May 2009

Nasty surprise on national insurance

Auker Rhodes Chartered Accountants are reminding individuals to check their National Insurance Contributions are up to date.  

Every year, thousands of workers have an unpleasant shock as they near retirement age and find that their state pension is worth rather less than they expected.

Ian Hales from Auker Rhodes said “The problem arises because national insurance contributions (NICs) they thought they were making have not been credited to them, either because HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has mislaid their records or because an incorrect national insurance number has been entered.

“According to research, a staggering 118 million items have not been matched up with individuals and remain in suspense accounts, with the figure continuing to grow at three per cent each year.

“Because most people usually only request a pension forecast when they near retirement age, a problem – such as missing years’ contributions – may only be identified at a late stage”.

It is also useful to remember that the number of qualifying years needed for a full basic state pension has now reduced to 30 years for people who reach state retirement age on or after 6 April 2010.

The author is a director in Auker Rhodes Chartered Accountants of Bradford, members of UK200Group with offices throughout the UK and Associates overseas.

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