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“Lost” national insurance contributions
Friday, January 28th, 2011
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HMRC has responded with some indignation at recent press reports that £billions in NICs have been lost to employees. For example, one newspaper stated “A HUGE blunder by the taxman could rob millions of people of part of their pension savings.” This followed the release of figures by HMRC of substantial monies not allocated to individual’s National Insurance accounts because they could not be matched with P14s submitted by employers.
HMRC has confirmed that the unallocated payments are held in a suspense account, waiting to be allocated when missing contributions gaps are identified and queried, often when HMRC sends out letters inviting individuals to make voluntary contributions to complete their contribution record.
If employees approach the payroll office to query missing years of contributions, a check should be made that the NI number is correct in the employee’s record, the employee can call the NI helpline on 0845 915 5996 or be directed to HMRC’s guidance on their website.
Further information:
Media wrongly states HMRC has lost pension contributions
Do you need to top up your National Insurance contributions?
David Nicholson says:
February 1st, 2011
10:34
For once I side with HMRC with this, it is the employee’s responsibility to ensure that they provide their correct NI Number to their employer, they are advised to check their payslip and P60 details and a lot of them do.
Sue says:
February 18th, 2012
23:51
I requested a state pension projection a few weeks ago. I am glad I did or I could have been in for a very nasty shock. I received a letter informing me thatI had only 24 contributing years to my state pension. I left school in 1969 worked for three years, married and had a family and worked part time until 1986. The HMRC records show no NI contributions AT ALL until 1988. They had left out 19 years of my life. I was certainly on their records along the way as I had communication with them over the years… where have my records gone? I phoned their offices and was told they have no record of me prior to 1988 – where do they think I sprung from??? How long will they take to sort this out? S
Sue says:
February 18th, 2012
23:53
Just to let you know I have worked full time since 1986….
james browne says:
November 30th, 2012
19:25
10 years missing n i contributions
Savi says:
March 14th, 2013
03:23
Desperately need help, my mother worked as a nurse in an NHS hospital from 1956-1975 at Highlands General Hospital in winchmore hill, enfield?, all her records are missing. Consequently her pension is reduced by 19 years!She worked from 1976-1986 as a nurse also and these records exist so after 30 years work she is receiving 10 years pension only. can anyone help as tried everyone, old hospital records etc, pension people, inland revenue etc.
Ian Holloway says:
March 14th, 2013
08:29
Hi,
It sounds as though it is going to be a case of proving to HMRC’s National Insurance people that enough Contributions were actually paid and recorded. If you have any records like payslips, P60s etc, then that will make things easier and, you would think, would speed things up. Have you tried the links on HMRC’s Website (e.g. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/intro/check-record.htm), as this seems to contain a lot of contact information? Check on any of your records whether the correct National Insurance Number was used for your mother. It could be that Contributions were deducted and paid over for her but they were not allocated to her ‘account’ because the NI Number was missing.
A message to any other reader is to check that the employer is using the right NI Number and ensure you keep records and a check on your NI history with HMRC. At least you would be able to, hopefully, correct any issues before State Pension age is reached.
Kind regards,
Ian Holloway
The Learn Centre