CF83 response

[Jill]

Hi all, 

I recently sent off a CF83 to enquire about paying back missed NI years. HMRC inducted online it may take over a year to receive a reply. Now I’m not complaining but was shocked to receive a response after only 3 months, however they sent it to my old address in Scotland, not my current Australian address. Has anyone else encountered this? Are they processing them quickly or are we just lucky?? My partner got his too but it came to Australia! I’ve no idea how to contact them to make sure they have my correct address.

thanks for any advice 

[Marisawright]

Have you tried logging on to the HMRC website?  You can see a lot for yourself there.

[Jill]

1 hour ago, Marisawright said:

Have you tried logging on to the HMRC website?  You can see a lot for yourself there.

I haven’t got an account, left the UK years ago and can’t make an account 

[rammygirl]

I managed by using an old Uk address. I could then change it. You can try and call them too

 

[Marisawright]

15 minutes ago, rammygirl said:

I managed by using an old Uk address. I could then change it. You can try and call them too

I managed by using my old UK address, too.   I just needed my UK passport and the address.  However I just had a peek at the instructions and it looks like you need more proofs of identity now.

[Nemesis]

12 hours ago, Marisawright said:

I managed by using my old UK address, too.   I just needed my UK passport and the address.  However I just had a peek at the instructions and it looks like you need more proofs of identity now.

Yes they changed it a few years back so you need more bits now to create an account.

 

Very impressed with the speed of the reply about the NI though. We've just sent a third request for my friend. First one two years ago, no response yet. Second one (with complaining letter) he actually got a phone call saying the details he needed to make up his Ni were in the post - that was 13 months ago. Now sent an even stronger complaint but I don't hold out much hope. I know they are slow but this is crazy, we aren't even using an address in Aus, but c/o me in the UK. 

[bonanza]

My partner and I gave up trying to get our NI gap years sorted out last year, as it was near on impossible to even get into the phone queue,  even from within the UK. and correspondence took months. However we tried again last week and found the phone wait times for HMRC and DWP have improved dramatically down to  between 10 and 20 minutes even at lunchtimes, and better later in the day around 4pm BST. It was also good that significant effort has been put into improving the call flows, use of AI and the online support. The only problems for those living in Australia (and other offshore locations) trying to make voluntary NI contributions for 2006 - 2016 and later years are: 1. if you are trying to make voluntary class 2 contributions for periods of overseas residency  this is not an automated online process and you still need to write or ideally speak to humans at both DWP and HMRC; it is definitely worth pursuing Class 2 if you qualify,  as the costs are significantly less than the class 3 NI rates; 2. As my friend who emigrated from the UK to Australia 2 decades ago found out, you cannot get access to the very useful online information (future pension forecasts, details of years where you have full or missing contributions) through Government Gateway if you no longer have a UK address or UK driving licence, or if your name has changed since you last paid tax in the UK, so you still have to either write a physical letter to get these and send it snail mail (registered delivery) or persevere with the phone lines ; 3. once you do get through to a human being they are well informed, very helpful and very efficient; 4. you need to assume that you will need to make at least one or two calls to each of DWP Future Pensions team and HMRC to finalise the years for which you should pay, the costs and the paying in references, so don't wait till the last minute (eg next March) before applying!

[Nemesis]

On 16/05/2024 at 14:56, Nemesis said:

Yes they changed it a few years back so you need more bits now to create an account.

 

Very impressed with the speed of the reply about the NI though. We've just sent a third request for my friend. First one two years ago, no response yet. Second one (with complaining letter) he actually got a phone call saying the details he needed to make up his Ni were in the post - that was 13 months ago. Now sent an even stronger complaint but I don't hold out much hope. I know they are slow but this is crazy, we aren't even using an address in Aus, but c/o me in the UK. 

Update - he actually got a letter back today, with all his NI details. Whether its the response to the first, second or third enquiry, I have no idea, but it seems someone is alive up there and answering mail!