Paid Voluntary NI contribution - Pension Forecast online has still not been updated?

Hello, recently I helped my mother contact HMRC to voluntarily pay gaps in her NI record. They gave her a reference number and the amount to be paid. We triple checked these details before making the correct payment to HMRC, with correct reference number. This was paid on 08/01/21, she back paid 3 years. We logged into her 'government gateway' account today and her pension forecast still hasn't been updated? The 3 years still show as gaps. Should we be worried? How long does it usually take you to update your system after payment? Thank you.

I purchased several years of voluntary contributions for my partner a couple of years ago; despite sending a letter and phoning them it took six months for the forecast to be updated and increased pension to appear (it only took them 3-4 days to cash the cheque). They did back date it though. Don't hold your breath.

Oh dear that doesn't fill me with confidence. Thanks for the input!

We bought a couple of years in 2019 and it took a few months to appear on the record. In most circumstances it really doesn't matter how long it takes to appear as it is about paying NI to fill an identified year in the NI record. If this is not being done immediately before claiming the pension then knowing it has been correctly added to the record provides only peace of mind; if it is immediately before claiming, then the pension paperwork showing the actual level of pension and so on will either be correct or not, in which case clarification can be sought... I would not worry and just check back from time-to-time as I really cannot imagine that it will not be correctly added...

Thanks Gary for the reply. You've given me more hope than I had before. I'll keep checking it here and there. Cheers.

Hi Samir Todd,

Our timescales are live and can fluctuate depending on work loads. Currently our time scales for allocating voluntary payments are 6 weeks.

If after 6 weeks this is still not showing on your Personal Tax Account you can contact the NI helpline for further assistance:

National Insurance: general enquiries 

Thank you. 

 

Great, thanks for the reply. Much appreciated!

I am nearing my pension. I paid my extra NI last week. Will my pension for July include the voluntary contributions I have made recently?

Hi Jacquio90,

Unfortunately, there are large volumes of work in the office at present which is leading to delays where manual allocation of NICs is needed.

HMRC do have a reduced presence in our offices due to covid restrictions, we are doing our best to work through these cases as quickly as we can.

If a customer is approaching pension age and has made a payment that has not been allocated.  I would suggest waiting at least 10 days after the payment is made and then calling the NI helpline on 0300 200 3500 and if the payment is held, we should be able to take immediate action to allocate.

Thank you.

Just an update for everyone. HMRC did finally update my mothers pension forecast with the 3 years of voluntary contributions. It took around 11 weeks for them to do this.

Hi Nicola Placidi,

Apologies for the information you were provided with by our advisors. Unfortunately, this was incorrect your payment will not show in 10 working days, generally speaking we would normally advise it can take at least 6 weeks for this to show on your record.

However at present it has been taking a little longer than this. Although I understand it can be frustrating when you have made a payment to us that it doesn’t reflect on your account as quickly as you may expect, I would advise waiting a little longer before contacting us again to check for your payment. But please be assured it will be on your record in due course. 

Thank you


 

That's fine, many thanks for your kind reply. I will keep checking and wait the indicated time before making any new enquiry...! Thanks again,

Hi Edgerat,

Thanks for your query. 

The current timescale for the department who action the allocations of Class 3 is 30 weeks.

The payment is allocated manually and will be in a processing queue. Once it has been allocated, the date the payment was received will be noted – so any backdating by DWP would be back to the date the payment was received by HMRC if state pension age has been reached.

The NI helpline can be reached on 0300 200 3500

Thank you.
 

Not sure this 30 week allocation explains the timescale for the whole process. I spoke to the future pension team in March and paid my Gap years on 16th March. As advised l called back ten days later as my Gap payments were not showing on my records. They confirmed and emailed my payment confirmation through to the next team for processing. I was advised it would take up to 10 weeks to sort. I took my pension on my 66th birthday on 18th April on the lower amount. After 10 weeks l spoke to the NI team via a chat site and they confirmed my Gap payments in a matter of minutes and again advised the processing team. Tge payments then showed as complete on my NI records. They advised me to check again after 2 or 3 weeks to check my pension had been increased. After 15 weeks l again phoned the NI team and they again emailed my notification of payment to the processing team. I was then advised it could take up to another 29 weeks to process the increase in pension. So it now looks like it will take 29 the plus the 15 weeks already past. Around 44 weeks to complete the whole process. Possibly more than a year if l had not chased three times?

I sent a cheque to HMRC in May this year for 1 years gap class 3 voluntary NI payments. I see from my bank the cheque was cashed on the 15th of June. I see there is a track status on my online account which says received on 9th of June 2021. I'm assuming this refers to the cheque I posted as it is the only recent contact I have had with them unless it refers to my self assessment. It also says in progress with estimated completion 30th June. I was going to contact them but I see from this forum the delays are getting longer and longer for the payments to show up on NI records. At what point should I chase this up?

I understand from recent contributions to this forum that it can take up to 30 weeks for Class 3 voluntary NIC’s to show on my Pension Statement. For peace of mind, could you please confirm the HMRC Bank account numbers and sort codes for overseas payments? I would like to make further voluntary NIC payments, but I’m apprehensive about doing so in the event that the £800.80 already transferred from my bank hasn’t gone to the correct account. Thanks in anticipation.

Hi sue rawlings,

The process for the allocation of class 3 payments has been impacted by covid and office restrictions.

We are working hard to clear these cases and have allocated additional resources to this work.

We are currently working on payments received in May so you should see an update in 6-10 weeks, however we cannot provide a definitive timescale for these cases at the present time. 

Thank you.

Hi David Cain,

Payments from customers abroad can take up to 6 weeks to show on a customers account.

You can contact the National Insurance helpline with any queries regarding the payment on 0300 200 3500.

The correct bank account details are as follows:

sort code - 20-20-48

account number - 30944793

account name - HMRC NIC Receipts

Reference or Beneficiary details 

• payslip - 18 digit reference number starting with 11
• no payslip - use NINO as the first 9 digits, followed by IC then up to the first 9 characters of surname and initial

Example

If your name is Anne Jones, you'd write the reference as QQ123456AICJONESA

Thank you.
 

Hi, some time back I applied to pay Class 2 contributions, which was granted. I paid the requested amount about 2 months back by transfer from my account abroad but they still have not been credited to my NI account, is there a problem? Kevin Holden

What is the current delay in adding any paid contributions to one's account?