Hi Vanessa B,
I am sorry to hear that you have been unable to speak to one of our advisors, our lines are extremely busy at present.
I can confirm that the weekly amount of voluntary class 3 National Insurance contributions is £15.85 (total for the whole year is £824.20).
The time limit for making a payment for the 2022-2023 tax year is 5 April 2025 at that rate, and 5 April 2029 at an increased rate.
Without checking your personal records I am unable to confirm how much the shortfall for that year would be for you.
If you have been employed, self-employed or claiming benefits during the 2022-2023 tax year, you may have received some credits or earnings that may contribute towards that tax year, and this would affect how many weeks you are short by.
You need to confirm with DWP whether paying voluntary National Insurance contributions for the 2022-2023 tax year will increase your pension.
You can contact them on 0800 731 0175, lines are open from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday.
Further information on paying voluntary National Insurance contributions can be found here -
Pay voluntary Class 3 National Insurance
You can use the same reference that you used to make previous payments for voluntary National Insurance contributions to HMRC, however, you must not send any payments to HMRC before checking with DWP that making a payment will increase your pension.
You can also make a payment by cheque, further information on how to do this can be found here -
Pay voluntary Class 3 National Insurance
With regards to your letter, I can confirm that the area who would process your request are currently working on post dated 16 September 2022.
Your letter will be in a queue waiting to be processed, and it may take a while for a reply to be issued.
You may wish to try calling our contact centre again when lines are less busy.
Thank you.