National Insurance

National Insurance (NI) in the United Kingdom is a system of contributions paid by workers and employers towards the cost of certain state benefits. It was initially a contributory system of insurance against illness and unemployment, and later also provided retirement pensions and other benefits. It was first introduced by the National Insurance Act 1911, expanded by the Labour government in 1948 and has been subject to numerous amendments in subsequent years.

The contributions component of the system, "National Insurance Contributions" (NICs), is paid by employees and employers on earnings, and by employers on certain benefits-in-kind provided to employees. The self-employed contribute partly by a fixed weekly or monthly payment, and partly on a percentage of net profits above a certain threshold. Individuals may also make voluntary contributions, in order to fill a gap in their contributions record and thus protect their entitlement to benefits. Contributions are collected by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) through the PAYE system, along with Income Tax and repayments of Student Loans.

The benefit component comprises a number of contributory benefits of availability and amount determined by the claimant's contribution record and circumstances. Weekly income benefits and some lump-sum benefits to participants upon death, retirement, unemployment, maternity and disability are provided.

Recent developments of the system have meant that National Insurance provides a significant part of the government's revenue (21.5% of the total collected by HMRC.) National Insurance has also become more redistributive over time as its structure has changed to remove the fixed upper contribution limits, albeit with a much lower rate payable by employees on income above a certain level. It has been discussed that the link between an individual's contribution record and the remaining contributory benefits will be weakened further.

The National Insurance Fund

A 1940 contribution card for an employed woman.

The Government Actuary estimates the 2012-13 results for the National Insurance Fund to be as follows:

	£ billions (2012/13)
	Payments	Income
Retirement pensions (including Christmas bonus)	79.321
Widows'/Bereavement benefits	0.571
Incapacity Benefit	2.591
Unemployment benefit & support	3.463
Maternity allowance & guardians allowance	0.373
Administrative costs & transfers	4.693
Total	91.012	84.263

History

The current system of National Insurance has its roots in the National Insurance Act 1911, which introduced the concept of benefits based on contributions paid by employed persons and their employer. The chosen means of recording the contributions required the employer to buy special stamps from a Post Office and affix them to contribution cards. The cards formed proof of entitlement to benefits and were given to the employee when the employment ended, leading to the loss of a job often being referred to as being given your cards, a phrase which endures to this day although the card itself no longer exists.

Initially there were two schemes running alongside each other, one for health and pension insurance benefits (administered by "approved societies" including friendly societies and some trade unions) and the other for unemployment benefit which was administered directly by Government.

After the Second World War, the Attlee government pressed ahead with the introduction of the Welfare State, of which an expanded National Insurance scheme was a major component. As part of this process, responsibility passed in 1948 to the new Ministry of National Insurance. At that point a single stamp was introduced which covered all the benefits of the new Welfare State.

Stamp cards for class 1 (employed) contributions persisted until 1975 when these contributions finally ceased to be flat-rate and became earnings related and were collected along with Income Tax under the PAYE procedures. Making NI contributions is often described by people as paying their stamp.

As the system developed, the link between individual contributions and benefits was weakened.

The National Insurance Funds are used to pay for certain types of welfare expenditure and National Insurance payments cannot be used directly to fund general government spending. However, any surplus in the funds is invested in government securities, and so is effectively lent to the government at low rates of interest. National Insurance contributions are paid into the various National Insurance Funds after deduction of monies specifically allocated to the National Health Services (NHS). However a small percentage is transferred from the funds to the NHS from certain of the smaller sub-classes. Thus the four NHS organisations are partially funded from NI contributions but not from the NI Fund. Less than half of benefit expenditure (42.1%) now goes on contributory benefits, compared with over 65% in 1978–79 because of the growth of means-tested benefits since the late 1970s.

Contribution classes

A British 1948 National Insurance stamp, once used to collect contributions to the scheme.

National insurance contributions (NICs) fall into a number of classes. Class 1, 2 and 3 NICs paid are credited to an individual's NI account, which determines eligibility for certain benefits - including the state pension. Class 1A, 1B and 4 NIC do not count towards benefit entitlements but must still be paid if due.

Class 1

Class 1 contributions are paid by employers and their employees. In law, the employee contribution is referred to as the 'primary' contribution and the employer contribution as the 'secondary', but they are usually referred to simply as employee and employer contributions.

The employee contribution is deducted from gross wages by the employer, with no action required by the employee. The employer then adds in their own contribution and remits the total to HMRC along with income tax.

