The Lemon Fool

mc2fool wrote:Did they not give you any information by return on receiving your form?

No, they've just given me the amounts for each year and a link to the above webpage. Probably the cheque is safest, as you say. The webpage says there's a unique 18 digit reference for voluntary payments in the UK, but the NI number should be used if living abroad: https://www.gov.uk/pay-class-2-national ... ce/by-post

xiox wrote:

mc2fool wrote:Did they not give you any information by return on receiving your form?

No, they've just given me the amounts for each year and a link to the above webpage. Probably the cheque is safest, as you say. The webpage says there's a unique 18 digit reference for voluntary payments in the UK, but the NI number should be used if living abroad: https://www.gov.uk/pay-class-2-national ... ce/by-post

Yeah, that bit's understood, but they used to send you a paper form which listed the amounts for each year and had a tick box next to each one that you could return with your cheque to indicate which year(s) you were paying for ... but that was quite a few years ago now.

As I say, if there's any ambiguity I reckon a cheque with a cover letter is the best way to go, although you could give them a call to see if another arrangement could be made. No idea how long you'll be stuck in a queue listening to "your call is important to us" though...

I just saw this thread, not my usual content, but I just want to say that my wife and myself paid up our missing years back in 1990 and we are very pleased that we did so. She gets 100% of her state pension and I only get a couple of £'s or so less despite having a gap of 3 years. Yes it is well worthwhile paying class 3 contributions.

john

Does anybody know how long it takes HMRC to present a cheque? I sent off a cover letter and cheque about 3 weeks ago and it still hasn't been presented yet. When I phoned a week ago they suggested I wait until mid December and call them again to check if they had the letter or the cheque. That seems an awfully long time to me.

Seasider wrote:Does anybody know how long it takes HMRC to present a cheque? I sent off a cover letter and cheque about 3 weeks ago and it still hasn't been presented yet. When I phoned a week ago they suggested I wait until mid December and call them again to check if they had the letter or the cheque. That seems an awfully long time to me.

Keep an eye on it. I have paid voluntary NIC for the past few years. Normally the NIC is credited within a couple of months. My 21-22 payment was showing OK a few weeks later. However, 19-20 was still showing as incomplete several months later so I rang HMRC. The officer looked at my account and said he could see the credit had been initiated but not finished. While I was on the phone he fixed it and said if I logged in again while on the phone, the NIC year would be full. I did and it was. So, it can take a while, but the process is not automated and relies on a staff member updating your record correctly. HTH.

Seasider wrote:Does anybody know how long it takes HMRC to present a cheque? I sent off a cover letter and cheque about 3 weeks ago and it still hasn't been presented yet. When I phoned a week ago they suggested I wait until mid December and call them again to check if they had the letter or the cheque. That seems an awfully long time to me.

Four to six weeks was around normal pre pandemic. I haven't had to send any in since but from general comments I've seen they certainly haven't got any faster, and have often got a lot slower....

Thank you both. So the cheque cleared today having been sent on 9 November. Obviously my NI record has not been updated yet but when I first spoke to them they said that would take about 8 weeks.