People trying to buy National Insurance (NI) contributions towards their state pension have been warned they need a particular reference number to do the process online.
A taxpayer contacted HMRC over X to ask for help as they were struggling to top up their contributions. You typically need 35 years of NI contributions to get the full new state pension and 30 years’ worth to get the full basic state pension.
The taxpayer asked: “If I wanted to buy back NI credits and can’t do it online, how would I go about it please? Tried calling the Future Pension Service but just get referred back to the website and cut off.”
HMRC first asked if they needed to work out how many missing contributions they wanted to fill in, and how much this would cost. The person said they already knew this.
The tax body then sent them a link to the Government website for paying voluntary Class 3 NI contributions, but the person said this hadn’t answered their question.
The tax authority then stated: “If you wish to make the payment online, you’ll need a reference number issuing to you, by contacting an adviser on the helpline.”
They also sent the person a link to a page with details about how to get in touch about a National Insurance issue.
But the taxpayer retorted that this wasn’t helpful as the problem was that when they logged into their account “it says I am unable to make payment online”.
HMRC clarified that they would need an 18 digit reference number to make the payment online, adding: “You can’t make an online payment without the reference number.”
The taxpayer got in touch again the next day, still having problems. They said: “I tried what you advised and have been told I need to contact the Pension Service, disappointingly more going round in circles.”
Now is a good time to check if you have gaps in your NI record worth filling in to increase your state pension, as you can do so over an extended period of tax years.
Usually you can only buy contributions up to six tax years ago, but this is currently extended by another 10 years, as far back as the 2006/2007 tax year. The deadline to top up over this extended period is April 2025.
You can check if you have any gaps in your National Insurance contributions by checking your record on the Government website.
The full new state pension is currently £221.20 a week while the full basic state pension pays £169.50 a week. Many pensioners do not have full contributions and so get below these amounts.
You need at least 10 years of NI contributions to get any state pension. Payments are to increase 4.1 percent in April, lifting the full new state pension to £230.30 a week and the full basic state pension up to £176.45 a week.
