National Insurance

[HolyNougat]

The nhs is funded out of general taxation so as non income tax paying seafarers, we still contribute when we pay vat and all the other taxes.

That is true - one might have thought that NI contributions would be 'ring fenced' for NI related things, but it all just goes into the same pot as everything else....
But anyway, if you do the maths for the state pension, it still may make sense to contribute - because if the 'there will be no state pension when I retire' doom mongers are correct, then the wider economic impacts that would have let to its cancellation will probably mean that your private pension pot will be just good for *issing in.....

[Silvertop]

I understand that if you are employed on a foreign ship you do not have to pay NI, but you can choose to pay it.

Looking at this I presume that would mean that we would be paying class 3 contributions if we chose to. However is there any point as it does not contribute to benifits other than the state pension which I doubt will still exist when I retire (or at least I'll have to work until 75)

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/intro/benefits.htm

So is there any point paying it?

Firstly it is not quite as simple as being employed on a foreign ship, it also accounts for who Manages the ship, where the ship is registered, where you signed your contract etc. If you are employed by a UK company that pays employers contributions then you automatically have Class 1 deducted from your salary. If this is not the case you need to complete the questionnaire each year and forward it to HMRC and they calculate what you should be paying and send you a bill.


Have a look at below page which is just for mariners, especially the bottom link to the questionnaire that you need to fill in.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/seafarersni.htm

[Hatchorder]

One bit of advice I will offer up here. If your NI record is not complete for a whole year - even by a week that entire year is discounted with regards to the contributions calculations for your pension.

You are entitled to have all of the information going back forever but they cannot provide you with the current and previous year. If there are any gaps - i.e, 1 month off between jobs you are allowed to make voluntary contributions to complete those years. Years ago there was a ceiling on contributions and so if you had 2 jobs you could overpay your NI so I used to have to claim back over payments as my main job paid up to the ceiling payment of ?179 a month and so the Fire Service payments of NI they made were "extra" that I could claim back. That ceiling has now gone.

If you are unemployed then sign on. Not because you will get benefits necessarily, or even a job, but because you automatically get your NI "stamped" so you have complete years.

So, if you believe that there are any gaps in your employment then go here:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/ni/intro/check-record.htm

And follow the advice and pay up any gaps in a year if they are small.

Hope this helps.

Ian

[Dosedmonkey]

I'm pretty sure that isnt true as anybody can get free NHS... even none EU.

THAT IS INCORRECT! COMPLETELY!

As of August 2012 a lot of NHS regulations changed, due to the fact, foreigners were abusing the NHS system.

Before and after August 2012, non-UK citizens, could not use NHS hospitals, except in an emergency (aka ambulance or A&E entrance).

As of August 2012, there is a long list of requirements you must fulfill, one of them is being resident in the UK for more then 6 months of the year. How this is exactly counted against seafarers I did not quite understand, as I was presuming it would be mentioned in Nautilus one day, but it hasn't, so i'm mythed what has happened there.

E111 do not cover you completely when abroad in the EU, buy health insurance! You will often get poor care, minimum care and if seriously ill, then will only stabalise you, then charge you money for the medivac home, which can easily be ?1000. It also won't cover things like airlifts from serious or remote accidents. E111s have also become a lot less useful in countries suffering from the recession, in Spain there is stories of hospitals just bouncing patients from one location to other, as they do not have a national health system like ours. And E111 patients are bad for profits.

As for national insurance, I would HIGHLY recommend paying class 3 national insurance, not only will it give you your state pension (even if they stop the system, they will give people who have already paid in to it a pension one way or another, maybe rebranding it as a private pension), but it will also help prevent the UK wealther system collapsing, as much as we hate chavs getting free stuff, we do have a rediculiously low level of burglary and crime thanks to the wealther system, and a lack of ill angry violent people because they can't get access to health care, such as USA where they end up murdering people, as they dont have health insurance to pay for their mental health problems or other serious illness.

On other hand if you are planning to move abroad in next couple of years, don't bother with NI of course.

If you are on British Flagged ship, you will need to pay Class 1 NI, which i think is rediculious, but not much you can do about it!

[CharlieDelta]

As said, depends on management of the company. With Carnival, for example, you pay tax and NI at source as with any UK based job, reclaiming tax via SED yearly.

[gadget123]

As said, depends on management of the company. With Carnival, for example, you pay tax and NI at source as with any UK based job, reclaiming tax via SED yearly.

That is Carnival UK you mean presumably not Carnival as a whole?

[alistairuk]

If you work for a foreign company on foreign flagged vessels and you wish to pay class 3 / voluntary contributions, print out and fill in this form and post it to the address on the form.

Eventually you get a letter back giving you a reference number and the amount to pay to make the year(s) your querying count.

On a side note it runs by tax year so u can't do this years until after April.

Voluntary contributions are around ?150 - ?200 per year (can't remember exactly).

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/marinerquestionnaire.pdf

[CharlieDelta]

That is Carnival UK you mean presumably not Carnival as a whole?

Anyone on Fleet Maritime Services contracts.