HMRC assigned NI number to deceased stranger, blocking pension top-up

A person from County Clare, Ireland has told the Guardian that HM Revenue and Customs allocated their national insurance (NI) number to a stranger who later died, and HMRC now insists the claimant is deceased and will not process a pension top‑up request. The individual said they had used the original NI number after moving to the UK in 1991 for six years, and again worked in the UK in 2015 when HMRC said it could not find the original number and issued a temporary one.

Since 2015 they have repeatedly contacted HMRC by phone, letter and in person without success; they were recently told they might have to wait 86 weeks for a response. The person said the situation is distressing because they need to submit a state pension forecast and have been told they are "deceased." The Guardian reported that HMRC rang within five days after being asked for an explanation and proposed a solution, saying the 1991 number had in fact belonged to someone else.

HMRC told the paper it cannot investigate how the error occurred because too much time has elapsed and advised the individual to apply to the Department for Work and Pensions for a new NI number. HMRC said that once a new NI number is issued it will retrieve and merge the personal information relating to the two previous numbers.

Key Topics

Politics, County Clare, National Insurance Number, State Pension, Dwp, Identity Fraud