Key Post UK State Pension - Make voluntary contributions to qualify for UK pension on top of Irish pension

As I have said elsewhere on this site. I paid £158 a year to top up my UK pension. I had nine years working in England.
Topped up 14 years.
Next month I will be getting £139 a week.
 
DannyBoyD said:
How many years can I go back?
Right now you can go back to 2006.
Click to expand...
I'm a bit confused by this.
I know somebody who worked for several years in England in the late 80's before returning to Ireland.
They're not yet retired.
Is this scheme relevant to them or not?
 
ClubMan said:
I'm a bit confused by this.
I know somebody who worked for several years in England in the late 80's before returning to Ireland.
They're not yet retired.
Is this scheme relevant to them or not?
Click to expand...
Yes - as per my key post.
 
Thanks to all for the great information. I have 12 years of UK NI payments and I can make a voluntary contribution for another 5 years. I would hope to continue contributing to this in the future to get as close to100% as possible. I'm back working in Ireland since 2017 and have been paying PRSI since. Is it possible to claim 100% of (or close to depending) two state pensions in different countries? I had it in my mind that I could have utilised my UK NI payments to top up my Irish state pensions years of contribution to 40 years.
 
DannyBoyD said:
Yes - as per my key post.
Click to expand...
Thanks, but the first post seems to suggest that this scheme is only relevant to those who worked in the UK since 2006. Hence my confusion. What exactly does "you can go back to 2006" mean in this context?
 
My understanding is-I last worked in the UK in 1989 but can't buy back from then to 2006. I can 9nly buy back from 2006 on. If you check each year on your account it will tell you if you can buy back.
 
ClubMan said:
Thanks, but the first post seems to suggest that this scheme is only relevant to those who worked in the UK since 2006. Hence my confusion. What exactly does "you can go back to 2006" mean in this context?
Click to expand...
Reading the items in context will help; the first item 'who this applies to' explains that it covers anyone who has worked in the UK & paid NI for at least 3 years.

'what's the urgency' explains why you need to act now, 'how many years' explains that you can buy back years from 2006 onwards.

If your friend does nothing else, have them register and check their NI record; it's pretty clear after that what's available.
 
What is the situation if you were a cross border worker, IE living in ROI but working in NI. On form Cf83 it asks when you left. Assume it's the date of leaving employment in NI?
I left employment there in 2021.
It also asks for UK address . How does one complete that if you lived in ROI but worked in NI?
I can't find any info to help in this instance.
 
Put in the address you were living at.

As long as you worked & paid Nat Ince thats the key point. And yes the date you left employment is the one you want.

You can include a cover letter explaining the cross border bit if you wish.
 
Great informative thread!
I'm very much in the situation as a few here. Have 19 years work from UK and living here since 1992 so Irish pension all good. I got my forecast from UK a while back for £101 a week or £111 if I contribute up until 66. I've also been accepted to pay class 2 but it's not too easy to get this put in place plus I wanted to find out what difference it would make to my payments if I did pay the £2670 back payments. I've been trying to phone them for days now to find out this.... must have tried 20 times and it just hangs up after all the recorded messages and now today there's industrial action doh! I found another number yesterday and spoke to someone from the NI contributions department and they said I should definitely speak to someone in the future pensions department to find out if it will make a difference before I start paying anything.
But on the bright side I didn't even know I could claim a UK pension on top of my Irish one until 4 or 5 years ago!
 
If you register per the key post, you will be able to see what additional years you can buy back and how much extra it will give you. I personally wouldn't expend any more calories trying to ring them.

Even without looking at that, if you can pay Class 2, I'm 100% certain it's the best investment you could make pensions wise.

Revolut and Wise (previously Transfer Wise) have been recommended here as good payment apps.
 
@DannyBoyD

Excellent work on the key post!

I would suggest a few edits:
  1. Put the link to the UK government website up higher;
  2. Maybe make clearer that voluntary class 2 NI contributions are literally the best investment return in existence if you are eligible - I modelled it once and it's something like a guaranteed 10% annual return. Voluntary NICs should be prioritised over absolutely every other type of saving;
  3. I started a thread on this and there no payment for a dependent spouse, see this AAM thread here you could link to it.
  4. You may be able to pay the more expensive Class 3 contributions if you have less than three years. I only ever worked 10 months in the UK over two tax years but they are allowing me make Class 3 contributions, see this AAM thread https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/credited-uk-ni-contributions-as-a-teenager-why.216240/post-1663150 (here). I wasn't expecting this (and don't really know why I am eligible) but for the price of a stamp anyone with any UK employment history should make a request.
 
Thanks for this - I worked in the UK for nearly five years from 1990 to 1994.

I had presumed that you could not receive UK state pension in addition to Irish pension (or over the max of the Irish pension) due to reciprocal arrangements and that therefore it was not worth my while persueing this. I take this assumption was incorrect . I will in any case follow up.

Thanks again.
 
It is worth noting in this discussion that the "Pension Forecast" figure that you see on your gov.uk account does not take into account any future increases in the Uk state pension, and is calculated based on the current value of £185 per week in perpetuity. It is already confirmed to be rising to £203.85 per week next month (unless you live outside the EEA or Switzerland) so when you are doing your sums to work out the relationship between the upfront buyback amounts versus future earnings, there is an upside there that is not considered.
 
Hi All .. what evidence did you send off to verify that you were/are working in Ireland. I moved from England in Jan 2004. Was working there up to when I left. Started new job here in Jan 04. Been working since. Would something from Irish revenue website confirming employment be enough ?
 
Maybe silly question but does the CF83 form and cover letter get sent to the address on the form, or to the future pensions centre?
 
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