Has anyone had any joy getting through to the mythical Future Pensions Team

[TheApplianceofScience]

I need seven years, I have four I want to pay now and the other three I can trickle out over the next three tax years.

I should get Paddy Power to give me odds on when they are likely to answer the phone to me….

Let me know when you get an answer and I'll start trying again.

Based on Threads I am on that just popped up, the answer is no.

Shambles, situation normal.

I have been trying for about 6 weeks, all different times and days of the week.
Cuts me off at some point, either early or many minutes in.

Havent tried 8.30am. Am trying now.

Did either of you manage to get through in the last two weeks?

Got through after 56 minutes.

I have been trying for months, finally got past all menus and have been holding for fifteen minutes, music is dire but at least I am through (on some level) 🙄

Thirty five minutes and still waiting....

The poor staff must be under dreadful pressure.

It is the pause before the thank you for waiting, that gets me excited.... 😂

I must be blessed as I rang first thing and got through straight away

What number are you calling - is there a free 0800 number? I only have a PAYG phone which charges 35p a minute…… this would cost me a fortune.

There were on strike, for quite some time, until yesterday, so I imagine they have quite a backlog. I’m needing to speak to someone about setting up PAYE for my new company and have had the same issues - I’ve been approximating what I’ll owe for the last three months and been putting it all in separate accounts until this gets sorted.

So you need to get through to Future Pensions or do you just need your 18 digit reference number? Because this is what I did, it was the same just before they extended the deadline, phone lines just ringing off continuously. I got through and got my 18 digit code by going on to the chatbot service - google Contact HMRC - National Insurance - Ask HMRC online. It will state you are talking to a computer so I asked it to connect me to an advisor, which it did, and the human advisor was able to give me my code in the secure Webchat. From there I was able to make the payment through my bank using the reference code.

That’s very useful information,@MandyMotherOfBrian - thank you so much!

does the chatbot only give the reference number, or is it possible to find out without phoning how much to pay for each year to bring everything up to date?

It isn’t the chatbot - you ask the chatbot to connect you to an advisor (an actual human 😁) - I only needed my 18 digit ref as I knew what I wanted to pay, but presumably they will have other information available as they have to access your actual records.
You can check what you need to pay by Googling ‘Check Your National Insurance Record’ and going to the government page - you’ll need to set up a Government Gateway account if you don’t already have one. It will show what amount you’re missing per year and how many full years you have. I knew already how much I wanted/needed to pay. I think the Future Pensions service is more about telling whether it’s actually worth paying the missing years though? I have 7 missing years but two of them were tiny amounts so it was worth me paying those, and as I’ve just set up my own business and am paying NI again, I decided it wasn’t necessary for me to pay for those as I’ll build them up naturally as from now on.

I finally got through after an hour.

Spoke to a lovely lady who ascertained that I have no intention of going back to work, picked the four best years, gave me a figure, then put me through to HMRC, who then took me through security (again) gave me an 18 digit reference number, I then rang my bank and paid it.

I better bloody live long enough to a) claim my pension and b) live longer than the four years I need to make it back. 😂

It is a weight off my shoulders.

I see you've got through now. I phoned at 8am last week, and got through after about 45 minutes. I would recommend anyone planning to do it, to have the Government gateway open, details of your incomplete years, and have added up what it will cost to pay them. They will run through it with you, but it speeds up the process if you already know what you want to do.

Thanks @MandyMotherOfBrian , this is super helpful!!! 😀

Certainly is.

Unfortunately for me, I have to wait 8 weeks to see if the money is "allocated".
It wasnt last time!
And then when I got that fixed, it was apparent I had been given wrong information and I had to start the whole thing again, to pay in some more.

I wouldnt celebrate just yet!

Oh dear God……

At least I can hope until then.

That is impressive, just checked and my account is fully up to date.

One less thing to worry about.

Bump

For anyone who has paid recently.

Your account with HMRC?

The money has been allocated?

And your pension forecast is as it should be?

Spot on and account now showing full state pension amount.

Bearing in mind the lengthy times some people on here have had to wait I was quite frankly astounded.