Can anyone explain NI top up to me for ESA

[confidenceboost]

I have been employed for a year paid ni on every single payslip
Then for ten years previously self employed paid all taxes and have a gap in my NI apparently so not eligible ? I am bereft all has been done by my accountant for years it looks like a mistake on the form or their paper work
Does anyone know how long you have to pay it for?
I am beside myself and bed wridden

How old are you now?

How long have you been on ESA for?

What does the accountant and the papers they sent to you say about NICs?

I am 32 now
I haven't claimed it , seemed I need to pay a gap that wasn't covered
I spoke to the accountant who said I was patrolled but below the ni threshold
I paid for certain all of 24-25 because I paid it in my other role
But not sure about the other years
I've asked him to find out how much to repay
It's so overwhelming
I'm upset he made a decision for me without asking? Why decide not to make the ni payment? What about contribution to society and also , what if I became ill!!!

The NI contributions test is a bit complicated in that it requires some contributions to be based on earnings but can also take credited contributions, for example earned while on other benefits.

The years that count currently are 2022/23 and 2023/24.

CA's website has an explanation:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/employment-and-support-allowance/help-with-your-esa-claim/check-if-you-can-claim-esa/

Thank you so much
This information is still not clear to me online
When I've asked on the phone all times I have been told they don't know how long I need to collect it for
I had a baby in 19 , and another in 22
So can they be tax years with earnings as dividend or do they need to be pay rolled ? I didn't claim SMP

I am so , so frustrated and feel confused
What happens to a house wife
Who gets divorced
And never had a job?? And is sick?

If you look on your government gateway you can see your national insurance record and it will show you yearly how much down you were. You have until the end of this month to make them up. After that you will only be able to go back 7 years I think. That's if you want to. I have gaps during the 90s when I was a mature student for example and another year when I was on JSA. I still have time to pay in for my pension tho so I haven't filled the gaps.

@confidenceboost

Do you have a Government Gateway account? If not then I think you need to set one up.

Once you have done so you can view your NI Contribution record right back to when it started. In my case that is 1976/77!!.

The years that matter for ESA now are 2022/3 and 2023/4. If you had a baby in 2022 then presumably, if you got Child Benefit, you will have been credited contributions for at least some of 2022/3. What were you doing workwise from April 23 to April 2024? I suspect the issue is that while you have sufficient credited contributions you may not have the required contributions based on earnings.

Is it possible there has been a mistake and contributions have been lost somewhere?

If you cannot get to the bottom of it yourself would it help to get a print out from the Gov Gateway and get advice from Citizens Advice or similar.

The questions about housewives, divorce etc are, with respect, red herrings so far as you are concerned. In some circumstances contributions can be paid on a voluntary basis or there may historically at least, be credits for time spent raising a family. That's a specialist subject of its own!!

If you are sick and need money to live on can you claim Universal Credit?

If you have questions about UC then, as ever, the go to is Help to Claim

Thanks so much all
So I have not been working most of the last 8 years but my accountant sorted my tax for me. All of that in good order
Last year I definitely paid ni as I worked for someone else
I have been a housewife for 8 years so the question isn't really a red herring but a genuine one
I was told that I was paid by dividends due to it being bulk of earning (menial) through "property" and dividends
I've asked him why this was decided for me ? I don't want to miss out on NI contributions ?

So I will get a back date price
I have a call with job coach today at 1.30 and I'll ask for the certain periods I needed to pay and buy the credits back
Because I am long term sick and I have been in bed for almost three months, I claim pip and get higher rate both
I can't do UC as we own home, husband working and able to work but spread very thin

We are the middle caught up family basically

@confidenceboost have you actually checked eligibility to UC?

Not trying to teach you to suck eggs but it's surprising how many people think they'd get nowt but are actually entitled to at least a bit.

Home ownership is not a bar provided the only home you have is the one you live in and other assets are less than £16k.

Home owners are in a much worse position than renters who get at least some of their rent paid whereas help with mortgage is limited to a loan. If you get both elements of PIP at ER then it's possible you could get additional money for lack of capability to work or do work or work related activity.

There are ways/means to protect at least the pension for housewives but not sure how far they can be corrected in retrospect.

We own this house and have a mortgage of like £900 a month husband owned before meeting me
We own a flat as well or my husband had it before me if it makes a difference renter and on an interest only mortgage , £700 pm

We pay nursery £500 pm but I think that will go now my daughter is 3 this month

I claim child benefit for two of my three children

We had a household income circa 130k, but we also had some other avenues including shares but they are now sold

last year mostly earned by my husband, I was actually paid below minimum wage at 24k

So now I am written off disabled and totally fucked we have a problem in that my husband is running the show and now also trying to work
My mental health is a fucking shit show , I had a panic attack and ripped some of my hair out yesterday and I was just not able to be left, it has knocked me sideways
The only thing I do is baking but has to be from bed a lot and haven't been able to enjoy lately due to my health.

So now I don't know what to do, we had this simmilar problem during covid and we did get some uc but that was because my husband wasn't able to work as his business depended on entering homes and contact with people ..
We never got that grant thing or the loans we were worried about future implications

I want to move house next year so I don't want to sort of financially retire my husband so that we could claim benefits but I feel like I have slipped through the cracks

Genuinely there's been in excess of 100k in tax paid by our business, our earnings in the last 5 years I would say.

