I had myself down as a contractor when i left the UK and am now paying class 2 annually after paying back a few missed years. Am over the hump so will receive more than half a pension if I paid nothing more.

 

Took about 6 months of snail mail back and forth to get the forecast and set up the payments. Now I just do an annual lump sum transfer from my account here in Asia and ring to check a few days later to see if it all got there. 

 

I use their app to generate a code to log into my account. 

 

For what I am paying in NICs it is a no brainer to do it. 

The contracted out bit ..... if you were contracted out due to an employers pension, your NI contributions still count as a year, but at a reduced rate for each year (in the new state pension scheme). So you can have 35 years, but still not get the full new pension rate at retirement (not sure how much they deduct, but about 12-15%). Now, you can top up with extra contributions (or keep working) and each new year will replace an older discounted year (as i understand it). But that means in reality you are only adding about one sixth of a year for each year paid. May be worth it for some, maybe not. And remember your extra pension may result in more income tax ......

 

I was unfortunate to have been contracted out, so lost a fair bit under the new state pension rules (one year too young) - I ended up only ONE POUND better off than under the old pension system, but without the benefits like married pension rate/survivor benefits (which would have been really useful with a Thai wife)

 

If you do not have 35 years to start with, topping up is a good idea.

On 2/20/2019 at 10:37 PM, evadgib said:

This thread has been incredibly useful. Not only have I created a Govt Gateway a/c & accessed my NI record online but I have made two calls this afternoon to DWP and HMRC and ascertained that:

 

 a) DWP (+44 191 201 3600???? My NI contributions are EIGHT YEARS short as a result of contracting out.

 

 b) HMRC (+44 191 203 7010): They suggested I download, complete and return their forms NI30 and CF83. 

 

My understanding is that some/all of my shortfall will be at the class 2 rate.

 

What a difference (in level of service from DWP/HMRC) a couple of years makes!!????

 

 

 

Re NI 38 and CF 83

For some reason the final two pages (41 & 42) of CF 83 aren't printing correctly; leaving an inch or so missing from each page rendering them useless.

 

Can someone please;

 

a) Point me in the right direction re how to fix it or

 

b  ) Post pages 41-42 separately in a form I can print?

 

Thank you ????

 

(This happened years ago with the same form but I cannot remember the exact cause or how I solved it!)

On 2/16/2019 at 5:17 AM, steve73 said:

...And of course there is no guarantee that they will actually pay overseas retirees ANYTHING by the time I get to 67. 

...or indeed that you'll still be around to collect.

Great thread this. Going to look at setting this up ASAP. I pay into an International Teachers Pension scheme privately, but I have not once thought about the NI contributions I would have stopped paying once I left teaching in England a few years ago.