Voluntary NI contribution 23/24

Hello I made a voluntary NI contribution in August 2023 but is not showing on my pension forecast. This is longer than the 8 weeks reported. Is this still the current wait time? I tried ringing the Future Pension Centre on 0800 731 0181 but it was a recorded message and hung up on me... Thanks

Hi Barnet,
If you could call our National Insurance Helpline they will be able to allocate your payment of voluntary contributions to your National Insurance account.  
Their telephone number is 0300 200 3500 (from the UK) or +44 191 2037010 (from overseas).
Thank you.

Would you please explain why it can possibly take 8 weeks to update a Pension Forecast with a voluntary contribution and in this persons case even that timescale wasn't met? I paid two years worth of NI gaps by same day bank transfer to HMRC NICO on 23rd Oct 24 quoting the reference number given to me and 3 weeks later my records still haven't been updated.

Hi,
We are currently dealing with a high volume of voluntary payments, the timescales depend on the circumstances of your payment and the National Insurance class.
If you paid for an abroad period it can take up to 29 weeks to allocate the payment to your record, if it is a domestic Class 2 payment it can take up to 29 weeks and a domestic Class 3 payment can take up to 8 weeks (based on the automated system allocating the amounts).
The domestic Class 3 payments can also be allocated over the phone, if you’d like to call us on 0300 200 3500 to do so.
However, abroad payments and Class 2 payments take 29 weeks, due to the high volume of other payments in the queue needing to be allocated.
Thank you.