State Pension Query.

Hi Carol McWilliam,
As your National Insurance contributions were paid correctly they are not, unfortunately, available to be refunded to you.  
Any contributions that you may have paid must remain recorded on your UK National Insurance account.  
If you do return to UK employment then you should use the same National Insurance Number that you have and future contributions will be recorded on that account.
Thank you.

66 yo female. NI record shows 39 full years. New state pension forecast is not a full one. Was contracted out for a short time. Not got all the payslips etc for the 39 years. What approach can I take to check the NI record is correct? 2015-2016 NI record states full but no figures are available.

Hi pwylung,
As you are overseas and wish to pay some voluntary National Insurance contributions to us, your 18 Digit Reference Number will be:  Your National Insurance Number, followed by IC then your surname and initial.  
Details of our bank details may be found via Pay voluntary Class 3 National Insurance
When you have made your payment please allow 10 working days to pass then call our National Insurance Helpline on 0300 200 3500 (from the UK) or +44 191 203 7010 (from overseas) and they will arrange for your payment to be allocated straight away because you are over pension age.  
You may wish to have your payment details to hand when you call.
Thank you.

Hi Megan1,
You can request a Statement of all the National Insurance contributions that are recorded so that you can go through them to see if there is something missing.  
If there is anything missing then a copy of a payslip or P60 for the tax year would be ideal but if you do not have them any more then you would send us a letter to advise us of the name of the employer and period of employment and we will be able to see if the contributions can be traced.
Our National Insurance Helpline number is 0300 200 3500 (from the UK) or +44 191 203 7010 (from overseas) for you to request the Statement.  
Your Personal Tax Account would also show this information.
Thank you.

Thank you for your reply about the 18 digit reference number. As I shall be paying voluntary contributions using my UK bank account, will this number be different from the "formula" advised? The reason I asked is that my husband, who is in the same situation as me i.e. worked in the UK for a number of years and then we worked abroad together for decades (he initiated action before me and has not reached retirement age yet) was given an 18 digit reference number that does not involve his surname and initial, only numerics. He successfully made contributions twice. Just want to make sure that funds will be remitted and then allocated to me correctly, as long as my NIC number + IC + surname + initial making up 18 digits. Many thanks!

Hello, with regard to the up coming tax changes for those living in the EU, how can I find out if this applies to my NHS Pension please? NHSBSA tells me its a Govt pension but other sources tells me its non Govt. As I understand it all Govt based pensions will have to be taxed in UK when changes take place. I have just qualified for my State pension which I guess can be taxed in UK or here in Cyprus? Thanks.

I have written twice to HMRC about a problem with my state pension, having previously phoned and been unable to follow the conversation due to hearing issues. The two letters were 28 days apart. I have received no response at all. How long should I reasonably allow before expecting a response? I sent the letter to the address given on the gateway site.

Hi Dianne Marsh,
You can find out when you can expect to receive a reply form HMRC here:-  Check when you can expect a reply from HMRC
Thank you.