Photo by Matteo Pescarin from FreeImages
An interesting case came my way recently: a mission worker returning to the UK is unable to work due to ill health, and has been denied full Employment and Support Allowance due to not having maintained enough National Insurance Contributions (NICs) while serving abroad. This person commented to me:
Right now I’m feeling somewhat miffed that I wasn’t warned of this possible complication on my return should I need benefits.
The sadness of this case is that the mission worker had been paying NICs, but not the right class, and it would have been easy to make up the difference had this person realised. Which raises the point that churches, sending agencies and mission workers need to be aware that there are implications for failing to pay not only the correct amount of NICs, but also the right class, since there are four different types of NICs.
A quick recap: National Insurance Contributions were designed to be the method by which British citizens contribute towards the cost of a variety of forms of social security (e.g. state pension, the National Health Service, and financial support for the sick and unemployed). Failure to pay NICs can compromise or limit a citizen’s right to receive these services. Below is a table (copied from the HMRC website) indicating the different classes of NICs and what they entitle the contributor to:
| Benefit | Class 1 – paid by employees | Class 2 – paid by self-employed people | Class 3 – paid by people who want to top up their contributions |
| Basic State Pension | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Additional State Pension | Yes | No | No |
| Contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance | Yes | No (except for volunteer development workers employed abroad) | No |
| Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance | Yes | Yes | No |
| Maternity Allowance | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bereavement benefits | Yes | Yes | Yes |
(Class 4 National Insurance Contributions – paid by some self-employed people – don’t count towards any state benefits.)
NICs are notoriously complicated and we can give no more than an overview here, while encouraging everyone to make sure they are paying the right amount and the right classes. We strongly suggest that everyone who has worked abroad should check exactly what your current entitlement to state pension is and what you need to do to preserve your pension rights. To do this you should arrange a pensions forecast. You can only do this while in the UK and you can find out about a pensions forecast here. If there is a shortfall in the contributions you have made to date, you can top them up.
With any other queries about your NICs and entitlement to benefits you should contact HMRC who have a specific unit for people working overseas. Click here for further details.
If you are fortunate enough to be involved in humanitarian or development work, and your sending agency or church has registered with HMRC, you may be entitled to make Voluntary Development Worker contributions, which are levied at a lower rate. Click here for further details.
It will also be useful to have your residency status resolved as this can also affect rights to benefits. Many mission workers are keen to be classed as non-resident, but this is one situation in which it may be helpful to be resident!
More information is available on the HMRC website and a particular clear overview is given by the Citizens’ Advice Bureau.
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