First Direct Class 3 Voluntary NI Payment Conundrum

Hi, I have recently spoken to an HMRC advisor and obtained an 18 digit code as a reference to pay Voluntary Class 3 NI for 2022/23 (£824.20). I was given the HMRC sort code and account number to pay (08 32 20/12001004). I was also quoted a payee to use as HMRC NI RECEIPTS. I queried this, as last year I paid and used a payee I was given of HMRC NICO. The HMRC advisor was definite that it was now HMRC NI RECEIPTS. However my bank First Direct only has a preset pay instruction of HMRC NICO for the sort code/account number combination (08 32 20/12001004). With First Direct you cannot create your own payment instruction for what they term ‘large organisations’. They are adamant that this payee is correct and cant change it. Will it be picked up and allocated OK if I send my payment to payee HMRC NICO? The Gov.uk website area states the payee should be HMRC NIC RECEIPTS. There seems to be some sort of stand-off over this between HMRC and First Direct/HSBC, or something has not been updated properly. There are similar questions about this in other posts on the HMRC Community Forum with conflicting answers.

I spoke to HMRC advisor on Friday, 1st December 2023, about paying voluntary class 3 NI. She actually advised me to pay it to "HMRC NIC", and Lloyds Bank had them as "HMRC NI CONTRIBUTI".

Thanks for your comment Nosakhare Olotu, which further outlines the confusion over the correct payee for NI payments. As I mentioned there are conflicting answers on this community forum including from HMRC. For example, in thread https://community.hmrc.gov.uk/customerforums/ni/c7924282-3a61-ee11-a81c-6045bd0c7b9d of a few months ago, Advisor HMRC Admin 20 states that you should use HMRC NICO and points to a page on the Gov.uk website, which leads you to a section on online/telephone bank payments. This says use HMRC NI RECEIPTS! We are constantly told/threatened by the banking industry and other organisations to make sure that during online banking payments all details match up with the expected payee in order to avoid mis-payments and costly mistakes being made. Yet here we are! I am really expecting here that an HMRC forum advisor will provide a definitive answer/explanation to myself and others on this forum thread

Hi davidBLancs,
The name of our account has changed to HMRC NIC Receipts, however the account number and sort code remain the same.
If your bank still refers to out account as HMRC NICO that should not cause any issue as long as the account number and sort code (which you have quoted in your enquiry) are correct.
Thank you.