
State pension: Deadline for National Insurance top-ups softened
A looming deadline for people to plug NI gaps, to ensure they get the full state pension, has been eased.

No idea but when I paid for a few years in 2019 you had to pay by cheque!For those of you who have already paid, what reference did you put in? On the website it says:
Payment reference
Use your 18-digit reference number when making your payment. You’ll find it on the payment request sent to you by HMRC.
For quarterly payments, your number will begin with 11.
For one-off payments, your number will begin with 60.
I entered the "Our Ref" 18 digit number on the letter I was sent - now I'm having a mild panic attack that it's meant to be something else and my money is sitting in the nether regions never to be seen again. I only saw the "your number will begin with..." after I paid.
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They sent me a cheque last year which I had a devil of a time trying to cash here and nearly missed out on being able to do so at all because they are only valid for 6 months and Australian banks require it with no less than 3 remaining months because of the time it takes them to send the cheque back for verification. Had I known they were going to send me money I'd have directed it to my UK bank account in the first place.No idea but when I paid for a few years in 2019 you had to pay by cheque!
This is taken from the HMRC website and is what I and my friends have used for making payments from overseas:For those of you who have already paid, what reference did you put in? On the website it says:
Payment reference
Use your 18-digit reference number when making your payment. You’ll find it on the payment request sent to you by HMRC.
For quarterly payments, your number will begin with 11.
For one-off payments, your number will begin with 60.
I entered the "Our Ref" 18 digit number on the letter I was sent - now I'm having a mild panic attack that it's meant to be something else and my money is sitting in the nether regions never to be seen again. I only saw the "your number will begin with..." after I paid.
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This is correct. I've done this for many years and the money lands OK - it's just the extended delay in seeing it posted to the website that can cause angst!This is taken from the HMRC website and is what I and my friends have used for making payments from overseas:
Use your National Insurance number followed by ‘IC’, your surname then your initial. If your bank limits you to a certain amount of characters, you should use your National Insurance number followed by ‘IC’ and as much of your surname as possible.
Example:
If your name is Anne Jones, you’d write the reference as QQ123456AICJONESA
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Pay voluntary Class 2 National Insurance contributions if you do not pay through Self Assessment
How to pay Class 2 self-employed National Insurance contributions - online, bank transfer, cheque, payslips.www.gov.uk
Oh hell. I better follow up with a phone call (which prob won't go through this close to the cut off) and a letter with an explanation then.This is taken from the HMRC website and is what I and my friends have used for making payments from overseas:
Use your National Insurance number followed by ‘IC’, your surname then your initial. If your bank limits you to a certain amount of characters, you should use your National Insurance number followed by ‘IC’ and as much of your surname as possible.
Example:
If your name is Anne Jones, you’d write the reference as QQ123456AICJONESA
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Pay voluntary Class 2 National Insurance contributions if you do not pay through Self Assessment
How to pay Class 2 self-employed National Insurance contributions - online, bank transfer, cheque, payslips.www.gov.uk
So...call, take a screenshot (?) and then the cut-off date doesn't apply? Pity no ph number.![]()
State pension: Deadline for National Insurance top-ups softened
A looming deadline for people to plug NI gaps, to ensure they get the full state pension, has been eased.www.bbc.com
You don’t need to call.So...call, take a screenshot (?) and then the cut-off date doesn't apply? Pity no ph number.