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

I received a letter back from UK pensions body saying I don't automatically qualify for topping up pension as I don't have the minimum 3 years continuous NI insurance contributions .
However they say that this 3 year requirement can be met by proof of pension contributions in another EEA country including Turkey.
However my concern is that if they accept irish pension contributions as a qualification for the UK state pension and allow me to buy back years, does this then reduce my irish state pension as I will be using irish contributions as a qualification. If that is the case will my irish state pension only be reduced by the number of years I need to meet the minimum 3 years UK contributions?
 
Surely that is going to depend on how many PRSI contributions you have in total?
 
Lisgoold said:
Surely that is going to depend on how many PRSI contributions you have in total?
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Yes but surely if they are going to pool national insurance and ni contributions it can only be for one pension, either the UK one or the Irish one.
For example if you had 35 Irish contributions and 25 UK contributions after buying back years but you used 2 years prsi as qualification for the UK pension (if that is possible), My question does that still only qualify you for one pension, if you want the UK one they use your prsi contributions as the qualification and then the left over contributions are wasted?
 
Plenty of people on here with way more knowledge than me, but I don't think it works like that.

In your example , of 35 years of PRSI, and 25 years of NI, then as far as I'm aware , you'd end up with two pensions. Neither would be full, but together , they'd be more than either as a single pension. A lot more.

I thought , that you could only use years from one to another countries contributions, to get you up to the minimum required to get anything.
 
Just to note that the full UK state pension has just increased to £203.85 per week or £10,600 per year
 
So two letters sent to hmrc by registered post yesterday, one for me and o e for spouse.

Huge thanks for advice on here, I doubt we would have found out about this otherwise. It also made the application way simpler because of links, info on here.

Fingers crossed we both qualify for class2 NI payments and we should both be able qualify to fund full pensions.

I still don't understand why i have 6 years pension entitlement despite only paying NI contributions for just shy of 3 years; but I lived in the UK for more than 3 years
 
I'll try and explain this point again with my own record



I received my National Insurance number in the tax year I turned 16. Under the old rules everyone was credited with these as full years during full time education. The system doesn't seem to distinguish between people who were born in the UK and everyone else. So it looks like everyone has been credited with those 3 years.

The following 4 years I was at university and third level education doesn't qualify for additional credits.
 
Please note that there are 2 UK state pensions, old and new. It can be confusing but should be differentiated as may cause confusion.

1. New is The full new State Pension is £203.85 per week.

2. The old is known as The full basic State Pension is £156.20 per week.

A bit of a difference.
 
Posted my CF83 form on the 6th May - nothing back to date. How long does a response typically take?

Thanks, John
 
There are significant delays. They are currently processing post from October 2022

According to link below, you can expect a reply by 16th December if you posted it on 6th May


Check when you can expect a reply from HMRC

Find out when you can expect to receive a reply from HMRC to a query or request you've made.
www.gov.uk
 
Hi, has it showed up on the website as being recieved? It took over 2 weeks for mine to show up so I assume we go by the date that is says its uploaded, I posted mine on the 5th registered and it only showed up on the 18th May.
 
Noreen8 said:
Hi, has it showed up on the website as being recieved? It took over 2 weeks for mine to show up so I assume we go by the date that is says its uploaded, I posted mine on the 5th registered and it only showed up on the 18th May.
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Where on the website does it show as being received? I have my proof of delivery from Royal Mail (posted it while visiting UK) but wouldn't mind double checking!
 
One you log in, look at account menu tab on top right hand side, there is a check progress section, click on that, but that is where it appeared for me. It doesn't say what form or anything but I have only sent them the CF form.
 
For reference, in case it's useful for others.

18 May - I posted my form (from London as I happened to be there for a few days)

30 May - It was delivered to HMRC, according to the Royal Mail tracker

7 June - It appeared on my HMRC account as being received on 30 May

16 January 2024 - When it says I can expect a reply!

(Plenty of time to save!)
 
I just read in the Irish Independent the cut off date has been extended again until April 2025.
"The British government has announced that the deadline for people to plug the gaps in their National Insurance (NI) record to boost their UK state pension has been extended to April 2025"
 

Deadline for UK pension voluntary contributions extended

Deadline extended to April 2025. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/deadline-for-voluntary-national-insurance-contributions-extended-to-april-2025#:~:text=Taxpayers%20now%20have%20until%205,announced%20today%20(12%20June). The original deadline was extended to 31 July 2023 earlier this year...
www.askaboutmoney.com
 
Does this mean that if you apply in Jan 2025 you can still buy back to 2006 or is it still a maximum of 16 years.
 
Now that the deadline is extended does that mean you have longer to make the payment?

For example, I'm expecting to hear in January 2024 that I'm entitled to buy back 16 years at Class 2, so a total of roughly 3 grand.

Rather than paying one lump sum, am I able to pay a smaller lump sum (let's say enough to cover 7 years) and then buy one additional year each month during 2024?
 
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