# Should i buy 6 years of uk pension contributions



## Nicetoknow (6 Dec 2019)

Hi. 
I worked in the UK for 4ish years and HMRC have confirmed I can buy contributions to get me to 10 years of cons (and thefore become eligible for low rate of pension) for about 4200 euro. I need to make the payment by April 2023. I understand having this pension is worth about 50 a week at the moment but things change and who know where the UK will be in 30 years time when I reach pension age.

Is it a good idea to become eligible for the UK pension?

I am 36, have a high mortgage and relatively small private pension pot (circa 50,000). Extra cash I have is going to reducing pension so this would be 4200 in not reducing my mortgage balance by

Thanks for any advice!


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## Saavy99 (6 Dec 2019)

Are you going to be paying.class 2 or.class 3, if its.the former, i would.advise.you.to go for it  and also ask to pay contributions.going forward for next.30 years and you will be eligible for.full uk pension.  But things.will change.alot .over next 30 years, theres is.talks.of meanstesting coming.in for uk stare pension, retirement  age.being pushed further out etc etc.


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## NoRegretsCoyote (6 Dec 2019)

Twenty years of a pension of £2,500 a year is £50,000.

Can you buy this for €4,200? If so it's the best investment opportunity you'll ever get.


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## Hooverfish (6 Dec 2019)

I have been trying to find out about this too, but there is an issue that I have not been able to nail in making my own decision.
If you read the HMRC letter you will find that you can only pay for recent years, not when you were actually in the UK (in my case that's the 80s...)
So the years you buy back from the UK may end up being the same years that you actually have full Irish PRSI contributions for. 

I've written to contributory pensions in Sligo asking whether having a UK year that overlaps an Irish year will mean that you do not get the benefit of the Irish PRSI for that same year. I don't expect to get any reply for a while (I rang them but they did not know and asked me to write to them but in my experience replies from that department take months as they are severely overburdened).

If it does mean that you "lose" the Irish contribution then it's probably not worth paying for. But I did this previously for my husband (bought back UK years), and although there did appear to be overlap in his case, he is getting both UK and Irish pensions now. I could not find anything that covers this point on the Citizens Information website.


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## Nicetoknow (6 Dec 2019)

I have 4 years already and I can buy another 9 years ( starting in 2006 until 2022). I have class A stamps...the letter is a bit confusing, it quotes me an amount I need to pay for each year to qualify. I'm not sure if they are quoting me for Class A or another Class.

To get the 6 years I need to qualify (current rules are you need 10 years to become eligible) it will cost me 700 euro (on average) per year so about 4200. 

I can also buy years up until 2023 so that's another 8 years I can get, let's say I can buy these for 6400. I understand  that 2023 is the cut off for buying additional years. I will then have 17 years approx or half a UK state pension for an investment of 10600 euro. 

I guess this does sound like a good idea....


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## Nicetoknow (6 Dec 2019)

I'm actually very confused about this...can I just keep buying years and get a full UK pension even though I only lived in the UK for 3 years?


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## Saavy99 (6 Dec 2019)

Once you.have worked in uk 3 full years, you can ask  to pay voluntary national insurance. You need  10 years paid contributions.to get a minimum uk state pension. Any body wishing to  pay back years  should.ask if they are eliguble to.pay the cheaper class.2 contributions as it works out at around £150 a year.  It takes up to.4 months to get reply back from Newcastle these days but all the forms are available.to print off from HMRC website.


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## Andrew365 (6 Dec 2019)

I am in a similar situation, not sure the difference between the classes and why would I lose PRSI?


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## Saavy99 (6 Dec 2019)

Nicetoknow said:


> I have 4 years already and I can buy another 9 years ( starting in 2006 until 2022). I have class A stamps...the letter is a bit confusing, it quotes me an amount I need to pay for each year to qualify. I'm not sure if they are quoting me for Class A or another Class.
> 
> To get the 6 years I need to qualify (current rules are you need 10 years to become eligible) it will cost me 700 euro (on average) per year so about 4200.
> 
> ...




Download the.form CF83 from HMRC website. Tick the box to pay class two contributions, they cost.approx 150 per year versus the 700 they quoting you. You must supply them with a print out of your work history in Ireland since you returned from UK. I got this info from.Irish Revenue. Send HMRC.this information along with the completed form then expect to hear back within few months. It has absolutely nothing to do with your irish PRSI contributions, at least not at the moment anyway.  
For anyone about to draw.down they uk state pension, again the form  for this.is available to print off from hmrc website, you do not have to go through Sligo, uk state pension is paid at 65, in ireland its now 66. When you come to draw down you contributory  state pension, you must tell them you receiving  x amount on uk state pension.  If you applying.for means testing irish state pension, your uk state pension will be taken into account  in the calculations .


