change UK state pension from NICs class 3 to 2

[Bushiman]

Anyone had any luck finding the definition of ‘immediate.’ I left my last job in the UK in Jul/Aug ‘92 (only a 4wk summer job, but some NI contributions paid) then moved to Japan in Jan ‘93. Hard to describe a 5 month gap as immediate, but without clear guidance who knows?

Almost same circumstances as you...
I wrote that I worked until such-and-such time (as they can see from my NI record), then prepared for work abroad which took 2~3months, then started work immediately after arrival...
I was accepted for Class 2 repayments.

[JimmyK]

Thanks. That’s helpful!

[JimmyK]

BTW, Bushiman, how long did you work in the UK (and how many years contributions did you pay) before leaving? I think I might be ok to challenge the decision on grounds that I worked in UK before leaving for Japan, albeit 5mths later. Just not sure about the contributions. Having said that, I’ve already been approved for class 3, so presumably I’ve paid sufficient or I wouldn’t have got that?

[Bushiman]

BTW, Bushiman, how long did you work in the UK (and how many years contributions did you pay) before leaving? I think I might be ok to challenge the decision on grounds that I worked in UK before leaving for Japan, albeit 5mths later. Just not sure about the contributions. Having said that, I’ve already been approved for class 3, so presumably I’ve paid sufficient or I wouldn’t have got that?

I was a full-time university student before leaving... I had worked part-time jobs off and on for 4~5yrs while studying but had only accumulated 4 'full' years of contributions, and 2~3(?) of those were the ones the government gave me (for free) while I was doing my A-Levels.
I can't remember the differences in requirements between the criteria for Class 2 & Class 3, but for me, I checked the boxes for having enough full years of contributions, lived in the UK for over a certain amount of time, and I was in (part-time) employment (pretty much) up until departing...

[Moneymatters]

...Having said that, I’ve already been approved for class 3, so presumably I’ve paid sufficient or I wouldn’t have got that?

I didn't think you had to have paid in to get approved for Class 3.
Check the table here.
https://retirewiki.jp/wiki/United_Kingdom

[JimmyK]

Yes, that seems to be the case. For Class 3 approval you only need to satisfy 1 of 3 conditions. One of those being having ‘lived in the UK for a period of 3 consecutive years at any time prior to the period you’re claiming for.’ It doesn’t state if that is during adulthood only, so it should apply to any period. In that case, most Brits would comfortably tick this box. One of the others is to have paid at least 3 yrs in contributions and/or credits. I think that might have been a criteria that changed some years ago, as I was initially turned down for class 3. I recall in the letter I received from HMRC they referred to the fact that although I had 3 yrs of contributions, most of these were from credits (correct). The implication being these don’t count in the same way as NIC when working. I think there’s no longer a distinction between credits (unemployment benefit, for example) and contributions from employment. You get at least 2 yrs if you’re in education between age 16-18 I think, but this would only be something you’d need to satisfy if you haven’t lived in UK for 3 consecutive years. So, although it’s not strictly true to say that all Brits are eligible for a UK pension, there must be very few that don’t meet at least one of the 3 conditions. Class 2 has stricter requirements and it looks like all must be satisfied in order to get approved.

The reason I’m banging on about this, is because I’m concerned that if I challenge HMRC’s decision to deny me class 2, there’s a risk I could lose class 3 that I’ve already been approved for. They would obviously need to review all details of my circumstances and it would be a disaster if, in doing so, they somehow determined I’m not eligible for class 3 either! Class 2 is clearly the better deal than 3, but 3 is way better than no pension of course! Like others trying the same challenge, I think the odds of HMRC giving me class 2 approval are extremely slim, but as long as there’s no risk to losing class 3 when making this challenge, it’s worth a shot.