paying national insurance gaps - how?

[Ploughingthrough]

I have checked my national insurance gaps and have a couple that I would like to pay as it's not very much. But, actually paying it is causing me trouble! I have found a page where it gives a sort code and an account number - but it then asks for your reference number to be used as a reference. It says this is on your bill...now, try as I might I cannot figure out where to find this number. Any ideas? Has anyone actually paid a gap in recent times? I thought it would be a nice easy online form...

Have you been sent a bill? It should be on there, it will be 18 characters beginning with 60.

No, I don't think I've ever been sent a bill. Do people get sent bills for NI? I'll have to have a dig around, I've no memory of that.

Ring the helpline on the NI page where you checked your account. You have to be persistent as theres a lot of automated stuff before you get to a real person. They are very helpful though , they can check your gaps and confirm the amount you need to pay. They will give you the account number sort code and an 18 digit reference number so you can make payment. It took about 2 months for my payment to actually show up on the online account though.

Yep, people get bills for NI. But if you want to pay for NI voluntarily, you need tovask for a bill.
Contact HMRC to get the reference number.

The reference number will allocate your money to the correct year and gap.
If you dont use the correct reference number, your money will be allocated to this year (2021). Then you'll have to go through the whole faff of getting your money re-allocated to the correct year.

Considering the exact same thing and Meceme has given you good advice.
Problem is I think you need to do this by April 5th and obviously it is a Bank holiday weekend.
I was going to ring the Pension Advisory Service to discuss whether it would be beneficial in my case. It actuallystates on the Government website that paying voluntary contributions may not be your best option when planning for your retirement and they do not always increase your State Pension.

Thanks everyone! According to my record I have till April 2023 for these gaps so I think I have a bit of time
Minou123 thank you sounds like I need to get my hands on this number!

Yes, the reference number is the key

It might take a few weeks to get it, it's not something that happens quickly!

All you need to do, is give HMRC a call and say you want to pay voluntary national contributions for 20xx and you want thev18 character reference number to ensure your payment goes to cover the gap in that year.

Top tips:

• you can only pay NI for the gaps in the last 6 years. If you have any gaps older than 2016, its too late to pay (although there are other things you can do, depending on circumstances)

• don't be fobbed off with "just use your NI Number as a reference number". As I said above, its a faff to get the payment onto the right year.

• keep an eye on your NI record. It's surprising how many people think everyone is entitled to the state pension. Nope, it all depends on how many years NI you've paid.

You will need a separate reference number for each incomplete year so payments are allocated to the correct gap. It's also important to make the exact payment (£12.05 in my case) and not round up as this makes the payment easier to trace. The customer service personnel are really helpful. I recommend speaking to them.

I have recently sorted out my gaps and had to pay for 2 missing years. One where there was a shortfall and one complete year. I talked to both HMRC and DWP to get all the necessary guidance and information. They were both extremely helpful and guided me on the best course of action in how to maximise my subsequent pension in the future.
Good luck.

Took me loads of phonecalls and lots of time before I managed to fill my gaps after living abroad for a few years! I even paid the money and then got sent it back once as apparently they couldn’t trace what it was for but eventually I managed it and it all got l sorted. My advice is start early!!

I will call them and get the right number. Seems the safest option. My gaps are all before 2016 but next to each of those years it says 'you have till April 2023 to pay these but the amount might go up on May 28th 2021'.
It is only 1 year that I want to pay as it's only £61. I am 35 years old and have 16 years contributions with 33 years left to pay the remaining 19. So I dont think I need to panic as I'll be working for a while yet! But I won't get 20-21 because I've been overseas so mindful that I should plug at least one gap.
I thought it would just say 'click here to pay online'😂😂

There are a couple of extenuating reasons why people are given more than 6 years to pay gaps.

Also, be aware that the number of years needed to qualify for the full state pension changes.
Up until 2016, you only needed 30 years. In 2016 they changed it to 35 years.

I'm a similar age to you (39), and I'm conscious they may very well change the rules again before we get to state pension age. Who knows, but there is nothing stopping them from increasing it to 40 years of NI to get the full state pension!

minou123 that is exactly what my DH said, that he wouldn't be at all surprised if it became 40 years contributions at some point in the near future. Even thinking about working till 68 makes me want to bang my head against a wall but it is what it is. Child rearing and waltzing round the world with DH has compromised my teachers pension too and I only have just over 5 years in this (I do have a small private one too). I'm about to go back into TPS but mindful that I'm running a bit behind in pension world.

Yep!

People seem to think that contributing 35 years (or even 40 years) should be easy to do as we have 52 years of working life (from age 16 to 68)
But that's not true for women. By the time you take into account decisions to be a SAHP, working part time and don't earn enough to pay NI etc, there are fewer years left to make sure you have enough contributions and not much wiggle room.

Sorry, getting on my soap box now

I think it's a sensible soapbox. My DH is very aware that my gaps in pension are because I was either part time looking after our kids, or not working because I was facilitating his job abroad. I have a job for September but it is less money than I would have been on ar this point in my career without aforementioned gaps. So he helped me set up that private pension which he paid into while I was not working or working part time. But still. the fact remains I am a long way behind him and should I end up on my own (which happened to both his mum and mine for different reasons) then I know I'll be grateful for a half decent pension.

If you've been a stay at home parent and claiming child benefit for child/children under 12 I think they credit your NI allowance for those years. That's why its important to claim even if your household income is over the threshold for payment.
It can make a significant difference to your pension entitlement.

@minou123

Yep!

People seem to think that contributing 35 years (or even 40 years) should be easy to do as we have 52 years of working life (from age 16 to 68)
But that's not true for women. By the time you take into account decisions to be a SAHP, working part time and don't earn enough to pay NI etc, there are fewer years left to make sure you have enough contributions and not much wiggle room.

Sorry, getting on my soap box now

My soap box is that women need to make sensible decisions.

A SAHP claiming CB (without having it paid, if they prefer) gets credited until the youngest child is 12. So 2 children 2 years apart and you get 14 full qualifying years for contributing absolutely zero financially!
That’s pretty blood good.

And as for part time work - earning £120 per week will get you full qualifying year, again with zero financial contributions.

And you can buy missed years at a very favourable rate.

What more wriggle room does a SAHP need, really?

Don't get me wrong, the system is fairer than it used to be. But its not perfect.

The Child Benefit National Insurance Credit is great, but you have to know that it exists, so you can make sure you are making sensible decisions.

Under Home Responsibilities Protection at least you can backdate your CB application to 1978 to 2010 and get the NI. I
I don't think this exists for the new CB NI credits (although I could be wrong as its been a while since I looked at the legislation)

as others have noted, make a phone call after the long weekend and be patient. The system could be smoother but it does work.

I also remember when the number of years went down; if you buy too many you don't get money back. I think it is unlikely that will happen again though. £61 for an extra year seems a very acceptable gamble to me. :-)