National Insurance back on emigration

ssingh · Postby **ssingh** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 3:37 am

hi,
I am an Indian national working in London for last 2 years on a Work Permit. I am emigrating to Australia soon. I wanted to know what would happen to my NI contributions? As I am not entitled to any State benefit or pension from UK, can I get a refund of my NI contributions when i leave the country permanently?

tax me less! · Postby **tax me less!** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 9:54 am

I am not sure why you think you will get no UK pension. That rule no longer applies. The UK does not refund NI unless it was wrongly paid in the first place.

chrisauk0 · Postby **chrisauk0** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 2:14 am

So there is no need for 11 years (10 for women) minumum contributions any longer?

half scrummy · Postby **half scrummy** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:43 pm

The rules for liability to National Insurance are complicated. Generally you are not required to pay NIC for the first 52 weeks in the UK, but that is not always the case. It may be worth writing to the Contributions Agency to explain your position and ask them to confirm that you are in fact liable to those contributions you have paid.

If the contributions are due, you could benefit from paying voluntary NIC in the UK. The rules change in the summer so that you may only need to pay 7 or 8 years of contributions to qualify for any pension. As you are going to be working in Australia there is also an interaction between our Social Security systems, so that contributions paid here can count towards their state pension, and vice versa. It is worth seeking specialist advice on your options when you get to Australia.

Msmooth · Postby **Msmooth** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 5:58 pm

As an extension to this question What is the minimum number of years contributions required to be eligible for the maximum pension. ?

I left the UK ten years ago age 38 and am returning later this year. When i left I was inititially told I should take a holiday from contributions because I had been working from age 16. LAter i was told (by NI) that was bad advice and I should top up. I've been paying ever since but now i'm wondering if that was good advice.

half scrummy · Postby **half scrummy** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 10:20 am

Currently you need to have 44 years of contributions to get a full basic pension, unless you are a woman born before April 1955. The rules are changing from this summer and, at present, it appears that the maximum number of years required will be 30 for anyone reaching retirement age after April 2010.

My suggestion is that you stop paying voluntary contributions for now and submit a pension forecast application after the new rules are confirmed, so that you can check your entitlement under the new rules. If you do need to carry on paying voluntary NI you have 6 years in which to make the contributions.

If you are coming back to the UK to work, you may not need to pay any more voluntary NI.