Help with S041 gaps

In 2011 me and my husband moved to the United Kingdom from Hungary and since we have been continuously working and living here. We both have been granted settled status in 2019 after Brexit. The matter in hand is that in 2022 the Hungarian National Health Service began to send debt letters to my mother, to our old Hungarian mailing address, demanding monthly payments from the past ten years. Previously we received no such letters that would indicate they have issues in their system regarding our residency and health insurance, it was really out of the blue and we received no explanation as to what happened. They suddenly put us back into their system, like we would live in Hungary. It is good to point out that Hungarian Health Service is different from the British one; it is a firm monthly payment and you have to pay it regardless of your employment status. Of course when we left Hungary we checked out from the system but as I mentioned they put us back without any notification and without our consent. We managed to clear the situation, mostly. We acquired and sent the S041 form, alongside with Council Tax papers and utility bills to prove our UK residency. Although S041 is showing some gaps when we either had low income or, in my case, I was unemployed for a while (studying and building up my business) and we claimed no benefits as we used our savings to get through those rough patches. The Hungarian Health Service rejected proof of our residency and they demand payment from 2015 covering those gaps shown in S041 form. I dowloaded and sent them HMRC employment history; rejected. No official seal, no signature, means the document is invalid to them. When we applied for settled status in 2019 we had to submit further evidence to prove our continuous residency in the UK for the previous five years to cover the gaps shown in our NI history. We did that through utility bills and we got approved without any problems. Worth to mention, we only left the UK once (!) int he past 13 years, for one week. The Hungarian Health Service refuses to give us any further guidance in this matter, they just want us to pay up, rejecting every evidence we send them as proof of our residency and explanation of how the UK NI works I did some research on the internet and the only thing I found is to ask the local authority for a reference letter, in this case from the NI. I also sent a letter to BX91AN in 10/10/2023 - no answer, and the Hungarian NI keep sending me letters, demanding payments. Hungarian Embassy sent me to this page, by the way. Would somebody point me to the right direction, how to clear up this unpleasant situation? I have been fighting with Hun NI for over two years now. How am I supposed to prove we were covered by UK NI in those gaps showing on the S041?

Hi,
Without looking at your National Insurance records and the S041 that has been issued to the Hungarian Authorities, I am unable to provide a specific answer to your query on this forum. Based on the information you have provided, I assume that there are periods shown on the S041 without any insurance or residency periods recorded.
If that is the case, and you are able to provide proof of residency, you can ask the Hungarian authorities to request another SO41 for those missing periods.
You can also request form CA9110 from HMRC which will provide you with a record of your Insurance and residence periods in the UK, you can show this to the Hungarian Authorities to support your case.
You can apply for a CA9110 by completing form CA3916 which can be found here - Get a PDU1 certificate or a National Insurance contributions statement
Please make sure you attach a covering letter stating that you are requesting a CA9110 and not a U1 or Statement.
If you have any further queries relating to this, you can contact the National Insurance helpline on 0300 200 2500. Lines are open from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.
Thank you.

Hi, Thank you for your reply. We certainly can prove our residency; utility bills, bank statements, council tax, rent payments through agency. I have a few questions if I may; If S041 is requested again, I don't think the records would be any different, if there is no update. My thinking was I should send evidence regarding our residency in the UK to HMRC/National Insurance so they can send us a reference letter or update our data in their system. I have already sent proof through mail, but I am still waiting any answer, which leads me to my next question. When I can expect a reply from HMRC sent to BX91AN on 10/10/2023? I attached our data and proof of our continuous residency. Third question; according to the gov.uk "Healthcare for EU citizens living in or moving to the UK Getting healthcare in England The NHS operates a residence-based healthcare system. Most NHS services are free to people who are ordinarily resident in the UK. This means living in the UK on a lawful and properly settled basis for the time being. You may be asked to prove this when seeking healthcare." - We check the boxes, but the Hungarian Authorities don't accept any proof of residency. If no insurance were paid in (low income, short period of unemployment and 1 year college), NI still covered us here, if I am correct? In short, we were insured by NI not the Hungarian Authorities regardless our employment status. If I would pay the Hungarian Authorities the fee they demand because I am tired of this whole circus after two years, would I commit crime? Best to my knowledge we were already insured in the UK, and I heard is an offence to be insured in two countries at the same time. It this true? CA9110 is utterly confusing to me, I definitely need someone to help me out with that. I tried to National Insurance helpline several times; long waiting times, line often breaks up before anyone picks it up. I tried that route. I have all the evidence to prove we have been living in the UK for more than 13 years, I just need someone official to look at them and validate them, but I don't even know where to send them? And to who? Thank you very much.

Hi Niki,
I am sorry you are unable to contact HMRC by telephone.
Our international caseworkers are dealing with request received from 10 July 2023 and you should have a response by 25 October 2024.
I apologies for the delay and any inconvenience this may have caused you.
I am unable to advise further on you specific circumstances via this forum.
Thank you.

 

Hi Niki, Can I ask if there was any resolution to your case? I am in a very similar situation where I need to prove Hungarian authorities that I have been paying NI here in the last 11-12 years. When my E104 was requested the information provided by HMRC shows a ~13month gap which exist because that time I was a university student/part time worker and for in that time period I didn`t reach the threshold to pay NI. If you could let me know that would be amazing. Thanks