What's the best way to pay UK voluntary NI contributions from Ireland?

[NoRegretsCoyote]

I'm eligible to make UK Class 3 NI contributions, backdated and going forward, and want to start.

What's the best way to do it? I don't have a UK bank account any more and the website only suggests:

1. Direct Debit
2. Bank details for online or telephone banking, CHAPS, Bacs
3. At your bank or building society
4. By cheque through the post

You can make payments from abroad using HMRC's IBAN but I don't know how to manage an exact amount in sterling from a euro bank account. Eg the annual payment for previous years is £795.60 a year.

I rang HMRC and they just said make the payment. They didn't really know what would happen if the sterling amount was a bit over or a bit under.

Does anyone have experience of this? Should I set up a Revolut account with a UK wallet for this maybe?

 

[RedOnion]

but I don't know how to manage an exact amount in sterling from a euro bank accoun

Which bank are you with? This should be straight forward as an international payment, but I don't know if all banks make it available online.

Should I set up a Revolut account with a UK wallet for this maybe?

It'd work out the cheapest option for you.

 

[Thirsty]

Direct bank transfer is safest in my view, you have a clear paper trail.

The sterling amount may be a little over; they don't have a mechanism to refund you. The world won't end. Better to be over than under.

Send a letter after you make the payment, with the payment bank reference and ask for confirmation of receipt.

It will take months to get a reply, probably just in time for the next annual payment!

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

Send a letter after you make the payment, with the payment bank reference and ask for confirmation of receipt.

Yes they confirmed over the phone that they don't send confirmations or statements except on request. I'm not in a hurry and so far have just sent them letters which they generally respond to within 2 months so I'll do that when I make the payments.

It'd work out the cheapest option for you.

Thanks. I'll probably do Revolut. Am not obsessed with getting the best FX rate but more about getting it right.

 

[Marc]

You are most likely eligible to make class 2 contributions which are at a lower rate. HMRC make this process extremely complex and their staff aren’t allowed to give any formal guidance on it.

I've used both Revolut and Monese and both work fine and give a better FX rate than the highstreet banks

UK State Pensions

Our aim is to help you to navigate these various rules and regulations and make a more informed choice about whether or not to top up your UK State pension

viewer.joomag.com

 

[jim]

HMRC do give formal guidance which is somewhere on their website.

I did this recently and set up a stg revolute wallet. It was very straightforward and allowed to trf exact amoubt

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

You are most likely eligible to make class 2 contributions which are at a lower rate.

I have outlined my circumstances to HMRC and they have said Class 3.

It wasn't clear to me that I'd be even eligible for Class 3 so I won't be querying this.

This should be straight forward as an international payment,

It turns out it is if you go looking It's a very long time since I did a transfer to a non-euro account.

 

[RedOnion]

It turns out it is if you go looking

Good stuff. It tends to get buried away from the more common self service items. It's not something many customers actually do.
The last time I did an international transfer, it was in excess of my limits so had to go to a branch anyhow.

 

[Qwerty22]

If you're in employment in Ireland and lived for at least 3 years in the UK before coming here, then you should be able to pay the cheaper class 2. There's a table here that explains what class you should be paying:
www . gov . uk / voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions
(Sorry about the spaces in the link)

You could fill in the NI38 application form and say that you want to pay class 2, and see if they let you rather than doing class 3, which for most UK expats doesn't really do anything extra for them.

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

You could fill in the NI38 application form and say that you want to pay class 2, and see if they let you rather than doing class 3, which for most UK expats doesn't really do anything extra for them.

Thanks. I filled out form NI38 and they told me I was only eligible to pay Class 3

I worked for a lot less than three years and it wasn't clear to me that I'd even be eligible for Class 2, so I won't argue.

 

[Qwerty22]

Well, it was worth a try! Anyway, being able to contribute to class 3 is still great value for the potential return you might get in pension payments.
If you know out how many possible years' contributions you can make until retirement - let's say 20 for example, then you'd get 20/35 of the state pension which is about £5,000pa in today's money. You'd be paying in 20 x £800 = £16K over the next 20 years. So, your contributions will have paid for themselves so long as you manage to pick up the pension for just over 3 years. (If that's not a great investment I don't know what is!)

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

So, your contributions will have paid for themselves so long as you manage to pick up the pension for just over 3 years. (If that's not a great investment I don't know what is!)

Yes I worked it out as a real return of 5.9% for someone my age assuming the UK pension keeps up with inflation.

Over a lifetime I'd take out about six times what I'd put in. Hard to believe it's real TBH.