A National Insurance Number, also known as the NI, is a unique identification number used in the United Kingdom, in the administration of National Insurance. It can be described as a Personal Account Number, and is sometimes referred to as NI, No. or NINO.
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The National Insurance numbers consists of 9 digits which comprise two letters in the prefix, followed by 6 digits and one letter in the suffix, like DD 123456 H. One can find his/her NINO on any official paperwork like National Insurance Card, pay-slips, and letters from official bodies like Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (THE HMRC). For students, this number is generally mentioned on individual's university registration details, and also on official letters received from the respective universities. Since this number is permanent for an individual, it provides a detailed insight into the person holding this number, while enabling verification and validation of information pertaining to such individual.
As per the National Insurance Act of 1911, any person, above 16 years of age, whether employed with an organization, or self–employed, is statutorily required to have a NINO. Contributions made towards national insurance and taxes are recorded against an individual's NINO, which is further a deciding factor when it comes to availing various benefits based on the total contribution made towards it. The time and amount of payment required to be made is decided by the HMRC.
On retirement, such individual shall be required to furnish NINO to avail benefits depending on the contributions made and the class he/she falls into. As per the HMRC, an individual may be categorized under the following classes and the benefits associated with each class are mentioned in the adjacent columns:
Each class can avail the following benefits against its contribution towards the national insurance fund:-
NINO can be asked by the following authorities:-
You must have the right to work or study in the UK to become eligible to apply for your first National Insurance Number. NINO is generally sent by the HMRC just prior to the 16th birthday of the individual if he/she, is born in the UK itself. In case you haven't got one and you are under 20 years of age, then there are various ways to apply for a NINO which are as follows one:
National Insurance number application line
Telephone: 0800 141 2075
Textphone: 0800 141 2438
Monday to Friday: 8am to 6pm
Welsh language: 0800 141 2349
Monday to Friday: 8:30am to 5pm
Find out about call charges
To apply for benefits without a National Insurance number, contact Jobcentre Plus instead.
Click here to obtain a National Insurance Number. What will you do if you’ve lost your NI number?
You don’t need to apply for a National Insurance number if you already have one, or one is printed on your BRP.
In case you do not have a National Insurance number, you must apply for it. If you’re moving to UK and applying for national insurance number it is must to have the right to work or study in the UK.
You can start work before your National Insurance number arrives if you can prove you can work in the UK. You can inform to your employer that you’ve applied for the NI number, and provide them once you get it.
Jobcentre Plus may write to you and ask you to come to an interview where you’ll be asked about your circumstances and why you need a National Insurance number.
The letter will also tell you which documents to bring to prove your identity, such as:
Generally the national insurance number is sent to you right before your 16th birthday if you are a citizen of UK.
Anyhow, if you didn’t get it, call the national insurance number helpline if you’re under 20.
Call the national insurance number application line if you’re over 20.
In case you have lost your NINO, you should contact HMRC on their national insurance helpline number on 0300 200 3500 to obtain Lost National Insurance Number. You can also complete the online form on the HMRC website.
Due to various reasons, you might need to stay out of work or job and not able to make national insurance contributions. Regardless of the reason, national insurance credits are there to help you maintain your National Insurance record.
You may be able to get national insurance credits if you're not paying national insurance. Credits can help to fill gaps in your national insurance record.
It is a national insurance credit that helps with gaps in your National Insurance record.
You are eligible to get Carer's credit if you're putting 20 or more hours a week in caring for someone. Your income, savings or investments won't affect eligibility for carer's credit.
Applies to: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
Age rules: You must be 16 or over but under state pension age
You can check your national insurance record online to see:
You'll need a government gateway account to check your national insurance record online. You can get the one if you don't have the one.
If you've paid national insurance in the Isle of Man, you'll need to email the national insurance office in the Isle of Man to find out how much you've paid.
