Brits looking to apply for any kind of benefits from the government will notice that they will be required to provide their National Insurance Number (NIN).
The government-issued number is used by a wide variety of organisations, including HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), as well as your local council (if you claim Housing Benefit). However, the number is generally used to ensure that you make your National Insurance contributions while ensuring taxes are recorded in your name only.
A National Insurance Number is made up of a series of letters and numbers and will always stay the same. However, you may be in a situation where you don't use your National Insurance Number that often, in which case it can be confusing when a government form or application asks you to fill it in.
Here's everything you need to know about your National Insurance Number, including what to do if you can't remember it.
According to the government, you can find your National Insurance number on the following:
If you do not have a National Insurance Number, for whatever reason, you can apply for one here. It's important to note that to qualify for one you must either live in the UK, have the right to work in the UK, or are working, looking for work, or have an offer to start work.
You could lose your National Insurance Number for a variety of reasons, such as throwing away documents with the number printed on them. If this is the case, the government recommends either accessing your personal tax account online or searching for a document in your possession such as a payslip of a P60.
If neither of these is an option for you, then expect to wait a bit of time to get your number back as the government warns it could take up to 15 days. You're only alternative is to fill in a CA5403 form and send it to the address on said form.
Otherwise, you can contact the National Insurance Numbers helpline and answers their questions - if you're unable to answer any of them then you will still have to fill in the form. Once this is done, HMRC will post a letter to you containing your number, but this could take as long as 15 days, according to the government.
