Disenchanted

When I joined this board back in 2013 I discovered the Class 2 NIC's deal so enrolled as it were, paid 6 years back (max allowed) and set up DD payment from my UK account for future contributions. It actually got messed up and they did not credit my payment properly and also didn't start the DD withdrawals. I called them and discussed the issues, the agent agreed that it had been messed up and promised that the £960+ payment would be for the 6 years and I believe I transferred anther £140+ for the year they didn't DD my account, now all is straight and they take out about £12/month. I have to say they have always been most helpful, even if they didn't quite get it right at first.
I wonder how that would play out with the equivalent US department???

Anyway, to my question. When I first started the Class 2 NIC process I was told that it may be changing in the next few years and as I was born in July 1951 it may affect my contributions. The main question that arose was if the years required were increased from 30 to 35 would I be allowed to purchase those years because around the time they would be changing it I would be at my retirement age of 65, at which time I would not be able to continue to contribute to NIC's. The agent said they believed I would be able to purchase those extra 5 years with a lump sum purchase, but didn't specify if those would be at NIC 2 rates, or the more expensive NIC 3 rates. Is anybody else in the same situation? Does anybody have any insight, knowledge or suggestions to help increase my current weekly UK pension?
I should add that I just got a statement that said I currently have 24 years and my weekly amount will be £94.22

Disenchanted

Just spoke with DWP this morning and the agent there said C2 NIC's will not be going away in the near future as far as they know, which means they will still deduct C2 NIC payments via DD until I reach retirement age in July 2016 (New Pension)

nun

I just received my annual bill for Class 2 NICs for 2014-2015. So no change in class. It will also be my 32nd annual payment so HMRC are billing people with more than 30 years of NICs according to the New State Pension and I expect they'll tell me to stop making voluntary payments when I get to 35 years of NICs.

markonline1

OK, finally got a response from HMRC about my class 2 contributions. Got the following letter.... . No idea what to do now though. At the bottom it says about making up the shortfall. Do I need to phone them up to sort this out. I assumed I'd just start to get a bill which I would then pay. I've read the various posts about this, but when it comes to pensions, I've always been completely clueless. Any advice greatly received. Thanks.

Disenchanted

Okay, so you can pay C2 NIC's, you are eligible to buy back 6 years which will bring you to 29 years, and going forward you can pay for 2015~2016 and on. You can pay the 6 years as a lump sum, there are several options for payments going forward such as monthly, 6 monthly, annually. I pay monthly by DD from my UK bank.

You should be able to pay NIC's until you reach retirement age or the maximum years required. If you are part of the old pension, ie reach retirement age before April 2016 you need 30 years for full pension, if it's after April 2016 then you need 35 years for full pension.

They should send you details of how to transfer the money for the 6 years and future payments, but I would call them just to be sure, they will probably provide it over the phone if requested. When I did mine it seemed a little sparse on details and I worried it might not be interpreted correctly and end up somewhere where they didn't know what to do with it. A call confirmed they had received it, however, the lump sum for the 6 years was applied incorrectly -I discovered this a year later but a phone call cleared it up and it was rectified.

markonline1

^^^^^^thanks . The bit of the letter that worried me was were it said IF you would like any further information...... This is all very confusing to someone that has never taken any interest in their pensions. I guess that'll teach me LOL. I'll give them a little ring, but thanks for replying, your post helped

Disenchanted

I've always found the International Caseworker Division to be very helpful when I've called them.

Yes, I wish I'd have known sooner about the C2 NIC's, by the time I found out it was too late to qualify for a full pension, plus I missed the April 2016 switch by 3 months so now I need 35 years instead of 30 years, but that's offset by a larger full pension amount.