had to pay...and a bit of memory needs checking here but it was something like...

Must pay either one of the most recent 2 years, plus any 4 of the preceding years. They happily advised me to pick the cheapest 4 years! Anything more than that and those additional years would not generate pension credits.

They are very helpful. I'd check with them first before paying anything.

If your letter says 30 years then it was produced before all the 2016 changes came into effect - some of the stuff I was told most probably came into force at that time, such as the changes to spouse entitlement.

Anyway, good luck. The detailed "why" doesn't bother me as I only needed a few years to reach the 35, and I think this year (18/19) and next will bring the magic number up.

OldJuddian

As it is nearly 2 months I called them today, and was very pleasantly surprised that after a very short wait a very polite, kind, person confirmed that the payments had been made but there is an 8-13 week backlog.

Lisboa

Congratulations!

Is that 8-13 week backlog in relation to actually allocating your funds to each individual year?
They should still be able to verify, within a matter of days, that an online payment has at least hit their bank account, right?


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OldJuddian

Yes, they can see if there is a pending payment, but actually getting it allocated to your NI record has the long backlog as it need to be worked on by the caseworkers.

nearpost1

durham_lad

Hotscot

I've been getting a letter every year telling me how much I need to pay for that year.
Does anyone else get a letter?

Giantaxe

Yes, I have a stack of them.