§ Mr. Terry Walkerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why it takes up to 19 months to obtain repayment of overpaid national insurance contributions from the office of the Department of Health and Social Security at Newcastle.
§ Mr. DeakinsI assume that my hon. Friend is referring to the type of refund which is made to a contributor who has 311W paid contributions in respect of more than one occupation and these have exceeded the maximum amount he was liable to pay for the tax year in question. The payment of contributions in excess of the maximum is normally identified automatically after the employers' end-of-year contribution returns have been received by my Department and the information has been examined. The contributor is then invited to claim a refund; but, because of the vast quantity of information which the Department must receive and process, the invitation will not normally be sent before the autumn following the April in which the tax year ends. Anyone who does not wish to wait until the Department has received and processed the information from his employers may obtain an application form from the local social security office and send it, at any time after the end of the tax year, to the Department's refunds group at Newcastle together with evidence of the contributions he has paid in each employment. Refunds of excess contributions are generally made within two or three weeks of an application being received.
It is possible for people who would otherwise expect to pay contributions in excess of the annual maximum to avoid the need for a refund. They may make an advance payment of the maximum amount and pay no contributions through their employers. Alternatively, a person who will pay the maximum amount in respect of one or more employments may apply to defer his liability in respect of any other employment. Application forms for either advance payment or deferment are available at local social security offices.