There are a number of milestone figures which determine the rate of NICs to be paid: Lower Earnings Limit (LEL), Primary Threshold (PT), Secondary Threshold (ST), Upper Accrual Point (UAP) and Upper Earnings Limit (UEL). In this context "earnings" refers to an employee's wage or salary. The cash value of most of these figures normally changes each year, either in line with inflation or by some other amount decided by the Chancellor. With effect from the 2012/13 tax year the PT is normally indexed to inflation using the CPI, while other thresholds remain indexed using the RPI. The exception to this routine uprating is the UAP, which has a fixed value.

• On earnings below the LEL, no NICs are paid because no benefits can accrue on earnings below this limit.
• On earnings above the LEL, up to and including the PT, employee contributions are not paid but are credited by the government as if they were (enabling certain low-paid workers to qualify for benefits). Additionally, where the employee and/or employer contribute to certain types of occupational pension scheme, there is a negative contribution rate on earnings in this band - this 'rebate' can be offset against contributions in other earnings bands.
• On earnings above the LEL, up to and including the ST, employer contributions are not paid. As with the previous band, a 'rebate' may result from contributions to certain occupational pension schemes.
• On earnings above the PT (employees) / ST (employers), up to and including the UAP, NICs are collected at a rate which is determined by a number of factors:
  • The type of occupational pension scheme (if any) to which the employee and/or employer make contributions
  • Whether the employee has reached the age at which State Pension becomes payable
  • Whether the employee is a married woman paying reduced-rate contributions. This facility was abolished on 11 May 1977 but women who were already paying these contributions at that time were allowed to opt to continue to do so for as long as they remained married and in employment
  • Whether the employee is an ocean-going mariner or deep-sea fisherman
• On earnings above the UAP, up to and including the UEL, there are again various rates depending on similar factors to those relating to the previous earnings band, with the exception that the type of pension scheme no longer has a bearing.
• On earnings above the UEL, yet another set of rates apply, this time depending only on whether the employee has reached the age at which State Pension becomes payable or is an ocean-going mariner or deep-sea fisherman

Unlike income tax the limits for class 1 NICs for ordinary employees are calculated on a periodic basis, usually weekly or monthly depending on how the employee is paid. However those for company directors are always calculated on an annual basis, to ensure that the correct level of NICs are collected regardless of how often the director chooses to be paid.

Table letters

As indicated above, the rates at which an individual and their employer pay contributions depend on a number of factors. Consequently there are many possible sets of employer/employee contribution rates to allow for all combinations of the various factors. HMRC allocate a letter of the alphabet, referred to as an 'NI Table Letter', to each of these sets of contribution rates. The complexity of the system is such that 21 of the 26 letters of the alphabet were in use for this purpose until the 2012/13 tax year, when the number reduced to 15 following the abolition of 'contracting out' for defined contribution pension schemes. Each tax year, HMRC publish look-up tables for each table letter to assist with manual calculation of contributions, though these days most of the calculations are done by computer systems and the tables are available only as downloads from the HMRC website. In addition, HMRC provide an online National Insurance Calculator.

Employers are responsible for allocating the correct table letter (sometimes also referred to as an 'NI category') to each employee depending on their particular circumstances. This then defines the rates of employee and employer contribution which apply.

Class 1A

Class 1A contributions were introduced from 6 April 1991, and are paid by employers on the value of company cars and certain other benefits in kind provided to their employees and directors, at a rate (tax year 2012-13) of 13.8% of the value of the benefits in kind (from their P11Ds). Class 1A contributions do not provide any benefit entitlement for individuals.

Class 1B

Class 1B were introduced on 6 April 1999 and are payable whenever an employer enters into a PAYE Settlement Agreement (PSA) for tax. Class 1B NICs are payable only by employers and payment does not provide any benefit entitlement for individuals. They are paid at the same rate as class 1A contributions.

Class 2

Class 2 contributions are fixed weekly amounts paid by the self-employed. They are due regardless of trading profits or losses, but those with low earnings can apply for exemption from paying and those on high earnings with liability to either Class 1 or 4 can apply for deferment from paying. While the amount is calculated to a weekly figure, they are typically paid monthly or quarterly. For the most part, unlike Class 1, they do not form part of a qualifying contribution record for contributions-based Jobseekers Allowance, but do count towards Employment and Support Allowance.

Class 3

Class 3 contributions are voluntary NICs paid by people wishing to fill a gap in their contributions record which has arisen either by not working or by their earnings being too low. Class 3 contributions only count towards State Pension and Bereavement Benefit entitlement. The main reason for paying Class 3 NICs is to ensure that a person's contribution record is preserved to provide entitlement to these benefits, though care needs to be taken not to pay unnecessarily as it is not necessary to have contributions in every year of a working life in order to qualify.

