National Insurance number

National Insurance number

In order to administer the National Insurance system, a National Insurance number is allocated to every child in the United Kingdom shortly before their 16th birthday. A number is also given to younger children for whom Child Benefit is paid. People coming from overseas have to apply for an NI number before they can work in the UK. The number is in the format: two letters, six digits, and one further letter or a space. The example used is typically AB123456C. It is usual to pair off the digits - such separators are seen on forms used by government departments (both internal and external, notably the and P60)।

National Insurance and PAYE Service

National Insurance contributions for all UK residents and some non-residents are recorded using the NPS computer system (National Insurance and PAYE Service).

The original National Insurance Recording System (NIRS) was a more archaic system first used in 1975 without direct user access to its records. A civil servant working within the Contributions Office (NICO) would have to request paper printouts of an individual's account which could take up to two weeks to arrive. New information to be added to the account would be sent to specialised data entry operatives on paper to be input into NIRS.

NIRS/2, introduced in 1996, was a large and complex computer system which comprised several applications. These included individual applications to access or update an individual National Insurance account, to view employer's National Insurance schemes and a general work management application. There was some controversy regarding the NIRS/2 system from its inception when problems with the new system attracted widespread media coverage. Due to these computer problems, , which had been sent out on an annual basis prior to 1996, stopped being issued. The took several years to clear the backlog.

In June 2009, HM Revenue & Customs created a new National Insurance and PAYE Service (NPS) to replace both NIRS/2 and the legacy PAYE system.

From April 2010 only 30 years' contributions will be required in order to receive the maximum state pension (age retirement) instead of the previously required 44 years for men and 39 years for women. Care should be taken when receiving a deficiency notice if due to reach retirement age after April 2010. However, the previous higher age limit still applies for claiming