14 months and payment still not allocated....

I made a voluntary payment for 3 years of NI contributions - more than 2k and still waiting for this to show on my account. Anyone else experiencing such long delays?

Hi Simon,
Sorry for any inconvenience caused, but if you could call our National Insurance Helpline on 0300 200 3500 (from the UK) or +44 191 203 7010 (from overseas), they will be able to check your National Insurance account and arrange for any money to be allocated correctly.
Thank you.

I have the same issue every year. I wait months and eventually have to call. They say the money has not been allocated but I am not sure why. I have every year paid up and so it can only be for the current year. I always end up having to call, costing quite a bit from abroad. There has never been an explanation as to why this happens every time. It is the same for my husband too.

Thanks for the reply. I have tried calling but unable to ever get through. I have answered the letters you have sent and provided all the additional information you requested (NI number, payment date, account details, amount etc) - please can this be remedied as soon as possible as I am struggling to contact you. It should be straightforward to find. Thank you in advance.

Yes, a long delay! I sent about 17 years of NI contributions 5 months ago, in two payments. I've phoned the Helpline twice and each time been told yes, they have the money (and confirmed the amounts), but it's not yet allocated. I can't get through to the international team to "arrange the money to be allocated", am just told to wait. The "when will you hear from me" page says postal payments are currently processing February 2024, so April payments should be completed in October, but I'm not sure if that's the same for international payments. I'm taking that as an indication though.