Class 4

Class 4 contributions are paid by self-employed people as a portion of their profits. The amount due is calculated with income tax at the end of the year, based on figures supplied on the SA100 tax return.

Contributions are based around two thresholds, the Lower Profits Limit (LPL) and the Upper Profits Limit (UPL). These have the same cash values as the Primary Threshold and Upper Earnings Limit used in Class 1 calculations.

• No class 4 NICs are due on profits up to and including the LPL.
• Above the LPL, up to and including the UPL, class 4 NICs are paid at a rate of 9% (tax year 2011-12).
• Above the UPL, class 4 NICs are paid at a rate of 2%.

Class 4 contributions do not form part of a qualifying contribution record for any benefits, including the State Pension, as self-employed people qualify for these benefits by paying Class 2 contributions.

NIC credits

People who are unable to work for some reason may be able to claim NIC credits (technically credited earnings, since 1987). These are equivalent to Class 1 NICs, though are not paid for. They are granted either to maintain a contributions record while not working, or to those applying for benefits whose contribution record is only slightly short of the requirements for those benefits. In the latter case, they are unavailable to fill "gaps" in past years in contribution records for some benefits.

Actuarial reviews

An actuarial evaluation of the long-term prospects for the National Insurance system is mandated every 5 years, or whenever any changes are proposed to benefits or contributions. Such evaluations are conducted by the Government Actuary's Department and the resulting reports must be presented to the UK Parliament.

National Insurance number

Main article: 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 qualify for benefits, though holding an NI number is not a prerequisite for working in the UK.

An NI 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 P45 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). This came into use in June and July 2009 and brought NIC and Income Tax records together onto a single system for the first time.

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 Deficiency Notices (telling individuals of a possible shortfall in their contributions), which had been sent out on an annual basis prior to 1996, stopped being issued. The (then) Inland Revenue took several years to clear the backlog.

Future

In the March 2011 Budget, Chancellor George Osborne announced that the Government would consult on merging the operation of Income Tax and National Insurance.

The idea is to simplify the tax system, but the options to be considered do not include extension of NI contributions to other forms of income such as pensions, dividends and savings.

Contribution Rates - Employees

The history of the rates charged is not easy to find, but there is a partial history at UK Tax History As mentioned above, the employee contribution was a flat rate stamp until 1975.
1975 - 1976 the contribution was at 5.50% up to the upper limit.
1976 - 1978 the contribution was at 5.75% up to the upper limit.
1978 - 1979 the contribution was at 6.50% up to the upper limit.
1979 - 1980 the contribution was at 6.75% up to the upper limit.
1980 - 1981 the contribution was at 7.75% up to the upper limit.
1981 - 1982 the contribution was at 8.75% up to the upper limit.
1982 - 1989 the contribution was at 9.00% up to the upper limit.
1989 - 1994 the contribution was at 2.00% on the lower band of earnings and then at 9.00% up to the upper limit.
1995 - 1999 the contribution was at 2.00% on the lower band of earnings and then at 10.00% up to the upper limit.
1999 - 2003 the contribution was at 0.00% on the lower band of earnings and then at 10.00% up to the upper limit.
2003 - 2011 the contribution was at 0.00% on the lower band of earnings and then at 11.00% up to the upper limit and 1% on earnings over the upper limit.
2011 - 2015 the contribution was at 0.00% on the lower band of earnings and then at 12.00% up to the upper limit and 2% on earnings over the upper limit.
The upper limit is currently set at the figure at which the higher rate of Income Tax becomes chargeable for a person on the standard personal allowance for Income Tax. In the early 2000s the lower threshold for employee contributions was aligned with the standard personal allowance for Income Tax but has since diverged significantly, as illustrated in the following table.

Year	NI Employee Threshold	Income Tax Allowance	Charge to NI only
2007-8	£5,205	£5,225	£20
2008-9	£5,465	£6,435	£970
2009-10	£5,725	£6,475	750
2010-11	£5,725	£6,475	750
2011-12	£7,235	£7,475	240
2012-13	£7,599	£8,105	505
2013-14	£7,755	£9,440	£1,685
2014-15	£7,964	£10,000	£2,036

The limits and rates for the following tax year are normally announced at the same time as the Autumn Statement made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Current rates are shown on the hmrc.gov.uk website.

See also

• H.M. Stationery Office Collection A collection of British national insurance stamps in the British Library Philatelic Collections
• National Insurance Fund
• Beveridge Report

External links

• Citizens Advice Bureau: National Insurance Contributions and Benefits
• Introduction to National Insurance, from UK government website Directgov
• HMRC Up to date national insurance rates tables
• UK NI Contribution Record Errors
• National Insurance contribution rates from 1975-76, from the Institute for Fiscal Studies