Paying Missing NI Years - Help!

Hello. I am resident in Germany since 2015 (not working) and eligible for my state pension in May 2024. Due to working and living abroad for periods of my working life, as things stand, I have two missing years to make up in order to give me 35 years and full pension entitlement. I have two years namely 2010/11 and 2011/12 where my contributions were short. The sum quoted on my YouGov account for these years in order to give full contributions is considerably cheaper than years with complete gaps so obviously is my preferred choice. Like everyone else, I have been unable to contact the advice line despite attempting multiple occasions. I am now in somewhat a quandary with the clock ticking until my state pension date and what appears to be a huge backlog of peoples applications to make up lost years. I have the combined figures from the above two years of the total shortfall in contributions. Do I chance it by sending in the completed CF83 form with direct debit instructions and covering letter? I have a draft cover with a paragraph explaining that should the above years not be adequate to make up lost contributions, not to proceed with the application and to please contact myself. Below the contact number for the advice line, it also gives the option of writing to an address in Wolverhampton, By writing to this address with my information and plan above, am I likely to receive an exact answer rather than generic to my questions in a reasonable timescale? By reasonable I mean being able to enact any advice so I can claim full pension at in may next year. Thanks to any admin or others in advance for advice on the way forward.

Any moderator able to give a response to the questions in the 2nd and 3rd paragraph please?

Hi,

We are sorry that you have been having difficulty getting through to our helplines at the moment. As you can imagine, it has been an extremely busy time for both HMRC and DWP with the deadline for being able to pay shortfalls for 2006/07 to 2016/17 being 5th April 2023. In recognition of this pressure, the UK Government has now extended this deadline to 5 April 2025.

Our international teams do have a large backlog of correspondence including CF83 applications. The current timescale for processing these is currently 34 weeks. However, in order to confirm if you might be eligible to pay the shortfall years at Class 2 or Class 3 rate, our teams will need to review your CF83 application against our records.  

You should send the completed CF83 to the address provided and include a covering letter to confirm it is just for shortfall advice and if you are applying for Class 2 advice you may wish to include details of your employment and, or, self employment whilst abroad.  

You can also contact our National Insurance team for international customers who can give advice about the years you may have as shortfall. Our advisers are not pensions staff though and cannot confirm if it is beneficial for you to pay any shortfalls.

National Insurance: non-UK residents

We strongly recommend that customers speak to Future Pension Centre before making any voluntary National Insurance contributions.  

Contact the Future Pension Centre

Thank you.