If you own your home and your DH is earning then realistically you won't be entitled to much so it may not do you much good immediately to get the NI sorted out. If there's a good chance of you getting the 35 years of contributions needed in order get a pension (it might get changed to 40 years by age 70 for your age group) then it's worth sorting out the NI sooner rather than later if you can as there's a limit on how far you can go back. You should have some contribution due to claiming Child Benefit from 2019 as PP say above.

I don't have a gateway my accountant does it

Shall I ask him to look and tell me?

I have called esa every day for a week and spent hours on hold nobody at all can tell me

I am so so stressed by finances because we have out goings at least 6k a month, and I have become more expensive because I now take private medical treatment and medications or I would genuinely die from despair

It all feels so unfair and confusing and also isolating I don't know how anyone in the bedt of mindsets can navigate it never mind someone disabled and sedated like I am

I feel so vulnerable and I am so grateful for the pragmatic advice honestly thank you so much cxxxxx

Just to let you know you should be able to claim child benefit for all three children. There is no two child cap on child benefit like there is for UC.

Even if you do have some gaps in the NI contributions, there may be the option to pay them and then still be able to claim ESA although i believe there is a waiting period after you've made them, maybe like six weeks wait.

I had no idea I could claim all three how frustrating and you know what else I live in fear becUse our earnings are not predictable and sometimes we have bumper years and then it would end up needing to be repaid
I am so scared of benefits
We have huge huge outgoings geneuknly my health adds 2000 a month to our life I feel so guilty about it all

So I agree on state pension I've also been paying into a private pension too, but it will have around 1000in it that's all as I was only doing it last year

If your disability is affecting your day to day functioning, have you looked at claiming PIP? PIP is not means tested but awarded based on the difficulties you have with daily living and mobility.

Yes I claim pip I just claimed it and it was paid this week, genuinely straight to cover over draft for all the medication I've purchased!

The lady on phone was incredible and so gentle and helpful. I didn't have to go to a f2f meeting but would have done if asked: my gp and I shared medical info with them and it was awarded at higher rate for mobility and lubing
When I found out on the phone I just cried and cried my eyes out

OP says she's on both elements of PIP at Enhanced Rate.

Given her husband's income and the fact they own a property other than the one they live in UC is obviously ruled out. However if her husband was on as much as say £45k and no assets then UC would be payable.

The only answer is ESA but at less than £140/week at the max based on NICs it's not going to be transformative.

Cutting to the chase:

Have you gone through your outgoings thoroughly?

If the second property isn't washing its face financially would it be better sold?

Sorry missed the bit about PIP.

Glad that was awarded without too much stress for you. Sorry I missed before where you said you got PIP.

Thank you so much

Well it would put us back where we were because it's 2k I don't have to go to work for and also I sadly spend that on my medications and appointments very genuinely I do.

So my medications alone exceed 1,000 per month and I can't function without them

I know that this is obviously upsetting people I don't know why it would

It's as if my husband is now making up a 44k bill if you get me, my salary gone and now my medication bills mean it's double painful

apartment doesn't need to be sold it's basically pure earnings as mortgage is interest only it has expensive ground rent but still it's around £350 a month we don't have otherwise

And then in terms of the bills and outgoings yes we have cut them back but tbh we don't even have tv subs, don't eat take out (my digestion) but I do spend a lot on medication and good quality food

If you’re claiming child benefit you don’t need to be paying NI, you should get credit. And did you specifically ask your accountant to set up your affairs so you paid the maximum tax? Because they wouldn’t normally do that unless you ask them to as most people want to minimise their tax bill.

Not sure credited NIC's on there own are sufficient for ESA.

I imagine you're spending a lot on medication because you're getting private prescriptions, but if you are also getting some NHS prescriptions you should look into whether a prepay certificate would save your money

As far as I know you can't usually back pay NI to get entitlement to ESA

But yes, there are real gaps in ESA for people who haven't worked consistently but who live with a partner whose earnings means they can't get UC.

Hey all
We are just going to push push push online to generate extra work, I find the whole process degrading , difficult and stressful
I have been told I can buy the credits but wtf didn't an accountant just pay it? Why would he ever think I wouldn't want to pay that for a state pension etc? Insane as I couldn't claim smp ws well for all my pregnancies , I have always been self employed until this year when I took a job

Genuinely found this thread really supportive really helpful and really understanding

I can't get the meds I use on the nhs and it's infuriating, I have several private doctors I use including pain clinic, gastro, psych, and I also use a medical cannabis clinic which has been life changing but also life changing in terms of expenses (it's actually what got me on my feet enough to work 16 hour days for my slave driving boss) so I don't and can't cut that out my regime
My colon has collapsed my sigmoid is prolapsed and im unable to eat and drink normally or go to the toilet, I have been on 12 courses of antibiotics since December being told I had sepsis and I've had three chest infections, I am severely neutropenic as well. I have so much on my plate. It's lucky my family can pick up the slack but for most they couldn't and I really hate it

Had a really unpleasant time when I've asked genuinely if people who need support should be resigned to poverty and misery and I see a lot of posters think they should

Gross and sad and I would love to do something to help people to get the support they need
I wonder if I can volunteer online