Missing NI contributions. Anything I can do?
Discussion
In 2001 I missed 2 or 3 NI contributions as I was made redundant and didn’t sign on. Will this affect my pension and is there anything I can do about it? The tax website says it is too late but if there is any way to stop it affecting me financially in the future, I’d appreciate any advice. Thanks
swerni said:
have a look here to check https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/check-your-st...
I also believe you only need 30 years of payments to qualify for state pension.
Out of interest (my knowledge here is zero, sorry) if you have less than 30 years does that mean you have zero pension or is signing on for life classed as a payment?I also believe you only need 30 years of payments to qualify for state pension.
Jag_NE said:
swerni said:
have a look here to check https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/check-your-st...
I also believe you only need 30 years of payments to qualify for state pension.
Out of interest (my knowledge here is zero, sorry) if you have less than 30 years does that mean you have zero pension or is signing on for life classed as a payment?I also believe you only need 30 years of payments to qualify for state pension.
The problem is that's the rules now, but you have to trust that future governments will keep the same or similar rules.
I,m in the same position as the op, took early retirement and am 3 years short on my ni contributions, last time i checked it was around £730 per year to top up and it increases your pension by around £4.30. I will be paying them around £2,200 to recieve around £13 per week minus tax. I paid ni for 46 years but because i contracted out of serps, i was paying it at a lower rate.
I topped up my NI contributions about eight years ago. The starting point was to get a Pensions Forecast. I was 'down' about £5K .
There were all sorts of wrong statements on it (then). I had worked in France for two years, it said, though I hadn't. It took a while to sort out but the people on the other end of the phone were always helpful.
State pension ages seem to be under constant review, so there's no certainty as to what and when you'll eventually receive.
There's also the complexity of having the State Pension currently taxed at 20% if you have other pensions or income when you retire, and you're over the personal allowance threshold. It effectively means you'll get 20% less state income than you anticipate if you don't factor this in.
Getting a pensions forecast early on seems better than not bothering, at the moment. :-)
There were all sorts of wrong statements on it (then). I had worked in France for two years, it said, though I hadn't. It took a while to sort out but the people on the other end of the phone were always helpful.
State pension ages seem to be under constant review, so there's no certainty as to what and when you'll eventually receive.
There's also the complexity of having the State Pension currently taxed at 20% if you have other pensions or income when you retire, and you're over the personal allowance threshold. It effectively means you'll get 20% less state income than you anticipate if you don't factor this in.
Getting a pensions forecast early on seems better than not bothering, at the moment. :-)
Edited by Slushbox on Saturday 4th August 07:23
swerni said:
have a look here to check https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/check-your-st...
I also believe you only need 30 years of payments to qualify for state pension.
Thanks, It appears I have 34 years of full contribs so should be OKI also believe you only need 30 years of payments to qualify for state pension.
CoolHands said:
is there really a difference? it doesn't matter which item is taxed the amount you receive is <x>
Correct.The DWP does not want the hassle of having to calculate and deduct tax from your State Penison payments. Instead, they pass on the responsibility for collecting any tax due on the State Pension to any other pension provider you may have, or your employer (if you are still in employment) or yourself under the Self Assessment system if you are self employed and/or a landlord.
abzmike said:
Can I stop paying NI after 35 years then?
Not as such.You can stop paying NI for a number of other reasons though -
i) your income falls below the NI thresholds
ii) you are not receiving any NI able income for example, you are working outside the UK
iii) you reach state pension age
garyhun said:
Well I have because I’ve retired early.
You have stopped paying NI because your earned income has dropped below the NI threshold. That happens to be because you have retired. If for any reason you started receiving "earned income" again (and that includes income from a self employment or partnership), you would have to start paying NI again.Of course, if by that time you had also reached state pension age, then THAT would let you off the NI hook.
An interesting point is that EMPLOYERS still have to pay Employer's NI on salaries they might be paying to employees over state pension age.
Eric Mc said:
garyhun said:
Well I have because I’ve retired early.
You have stopped paying NI because your earned income has dropped below the NI threshold. That happens to be because you have retired. If for any reason you started receiving "earned income" again (and that includes income from a self employment or partnership), you would have to start paying NI again.Of course, if by that time you had also reached state pension age, then THAT would let you off the NI hook.
An interesting point is that EMPLOYERS still have to pay Employer's NI on salaries they might be paying to employees over state pension age.
swerni said:
condor said:
Yes...but, the new pension is for more than that at about £155 and needs 35 years NI contributions.
£164 and change for me and requires 30 years.You’ve been done
I've received my state pension forecast in the post and I need another 2 years contributions to get to the current £164.35/week (£714.63/month, £8575.55/year). I think I've now paid 33 years worth so a further 2 would take it to 35.
I have been 'contracted out' of the additional state pension in the past which might be the reason I have to pay more NI contributions than others.
Well in that case, it must be because I was contracted out :-
Letter I've got says
When you were contracted out
1.You and your employers paid lower rate National Insurance contributions, or
2. Some of your National Insurance contributions were paid into another pension scheme, such as a personal or stakeholder pension.
The amount of additional State Pension you would have been paid if you had not been contracted out is known as the Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE).
Your COPE estimate is £XX.XX/week paid as part of your other pension schemes, not by the government.
Letter I've got says
When you were contracted out
1.You and your employers paid lower rate National Insurance contributions, or
2. Some of your National Insurance contributions were paid into another pension scheme, such as a personal or stakeholder pension.
The amount of additional State Pension you would have been paid if you had not been contracted out is known as the Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE).
Your COPE estimate is £XX.XX/week paid as part of your other pension schemes, not by the government.
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