Irish people who worked in Britain or Northern Ireland and are looking to buy back state pension rights there have been warned to make sure they have the necessary finances in place.
UK authorities have said anyone filing an online form to request a callback from department of work and pensions (DWP) staff will be seen as meeting this Saturday’s deadline to qualify to purchase up to 18 years of national insurance dating back to April 2006 to qualify for or boost their UK pension.
However, industry briefings from the department and UK tax authorities say that people will have just 31 days to settle any bill involved once they have been contacted. Otherwise they run the risk of losing out.
The bill involved could be as high as high as £16,333 (almost €19,400) for anyone looking to buy back all 18 years and who has not been working since 2006. People in that position looking to buy back just seven years to meet the criteria for a minimum UK state pension face a bill of €7,540.
People who have been working since returning from the UK will face more modest bills – just under €1,500 if they are buying back seven years and close to €3,850 if they wish to acquire the maximum 18 years.
The voluntary buyback programme is open to people who worked and paid national insurance for three consecutive years in the UK, or who have three years of national insurance accrued over a longer period.
Many people who have applied for a callback in order to meet the deadline have yet to fill in the required paperwork or source documents, such as their PRSI record, which will be needed to complete the process.
“The people at HMRC/DWP are saying that people have 31 days to pay from the date of the callback, assuming someone registered for it by April 5th,” said John Ring, operations director at Galway-based Xtrapension, which has been processing applications for Irish residents.
“That’s simple for people in the UK and makes sense, but it doesn’t for people outside the UK. How do they know how much to pay and at which rate unless an application has been done and properly assessed? And that cannot be done properly and quickly by phone.”
Public comment from HMRC, the UK tax authorities, has been vague on the issue, saying only that letters sent out after the callback will include a deadline for paying, without clarifying how wide that window will be.
In an exchange on its community forum, a HMRC spokesperson said people would be able to contact the tax office after being contacted by the department of work and pensions to discuss making a payment and receiving an extension on that payment date “if eligible” without clarifying who would and would not be eligible for such extensions.