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## NewEdition (6 Dec 2019)

Saavy99 said:


> It takes up to.4 months to get reply back from Newcastle these days but all the forms are available.to print off from HMRC website



I find that when I write to them, no action is taken and I just have to ring them instead.
They are very helpful on the phone and will follow up with any correapondence promptly after the call.


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## Saavy99 (6 Dec 2019)

As I stated fill out the form CF83, post it with required theinfo and you will.see, they will do the rest. I have been through the process and while.it all looks very confusing, especially since the far reaching  changes introduced  in 2016, once you send off the fully completed form, its not that.difficult a process.


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## euroDilbert (6 Dec 2019)

Saavy99 said:


> As I stated fill out the form CF83, post it with required theinfo and you will.see, they will do the rest. I have been through the process and while.it all looks very confusing, especially since the far reaching  changes introduced  in 2016, once you send off the fully completed form, its not that.difficult a process.


I have been trying to work out my options in a similar situation - as you say it is very confusing. Especially as you are dealing with two different systems (Ireland and UK).
However, I understood that you can only pay the lower Class 2 contributions if you are self-employed. 

What is the "work history" you mention called - so I can get it from revenue. I had a quick Google, and can't see where I might get it. (I do have a copy of my PRSI history from Welfare though).


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## Saavy99 (6 Dec 2019)

I was working.through paye system and i was alllowed pay class 2. They seem to have some anomaly in the system regards this point.   If you are buying back years and have had periods.of unemployment.in Ireland then you have no choice but to pay class 3 for those periods.  I asked irish rev for my.irish employment record  it listed all the places.I worked and i send it.to.hmrc. perhaps if you.have.kept records yourself, p60 etc then you wont.have to ask irish rev for the  details.


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## euroDilbert (6 Dec 2019)

Saavy99 said:


> I asked irish rev for my.irish employment record  it listed all the places.I worked and i send it.to.hmrc. perhaps if you.have.kept records yourself, p60 etc then you wont.have to ask irish rev for the  details.



OK - thanks, I'll work through it.


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## Saavy99 (6 Dec 2019)

euroDilbert said:


> OK - thanks, I'll work through it.



Good luck with it,   you can pay back up to 12 years so its to you benefit to try and get to pay class 2 national  insurance contributions. Its few years.since i went through the process  but i am currently paying tiny amount.every.month something.like £12 going towards a future  uk pension.


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## Nicetoknow (6 Dec 2019)

Thanks everyone for advice - I'm going to apply for Class 2. The CF83 makes things a lot clearer for me so thanks for that lead. 

Do you think there is any rush in getting this sorted I.e. before brexit?


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## Saavy99 (6 Dec 2019)

Nicetoknow said:


> Thanks everyone for advice - it seems I've missed the boat on paying Class 2 though



This policy change has been scrapped  for the unforeseeable future so yes move now before they will try and.reintroduce it post brexit.


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## Nicetoknow (9 Dec 2019)

Saavy99 said:


> Good luck with it,   you can pay back up to 12 years so its to you benefit to try and get to pay class 2 national  insurance contributions. Its few years.since i went through the process  but i am currently paying tiny amount.every.month something.like £12 going towards a future  uk pension.



I can see from the form how I can pay going forward and I will set that up - I'm still unsure though how I can figure out the cost of class 2 for the years I am eligible to buy back. The cost I was given on my statement of cons is for Class 1. I would like to just send them a cheque to cover the 6 years. Any ideas?


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## Saavy99 (9 Dec 2019)

No, you must send them the form along with dates and places of your work in Ireland then they decide what rate you pay. Ask if you're can pay class 2 and then you can only wait. They will send you letter detailing what you need to pay for each year. When you send the cheque, ask for receipt to be send back to you.


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## Nicetoknow (10 Dec 2019)

Ah ok, thanks for coming back. I found the historic rates here https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-features-of-national-insurance-contributions

Class 2 is substantially cheaper than than class 3...Thanks for the guidance.


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## Andrew365 (10 Dec 2019)

I am a UK National by Birth, so I have around 15 years of NI contributions, I worked in the US for 5 years, does anyone happen to know if they will give me the UK NI contributions as I paid US Social Service? There is some form of treaty in place.


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## Saavy99 (10 Dec 2019)

Did you work in UK before leaving for the USA and if so, for how long.


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## Saavy99 (10 Dec 2019)

Andrew365,. Sorry I didn't read your post in full. Yes, the UK has a reciprocal agreement in place with the USA, same as Ireland and number if other countries. I would suggest you contact them in Newcastle with your NI number and ask for statement of contributions and send in the form CF83 along with your American work history since leaving UK.


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## Zeus2020 (11 Dec 2019)

I also would like to know if it’s possible to add the 4  years I worked  in America  to  contibutions  as I have bought back 29 class 2 so far


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