Unpaid NI contributions

Surely if a company fails to remit it's monthly PAYE cheque to IR, then the debt remains with the company rather than being transferred to the employee who has already "paid" by way of deduction from wages (provable by way of wage slip)

That has always been my understanding as well. If you have paid the Contributions then surely you have carried out your obligations and it is up to DWp /IR or whoever to chase up the company . Stuart

This link might help >>

I believe that the IR can chase the employee for unpaid contributions in certain circumstances, even if the employer has already deducted them.

Robin

I recently had this problem, the IR simply requested that I fill in a declaration that the company had deducted the the relevant sum from my salary for the period. I think it very unlikely that they would expect payment from an employee, when that employee has already had the amounts deducted.

I experienced this recently when trying to claim incapacity benefit. A company I worked for failed to account for (or pay over) tax and NI - they are now in liquidation.

I supplied copies of payslips etc to the benefits agency (Jobcentre Plus) - and after they did a quick check I received full benefit.

Also, I filled in forms to send to Newcastle so that my contribution record/ pension entitlement does not suffer due to the payments not being passed through. I have been assured that I have no responsibility for the employer not filing returns or making payments (apparently that can only apply if you are a partner or director of the company and are ajudged to be responsible for or negligent in not making returns/payments)

HTH - IANAL

Remember the name "Francovich". It's the European Court of Justice case that held that member states have to provide relief for unpaid wages due workers of bankrupt companies.

By extension, payment of NI contributions and PAYE ought to be included.

Appeal the denial on the basis that you were, in fact, covered, that the UK Government is liable to you in the event of failure to pay NI contributions on the part of your insolvent employers. Mention FRANCOVICH. If you meet the slightest obstruction or lack of co-operation, complain to the European Commission office in London and to your MEP.

Methinks it depends on the "class" of employee and hence the use of the phrase "in certain circumstances" by an earlier poster.

Some such debts _can_ be pursued if it can be shown that the particular employee was aware of the situation to the extent of being involved in it. Usually this would be something that would apply only to directors or officers of the company who can be and often are employees as well.

I am sure that IF none of the above applies to the OP he will finally receive credit in line with the views already expressed in this thread.

Writing to the Revenue seems like a fair idea but as he is relying on the Job Centre I think that he should also take his payslips in to the Job Centre tomorrow and say that he is appealing their decision on the basis of his proof of payment and thus entitlement.

He should ask to speak to a manager and say that making him wait while the NI people play catch-up is inequitable. He can tell said manager that his awareness that the Contributions Agency is only now chasing up NIC arrears of 6 and 7 years ago is proof enough that simply asking him to wait would be likely to cause avoidable hardship.

If you were to claim JSA(Contribution based) today and you had no other claim to benefits in the last 12 weeks, the income tax years the jobcentre would look at would be April 2002 - April 2003 & April 2001 to April 2002.

From what you have said, the problem would appear to be April 2002 - April

You state you have wage slips for your employment during this period. Do you also have a P60 for April 2003?

I would advise you to make a claim to JSA (Cont). If you are turned down for benefit, give them all your wage slips / P60s for this period - this should normally be enough evidence for the jobcentre to start paying benefit. If it isn't, however, ask the jobcentre to raise a benefit involved case with the Inland Revenue's insolvency section - they will look at whether or not you can be credited with the national insurance that was deducted from your wages.

Don

"Johnny" wrote: [Unpaid NI]

Contact the Inland Revenue and the Contributions Agency (I know they are the same organisation, but you want this done fairly fast so write to both) and send them copies of the payslips and (even more important) any copy P60's you may have. What they are likely to do is to chase up the company involved and try to lodge a claim with their receivers for the unpaid tax and NI. This can be a lengthy process.

In order to sidestep this, you should make it clear when you contact the Contributions Agency that you have a benefit claim outstanding. They may be able to decide to treat the contributions as having been paid (in some incomprehensible method known only to themselves) and so enable you to make a successful claim. Try to persuade them to let you know when they do this. The sooner you act, the sooner it will be sorted out.

Very tricky, I have not seen this before, I have seen plenty of times where people have been entitled but the correct NI information is not on the system but obviously from what you are saying not even the IR know about what you have paid. You must have very bad luck to have 2 companies do this to you? If you can produce P60's this can be used instead, if not you need to speak to the JSA Processing team, not someone who works on the front in the Jobcentre as they know nothing about this. What was your date of claim? If it was before the first Sunday in Jan (the 'benefit' year) they will be using tax years 01/02, if after 02/03.