National insurance stamps

[Johnny Kash]

some good contributions and ideas on this thread !

Personally I think the whole 'is it worth topping up' depends on whether:

1) theres a chance you may return or retire to the UK

2) Even if your staying and retiring in Oz you think its a good idea to have at least part of your savings based in UK/sterling.

I fall into both of these so for me its a no brainer to top up.   Also worth pointing out that if you have a UK based SIPP you can contribute up to 5 years after leaving and still benefit from tax relief (limited to GBP3,600 gross per annum).  Ive been doing this as my SIPP has been going gangbusters for a few years (Mainly thanks to that man Terry Smith ) and performance wise has been beating my Aussie Super hands down.

[elensmith12]

Class 2 National Insurance contributions are set at a flat-rate weekly contributions of £3.05 a week in 2020-21 and 2021-22. You'll need to pay them for every week or partial week of self-employment in a tax year.

[mxh]

I know this is an old thread, but the information is still pretty valid.

I looked at topping up my NI contributions a while back but never got around to it. But someone mentioned to me the other day that the UK govt are making some changes, and rather than being able to top up the years from 2006 to current, at the end of this (UK) financial year, this will be changed to only being able to top up the last 6 years.

However, my query is about Class 2 and Class 3 contributions, which are approx £3 per week, or £15 per week respectively. Obviously it would be preferable to pay Class 2!

On the UK Gov website (https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions) it says the following:-

Living and working abroad

Class 2 - but only if you worked in the UK immediately before leaving, and you’ve previously lived in the UK for at least 3 years in a row or paid at least 3 years of contributions

As I fit the criteria, I should be able to pay Class 2. However, if I go online and try and pay them, it wants to charge me £824 for a year.

Has anyone else topped up their NI contributions with Class 2? Are there any extra hoops you have to jump through to get the better deal?

[Sloth]

You need to apply by mail to get approval to pay voluntary class 2 NI: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-security-abroad-ni38

[mxh]

23 minutes ago, Sloth said:

You need to apply by mail to get approval to pay voluntary class 2 NI: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-security-abroad-ni38

OK, thanks. Has anyone tried this? Any success?

[Drumbeat]

36 minutes ago, mxh said:

OK, thanks. Has anyone tried this? Any success?

Yes. I have. I was able to  back pay 6 years and commence yearly payments. The Dept sent me the required amounts and making the payments can be done online.

[mxh]

3 hours ago, Drumbeat said:

Yes. I have. I was able to  back pay 6 years and commence yearly payments. The Dept sent me the required amounts and making the payments can be done online.

So to clarify, you filled out the form and sent it to them - and were then able to make Class 2 contributions? Was there anything more to it than that?

[Nemesis]

1 minute ago, mxh said:

So to clarify, you filled out the form and sent it to them - and were then able to make Class 2 contributions? Was there anything more to it than that?

Thats all I did. Very easy, especially as you can now transfer the money online,

[Sloth]

19 hours ago, mxh said:

So to clarify, you filled out the form and sent it to them - and were then able to make Class 2 contributions? Was there anything more to it than that?

You have to wait for a reply to say you've been approved (or not) and then you can.

Edited December 7, 2022 by Sloth

[Sloth]

23 hours ago, mxh said:

OK, thanks. Has anyone tried this? Any success?

Yes, I paid 12 missing years.

[mxh]

40 minutes ago, Sloth said:

You have to wait for a reply to say you've been approved (or not) and then you can.

Thanks - I'm assuming then that once approved, you see the new option (of being able to pay Class 2) in the on-line portal, and pay through there?

Also, another quick question. The form seems to be set up for someone living in the UK who is about to move abroad. So it asks what is your UK address. Did you just leave this blank, or put in your last UK address? As it's a postal process rather than e-mail, I don't want to have to go back and forward with them.

[Drumbeat]

4 hours ago, mxh said:

Thanks - I'm assuming then that once approved, you see the new option (of being able to pay Class 2) in the on-line portal, and pay through there?

Also, another quick question. The form seems to be set up for someone living in the UK who is about to move abroad. So it asks what is your UK address. Did you just leave this blank, or put in your last UK address? As it's a postal process rather than e-mail, I don't want to have to go back and forward with them.

It's easier to call them. I sent a form requesting a pension forecast and they sent me an e-mail saying I hadn't provided enough information and asked me to complete a form with the information I'd already provided! I phoned them up and they were very helpful and sorted it out for me.

For the yearly payments they post out a letter with the amount required and instructions on how to pay it electronically.

[Sloth]

23 hours ago, mxh said:

Also, another quick question. The form seems to be set up for someone living in the UK who is about to move abroad. So it asks what is your UK address. Did you just leave this blank, or put in your last UK address? As it's a postal process rather than e-mail, I don't want to have to go back and forward with them.

If you're referring to box 3 on the CF83, I put NONE.

Edited December 8, 2022 by Sloth

[Sloth]

23 hours ago, mxh said:

Thanks - I'm assuming then that once approved, you see the new option (of being able to pay Class 2) in the on-line portal, and pay through there?

Here's how to pay once approved

https://www.gov.uk/pay-class-2-national-insurance/bank-details

The first time I paid, you could do it by cheque, and I wrote on the back of the cheque which years I wanted the payments allocated to (after having first spoken to the Future Pensions centre to find out which years were worth paying).

The second time, cheques weren't allowed so I paid for a single year using the above link, and it was allocated randomly to an empty year which didn't produce an uplift to my final amount, so I then had to phone to request that it be reallocated to the correct year. It was a bit of a faff but easy to fix.