Kwaku Frimpong-Ansah

Hi Brighton2023, > 1. I believe I overpaid and was told to complete the CF83 form online. Is that correct? Yes I think you are correct, but after completing the form, HMRC (or the GOV organisation responsible), will make a decision about whether you should have paid Class 2. If you should have paid Class 2 instead of Class 3, I expect the difference to be refunded to you. HMRC would then tell you they'll refund and how much. > 2. If I only have to pay the Class 2 amounts (which are much lower than Class 3 I’ve already paid), will this mean my final State Pension is lower due to lower Class 2 contributions? I do not believe this will mean a reduction in your state pension - i.e. I expect that you will recieve the full state pension as shown in you NI record. HMRC should be able to confirm this to you, if you are able to reach someone on the help line. My case was slightly different but I hope recounting this might be useful for you. I phoned and talked with an HMRC / NI insurance person in Jan 2023 who informed me (as they did you) that they would have to assess whether or not I should pay Class 2 or Class 3. I filled in the CF83 form and sent this off (registered post) at end of Jan 2023. I waited several months for a reply. In the meantime the deadline for paying for the missing years approached. I called and asked what to do since HMRC had not decided how I should pay (whether Class 3 amount or Class 2 amount). The staff member informed me that they will probably not have made the decision by the deadline for paying for missing NI years. A staff member told me HMRC will probably allow my lateness in paying for the missing NI years since I had an open case with them. I asked for something written to this end but this was declined. I then wrote to PT Operations around Mar 2023 explaining my case but got no reply. Just before the deadline, not having heard any more from HMRC, I paid the amount associated with Class 3 contributions since I could not take the risk of a lower state pension because I missed the deadline. I paid this on 28 July 2023. I then checked the NI record to confirm this was as expected. Note that I am now retired and recieving a state pension - this is the sum I expected result from filled the NI gaps. Several months past the deadline, I got a letter from HMRC indicating they'd decided that I should have paid an amount associated with Class 2 NI contributions. They wrote that they are aware that I've paid an amount associated with Class 3 contributions. They requested further some further information which I supplied in Nov 2023. They replied on 23 Jan 2023 that they'd calculated an amount to refund to me and requested my bank details. I expect that they'll write a similar letter to you. I replied to the HMRC letter with the little bit of information they wanted (name, signature, tel number, bank details) and sent this off at end of Jan 2024. I hope, as indicated in a previous message in this thread, to receive a reply and refund around mid Feb 2025. ------ To summarise, I think you'll get a refund and a chunk will not be bitten off your state pension as a result, just be warned it might take a long time; hopefully Singapore-related cases should be faster.

Thanks for the explanation of why the non-EU cases have less delay than the EU-related cases, I don't understand the last clause of the reply though - "we can assure you that you will not be penalised because of our delays". Could there have been any scenario related to this, where a penalty was possible? Thanks again.

Hi HMRC Admin 20, Thanks very much for your reply - it is good to have an approximate time for the refund. Since I was living in the EU, I'll plan based on receiving this around mid February 2025 then. Incidentally, Am I right in assuming that the processing of the department for EU stuff simply has more cases to work on, or are they typically more complicated to deal with? Thanks v. much.

In July 2023, I paid voluntary NI contributions to plug holes in my NI record. Around September/October 2023 I received a letter from PT Operations saying it has been decided that I should have paid for Class 2 instead of Class 3 contributions - I had been abroad. I needed to answer some further questions which I did in November 2023. In January 2024 I was sent a letter requesting my bank details for a refund. I replied in Jan 2024 with the bank information. I have heard nothing more since then. Has anyone got experience of requesting/getting such a refund and if so how did this unfold for you? Anybody got an idea how long it takes for the refund to be made? I have just started pension and I need to make some important financial decisions where knowledge of approximately when the refund will take place would be really useful.