Two different PRSI numbers during lifetime. What happens?

My wife worked from the age 16 to 23 back in the years 1969. She then stopped work about 1975 to raise our family but returned to work in about 1997 to 2003.

When she returned to work in 1997 for circa 6 years she gave her new employer her old PRSI number from 1969. This number could not be located for some reason and she had to apply for a new PRSI number.

So my wife has a PRSI number from 1969 with about 8 years paid PRSI contributions on it and a different number from 1997 with a further 6 years paid PRSI contributions on it.

If my wife needs to apply for a Contributory State Pension these two sets of PRSI contributions will need to be combined to show that she has 520 paid contributions during her lifetime. There are also various "credits" over the years.

We have a record of the original PRSI number. Is it possible that her original PRSI number has been lost by the Department of Social Welfare and can anything be done about it.

Have you checked with the Dept? It's unlikely to be lost.

RSI numbers (now called PPSNs) were only issued from 1979. Prior to that, there were Insurance numbers, which had a different format ( 6 digits if I recall). Anyone who had an insurance number who was in employment in 1979 or rejoined at a later date, was issued with a PPSN.

When a PPSN was issued to your wife in 1997, the Department may have linked it to the insurance number.

Best way to check is to ask for a contribution record via the DSP website at this link.

https://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/secure/RequestSIContributionRecord.aspx

Thanks. I started work in 1970 and I think that I have the exact same number today that I had in 1970. Is that possible or did it change for me in 1979 and I have forgotten?

When my wife went back to work in 1997 she rang the Social Welfare department and the person she spoke to certainly didn't seem to know that a previous Insurance Number might have existed. She was just allocated a new number. Possibly it is linked, but I have my doubts.

My wife signed on for credits around 1981. Is it possible that she could have used my number at that point in time? Was it possible for a wife/husband to use their spouses's number?

One last question. If my wife's original 1969 number cannot be found, is it possible to trace her contributions through the companies that she worked for at that point in time? Unfortunately these companies are no longer trading.

Wives for a long time had the same prsi number as husband but with a W stuck on the end to indicate wife. Sometime in recent years everyone was reallocated their own, can't remember when but I know that my old 1980s payslips have my husbands number with the W and I now have my own number back again for years.

It may be possible to trace old insurance records - it would be carried out by the same area in DSP that issue contribution history statements.

I suggest she requests a statement so she knows exactly what's recorded and what might be missing.