You can request a printed national insurance statement by making a call to HMRC national insurance helpline:
Opening Hours:
You can claim a refund on your national insurance contributions from HMRC.Claim now
Do you have more than one job? If yes, you may be able to defer (delay) paying Class 1 national insurance.
You can defer national insurance if any of these is true in your case:
Note: If you're self-employed, you can't defer Class 4 contributions any more. Though, you may still be able to claim a refund for previous tax years.
To defer national insurance, you will have to send form CA72A before:
In order to pay deferred national insurance, you are required to send your payslip and a cheque to HMRC.
National insurance contributions and employer Office HM revenue and customs BX9 1AN United Kingdom
You can ask HMRC to provide you the details of your employment history.
You can do this yourself or hire a solicitor or tax agent to get this done for you.You'll need to fill in the application form and send it to HMRC, with a signed cover letter. You can find the postal address on the form itself.
This table how much employers deduct from employees' pay for the 2019 to 2020 tax year.
This table shows how much employers pay towards employees' national insurance for the 2019 to 2020 tax year.
If you are self-employed, then you will need to make Class 2 national insurance contributions to avail benefits like the state pension.
HMRC will send you a bill by the end of October. If you don't receive bill by then, you should immediately contact HMRC through newly self-employed helpline:
You might have to pay extra money to fill the gap in your national insurance record. This amount will be provided to you by HMRC.
Class 3 voluntary national insurance is usually paid to fill gaps in your contributions record and become eligible to avail various types of benefits including State Pension.
To check if you qualify for voluntary class 3 national insurance, you need to ask HMRC and they will let you know about your eligibility & amount you need to pay if you qualify.
You can pay monthly via Direct Debit. If you wish to make payment through any other medium, you may contact HMRC and ask for alternative ways. HMRC will send you a bill every July, October, January and April
A female employee may be able to contribute less towards National Insurance if she provides a 'certificate of election form' to employer.
If a female employee is entitled to pay less national insurance, employers are required to put the right national insurance category letter in her payroll record.
Employers can accept one of the following forms:
In case if employee is not able to provide a valid form, she should apply for one by sending HMRC a completed CF9 form (if she's married) or CF9A form (for widows).
She should call the national insurance helpline numbers.
The reduced national insurance rate for married women is 5.85% of your weekly earnings between £166.01 and £962 (instead of the standard rate of 12%) if you're employed.
You don't pay Class 2 National Insurance contributions if you opted in before the scheme ended
Once you give up your right to pay the reduced rate, you can't claim it again.
Fill in form CF9, or form CF9A if you're a widow, and send it to HMRC on below mentioned address:
National insurance contributions and Employers Office HM Revenue and Customs BX9 1AN
You usually pay 2 types of national insurance if you're self-employed:
You work out your profits by deducting your expenses from your self-employed income.
You can pay class 2 and Class 4 national insurance through self-assessment..
Voluntary national insurance rates for the 2019 to 2020 tax year:
If you're a man born after 5 April 1951 or a woman born after 5 April 1953
You'll pay different rates if you pay voluntary contributions by 5 april 2019 to make up for gaps between april 2006 and april 2016.
The United Kingdom (UK) comprises of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Every individual residing in the UK and above 16 years of age must have a NINO, which is unique and remains with the individual throughout his/her stay in the UK. NINO is used by the government to record the tax and national insurance paid by citizens and is later utilized to decide on the various state benefits one can avail, such as free medical services etc.
THE HMRC is the governing body for NINO and it maintains all the necessary data pertaining to NINO. As a general practice followed in the UK, NINO is mentioned in all the government correspondence, pay-slips, university registration details, student loan application form etc.
Since, it is mandatory for every individual to have one, if it is lost, the above mentioned actions can be taken to get one from THE HMRC. However, one can opt for retrieving the lost NINO only once. There are various helpline numbers which are available to reach the HMRC and Job_Centre Plus to assist you to apply for the lost NINO.
So, best is to save your NINO somewhere safely on your mail. THE HMRC does not send national insurance card, but they do send the NINO by post.
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