Overpaid N.I - will they refund me?

[OUB1974]

When I started work last year there was a big delay in getting me onto payroll. As I was on an emergency tax code (no idea why as I submitted my p45 on my first day), and I was paid 4 months wages in one go, I ended up paying far too much tax and NI as I got one month's allowance for 4 months of wages. This has cost me several hundred pounds.

I willbe getting a tax refund shortly, but I was wondering how it works with NI. I know that it isn't on a cumulative basis like income tax, but if I'd been paid in the correct month, rather than all one go then I would have paid a lot less.

Can i claim it back? My employers aren't being very helpful and have suggested I sort it out myself. So for example, I should have paid £50 per month for 4 months, but because I got 4 month's salary in month 4, I paid £500 in NI. Will they refund me under the circumstances?

As far as I'm aware, no.
This is because NI is calculated on each pay period as a separate liability, rather than over the year as a whole.

No, you can’t claim NI back.

Hmm I would think no as well as it’s based on pay period not year in total.

You could try calling them directly - I’ve found them to be extremely helpful over the phone. The online chat dropped me out constantly so I wouldn’t use that again.

NI can be claimed back if it was incorrectly applied but it doesn’t sound like this is the case

I think it's a no too. It's very unfair on those whose work is more fits and starts.

Only time I have seen it happen is if you have 2 jobs in one month and then they refund you if you go over the upper threshold if added together.

But not if just one employer making one bulk payment unfortunately

Your employer should have treated it as a mistimed payment. www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/national-insurance-manual/nim08700
They would need to submit an amended employer return, FPS, to recalculate your NI and give you a refund. They would also get some NI back.
www.gov.uk/payroll-errors/correcting-your-fps-or-eps

Thanks, that's so annoying! I know that it applies separately per pay period, but I wasnt sure how it would count if I should have been paid equal amounts over 4 months (as I did equal amounts of work) but that they just didn't bother paying me for the first three of them (which was inconvenient enough in itself!).

[quote MrsJackRackham]Your employer should have treated it as a mistimed payment. www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/national-insurance-manual/nim08700
They would need to submit an amended employer return, FPS, to recalculate your NI and give you a refund. They would also get some NI back.
www.gov.uk/payroll-errors/correcting-your-fps-or-eps[/quote]
Oh thank you that sounds good. They have refused to deal with it themselves, but maybe if I quote this it will help my case.

Always quote the official guidance they can't argue. Good luck

Mistimed payments can only be used in periods where the employee has no earnings at all. Any payment, no matter how small, makes that period unavailable for mistimed payments, so in this case unable to be corrected. I hadn't suggested this as I misread the OP (I think?).. are you saying you were paid X amount of months in one go and had no earnings from your start date up until that point, or that you were paid in those months, but incorrectly paid and subject to emergency tax and this larger payment was to catch you up?

Unless the rules have changed since l last did payroll. Its been a loooooong time!

@milkytwilight I read it as 4 months pay paid in one month. But I agree, if any pay received in previous months there's no mistime.

[quote MrsJackRackham]@milkytwilight I read it as 4 months pay paid in one month. But I agree, if any pay received in previous months there's no mistime.[/quote]
You're probably right, it just struck me as odd to work for four months with zero pay so made an assumption, probably incorrectly!

Sorry I didn't explain everything thoroughly. I didn't get paid the first month, but didn't think too much of it as it was only a few days before the cut off. The following month I didn't get paid so i obviously brought it up. I hadn't been added to pay roll so I was sent a payment outside the normal system as an "advance" (even though it technically wasnt an advance). When I was finally added to the payroll, my pay slip had 4 months worth of pay on it, but the advance was taken off. The tax and national insurance was paid on 4 months in one go, rather than 4 x separate payments of 1 month, as it should have been. Hope that makes sense!

And thank you.