scampicat wrote:It will be worth it in the end, Miro!
Reminds me of a quote from that Marigold Hotel movie - "It will be alright in the end - and if it isn't alright, it's not the end".
So...5 months on, I have
finally received a letter from the Pensions people (not HMRC) telling me that I can pay 3 years voluntary NI to bring me up to 30 (they got my 24 years contributions wrong before - it was 27), and the amount payable. That necessitated a phone call though, because they gave me the amounts payable for the last 6 years, and I had to check which 3 I should pay. They suggested the cheapest 3, which I won't argue with.
The enclosed a form to complete, in Parts One & Two, with instructions on how to complete parts A & B - for payment by cheque or bankers draft. They also enclosed a sheet from HMRC detailing how to make payments by CHAPS, BACS etc. This also necessitated a phone call, because it completely contradicts the instructions for payment found on their website, which clearly tells you to include your 18 character reference number which you'll find on the payslip sent to you by HMRC - except that they didn't send me anything, let alone a payslip or reference number. On the phone I was told to use my NI number, surname and initial plus "IC" (for International Case" apparently, then told to forget the IC but include the area code 056 or 14 (they didn't know which) - but of course banks only allow for up to 18 characters (coincidence) in the reference field when making a transfer online. NI numbers are 9, plus space and another between surname and initial - lucky my name is Miro, right? Except it's not, it's longer than that...
They're going to call me back tomorrow (I went into apoplexy when they suggested writing to me with instructions). All this to get an extra 10 quid a week - and I need to live at least four more years for it to be worth it at all. Do you think they're deliberately stressing me out?
