CJordan

I applied for ESA last week. They called me today to tell me my NI contributions were insufficient for the years needed, but they can go ahead with contributing NI credits instead. I agreed to do this. I have been registered as Self-Employed for the past few years although I'm not earning much at all (less than £2000). I thought I was going to qualify for NI contributions via some standard employment I did, so never even took my Self Employment into consideration until after the phonecall. I think I was looking at the wrong years. I have never paid Class 2 NI contributions on my self-assessments so far - but, am I correct in thinking I am able to 'top-up' previous years now? Two questions if yes: 1. How much would this cost? 2. If I did this, would ESA be able to re-process my claim ASAP (so that I can receive the benefits instead of the credits)? Or will I have to wait a certain amount of time? Thank you.