wrong allocation of payment ?

I paid 12 yrs of class 2 (2006 to 2017) - I understand it will be a while to update the account but I did notice 2024/2025 was updated as Full Year, so am wondering why that is.

Hi Melanie Page
The forum does not have access to your tax records so can only provide you with advice to assist you through GOV.UK,
The majority of payments for customers using the online Check your State Pension forecast service will show on their National Insurance (NI) records within five working days.
However, some payments may require manual processing, and these are being completed in around 8 weeks. More complex cases including international payments requiring further checks can take longer to resolve depending on individual circumstances. 
DWP is experiencing high demand and will update customer pensions as quickly as possible. Customers will have arrears backdated to when they made payment to HMRC.
If you require further assistance please use the contact options at:
National Insurance: general enquiries
You can also check the progress of your correspondence, once submitted, through: 
•    Check when you can expect a reply from HMRC or 
•    your personal tax account or
•    the official HMRC app
Thank you.
 

Hello Melanie, I'm British, and i live and work in France and have done so for the last 25 years I was on the HMRC Forum yesterday and saw your post.. I was in the same situation as you, in the fact that i recently paid for 9 NI Class 2 gap years on the 24th march, the 28th and the 30th. On the 10th of April i was looking at my NI history on the off chance that i may see that my gap years are showing as full years. I then noticed like you that my 2024/2025 year was showing as full, which was a surprise to me as i had not received my annual demand for Class 2 NI payment which is usually the case, especially as i don’t no the amount. I usually receive the letter near the end of April at my address in France, and pay within a couple of days, but have not received this as i write, so of course was very surprised. The following day the 11th of this month (last friday) i called the HMRC helpline, and explained the situation, and was told he would look at my account, after i explained to him that i recently made my gap year payments at the end of march to get the payments in before the 5 April deadline, i was surprised to see my 2024/2025 year as full, and suggested to him that i think that some of the money sent for my gap years may have been inadvertently used to pay my 2024/2025 year, he again went to check the situation and told me that in effect this was the case. He apologised, he was really great in understanding the problem i had, and told me he would UNDO the payment made for 2024/2025. He then told me that while i was line him that i could give him the NI gap years i was paying for, so i gave the 9 years gap years i was paying for, and he said he would make sure the money i sent for the gap years would be allocated to this, as intended. And told me that within two weeks i should receive my demand for paying my 2024/2025 year. If i was you i would contact HMRC as soon as possible next week to clarify your situation, as i think the same has happened for you. The HMRC person i spoke to was really great and immediately found the problem and corrected it. I am sure that there are going to be a lot of these cases as the cut off date for paying older NI gap years , and payments for the end of the financial year are the same 5 APRIL. Personally i would have chosen another date for the NI Gaps year final cut off date, 5th of June for example to avoid this problem. I hope this helps., and you get it sorted out. Mike

Hi Mike, Thanks for that as exactly the same issue has happened to my son and daughter-in-law. They both made large payments in September 2024 to cover gaps years - in my son's case from 2006/7 to 2022/23 and his wife's from 2006/7 to 2019/2020. He had already contacted HMRC last September to ensure that they knew which years to allocate the payments. Today I asked him to check their records as I had noticed this issue from others. Needless to say he has now found that 2024/25 is showing as full even though it wasn't one of the years to be paid as he would normally get a bill to do so. HMRC are telling others that it happened automatically as there was money sitting there unallocated as yet. So basically because HMRC still haven't allocated money that was paid 7 months ago, they now have this mess to sort out. It took 2 years to even get to this stage as their CF83 form was sent in September 2022. It's simply not good enough I'm afraid.

Hi jictink
I'm sorry to hear about your son and daughter in law and the struggles getting this issue resolved.
After my call on Friday i see that my NI 2024/2025 years are now marked "Your record for this year is not available yet" which is great, so i am now looking forward to my demand to pay this year.
But now there is new message on my NI Record page marked "You can no longer pay for gaps before April 2019 – unless you used this service between 13 March and 4 April 2025 and are now returning to pay. Find out how to pay for gaps before April 2019"
And i explained to the HMRC guy on Friday that i have already sent the money, and also the years i need to pay, and they have my money to pay, and i get this message on my NI record page, which is confusing again.
So i guess i'll be on the phone again tomorrow lunchtime trying to find out what all this means.
It would be great if all this was computerised
you send a CF83 and get an email response or on the HMRC site with the years and amounts in a list, and next to each year which has been confirmed by the DWP(Department of Work and Pensions) as a year that counts towards your pension, then a pay here button, you click you pay.
All Done.
I dread to think what it must be like to be working in the HMRC call centre.
Good luck to them. but as you said "It's simply not good enough I'm afraid."
All the best to you.

Hi Mike,
My son and daughter-in-law contacted HMRC two days ago via Chat to get this sorted.
Did take a couple of attempts but fortunately they got a couple of good advisers who were also trained in making allocations.
So 2024/25 now removed and hopefully a bill will be sent.
More importantly their large payments made last September have now been allocated to their gaps and all is up to date now.
It did take another chat session on Wednesday as my daughter-in-law's was only partially sorted but all sorted now.
I know it's difficult for the advisers in the call centre and the chat option and I do sympathise with them. It hasn't been helped with Martin Lewis urging everyone aged 40 to 73 to check just in case. That clogged up the phone lines in a way that could never have been handled.
So yes I'd like it that payments from abroad could be made so much easier each year too.
Perhaps it will happen some day.
I hope you get sorted out too.

Hi Mike 1052. Thanks for your reply. I will definitely give them a call about the allocations. Before I saw that 2024/2025 were listed as full years, I got through to a lady on the chat and she said that it was like a holding area and that the correct allocations would be made after 67 weeks.

Hi jictink Well exactly like you After contacting HMRC and explaining the situation they said it was an automatic payment as funds for gap years where in the system as unallocated that the system used some of these for the payment. So called them again, they took the the list of 9 gap years i wanted paying, and 48 hours later all my gap years where marked full years, and my 2024/2025 year is correctly marked as NOT FULL, which is great. So i am just waiting for a letter / demand for the sum for last year NI 24/25 so i can pay when it arrives at the end of April usually and be up to date. It all worked out in the end for me, as for you. Just payments for 2024/25 and 2025/26 to go :) A lot of stress and worry over the last two years to get to this point. I'm glad its all over for us. I can look forward to my full UK pension in Nov 2026. All the very best to you and your family, and Melanie too who started this thread. :) Mike