RetireJapan

Well, I got my reply back from HMRC... And it is most bizarre...



For a start, I was born, raised, studied in the UK for 21 consecutive years...
And when I check my NICs online I get this:



I was born in the 1980s so it looks like I should meet both conditions fully!?

I guess I'll be giving HMRC a call ASAP to ask what the fffffffudge is going on....

Bushiman wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 1:17 am what the fffffffudge is going on....

They are experts in opaque letters.

To try to translate a bit, to fulfil the 2nd requirement, it looks like only the fourth arrow applies to you, since it was imposable to pay anything before 1975.

I'm not sure what a "NIC Qualifying Earnings Factor" is, but I think it means you need to have three years on your statement that do not say "Year is not full". On the right of that statement it says "4 years of full contributions", so it looks like you should be good?

adamu wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 4:01 am

Bushiman wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 1:17 am what the fffffffudge is going on....

On the right of that statement it says "4 years of full contributions", so it looks like you should be good?

Exactly... I can't understand what's going on as I should meet all the criteria...

My experience is that they will take several months to send you a letter that doesn't apply to you/make sense, in the hope that you will just give up and stop contacting them.

Persevere! Good luck.

RetireJapan wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 11:28 pm My experience is that they will take several months to send you a letter that doesn't apply to you/make sense, in the hope that you will just give up and stop contacting them.

Persevere! Good luck.

Thanks! I'm certainly not giving up that's for sure... This letter arrived in less than 2 months and doesn't make any sense...
I'm guessing the HMRC will be closed for Christmas and the New Year, but I'll be phoning up first chance I get....

Arrived back in Japan to a letter from HMRC and it looks like I have been accepted to pay Class 2! I would never have even thought about finding out about this if it wasn't for this site - so thanks!

goodandbadjapan wrote: ↑Thu Jan 03, 2019 3:27 am Arrived back in Japan to a letter from HMRC and it looks like I have been accepted to pay Class 2! I would never have even thought about finding out about this if it wasn't for this site - so thanks!

Wow, fantastic news! Congratulations on winning the lottery there

Now to backpay as much as possible

RetireJapan wrote: ↑Thu Jan 03, 2019 5:01 am Now to backpay as much as possible

They included a letter about that and it seems I can backpay 12 years for about 140 pounds a year. Not bad!

Hi all,

Here's an update on my own attempts to back-pay UK state pension.

According to my NI records (viewable online after registering with HMRC) I have three (consecutive) years of full contributions plus another (non-consecutive) full year of contributions, giving me four years of full contributions all together.

However, after attempting to back-pay for one of the years I am apparently entitled to backpay for, and ringing up to check whether this payment has been properly allocated, I was informed that the payment has been refunded :-/

The guy on the phone was very confused because as far as he was concerned I was eligible to pay Class 3 and I paid the correct amount for an eligible year. He couldn't explain why the payment was rejected, but offered to get an explanation sent to me.

It seems I might not be eligible for Class 2 or Class 3, despite having 4 full years of NI contributions?

Will update here when I receive the explanation.

Cheers!

Paul