Four hours later...
The day began with a short list of things to do and as I sat at my desk working my way through the first item on that list, I thought longingly of the Spring garden outside. It was four hours later before I could take my camera into the fresh air and capture the season in this part of Gloucestershire. I thought it far more enjoyable to include those photographs here rather than the endless assortment of screens I viewed throughout the morning.
Last evening, whilst browsing a news site online, I came across a link to a feature from earlier in the day when a money saving expert had highlighted an issue affecting women of my generation. Some of us might be entitled to a payment from the Government because of an anomaly in our National Insurance contributions whilst we had young children at home.
I didn’t have a full time job whilst Edward was of school age and thought it worthwhile checking to see if I was eligible. The first item on my to do list of the day then, was “Check National Insurance (NI) contributions” (there’s a lengthy explanation of this key feature of life in the UK here but suffice to say, we all pay into NI, mostly when we’re working)
A short while later, I followed a link in the article and went to the Government website to check what NI contributions I had made and to find out if I was eligible for this Home Responsibilities Protection. After all, the Government Pension I receive might have been calculated with several years contributions missing. I will admit, I had no idea whether or not I had paid any NI during that time.
The first challenge was to sign into the UK Government Gateway, or more accurately, to set up a Government Gateway account, for I had not accessed it previously. I had, however, observed my Hero signing into his (and his Mother’s) account on more than one occasion and knew from those observations that it was likely to be a far from simple and trouble free process. But perhaps I would be mistaken and all would go smoothly?
I began by completing the form with all my personal details, setting up a password and a user id, each of which I carefully recorded in my online password vault because these were going to be vital for future access to this key resource. When asked for my phone number to be sent a OTP, I carefully completed that box and waited for a six digit number to arrive.
How long might it take? Five minutes later, I’d had no code.
Patience isn’t my strongest point and I wanted to maintain focus here, but when it didn’t come, I tried again.
Nothing. After half an hour I thought I’d try an alternative confirmation option. “Install an Authentication App on my phone” but part way through that process I came unstuck and wished I hadn’t started. I returned to the phone option and discovered that I had used up three attempts to access the site and must now begin again.
Returning to the beginning and adjusting my password and access id because they can’t be used twice, updating them in my password vault as I did (because I’ve been there and not done that before) I reached the point where I input my phone number, when my Hero helpfully arrived with a cup of coffee.
“You have uploaded the correct number?” Yes. I had. “Is your text app working?” He sent me a text message to check.
It didn’t arrive. I remembered that last week, I had missed my hair appointment and was surprised about that because I usually receive a text reminder to confirm. Hmmm. I looked into the app and discovered the last text I had was from Vodafone informing me I had reached my data limit - and that was when I was in hospital in Uruguay! 😱 (On January 15th!)
Having had a quick look at my phone, I decided that the best way forward was to chat to someone at Vodafone and pulled up a chat pane. The AI assistant didn’t seem to have a clue so I went on to chat to a real person, making progress a little more swiftly. Their first check was to view my account, prompting the question “why are your incoming calls and texts banned?” Errrm…. 🤔 Since that day in Uruguay, I’ve not had a single call or text, it seems! Now, I knew that we relied more on WhatsApp for such things these days, but I had no idea that I’d been completely without service for so long until now.
From the minute he cleared that ban on my account it all worked again - hooray! - but I had to listen to all the sales “specials” before he’d let me go. I just wanted to get on with the job I started quite some time ago!
I went back to the UK Government Gateway and resumed setting up my account. Within seconds of my completing the details and adding my phone number, a text message arrive with a ping! I had my OTP and could continue.
My first task was to find where to see my NI contributions. It was fairly easy to find that page, but to access it I needed to confirm my identity. A page popped up with a reassuring message that the next page would walk me through the process, step by step…
But first, I would need my passport.
I followed those step by step instructions one by one, confirming that I was viewing the instructions on my PC and that I had a phone in my hand with which I could take a photograph. My first task was to scan a QR code on the page I’d been viewing, using my phone. That opened a new app with prompts to record the page in my passport with my personal details on it.
So far so good.
Next, “close your passport and place the phone on top of the front cover, then click to scan the passport microchip”. Wow! A clear page with a photo and my personal details appeared on my phone - I assume the same page as the immigration officers view when we travel. My id was confirmed. Finally, there was another QR code to link my phone with the Government Gateway on my PC. Phew! I was in.
My NI contributions appeared on screen…I counted them and yes, some were shown as incomplete. I worked out that I was missing 8 complete year’s contributions.
I went on to check my Government Pension statement and the requirements for the HRP entitlement, which were date-specific and, for them to count, had to be before 2001, when Edward turned 16.
Guess what? Every one of those incomplete years was after that date.
My Hero gently suggested that those four hours had not been wasted, for I’d discovered and resolved an issue with my phone and I now have my own access to the UK Government Gateway. Whoop de do!
I won’t record what I said.
This last photograph was taken at 6.20am whilst we waited for the pool to open in Cirencester on Thursday morning. What isn’t in the photograph is the beautiful sound of a songthrush coming from those trees just across the road from the entrance. Though we’ve never seen it, we’ve heard it around this time each year and it’s an absolute joy.
Spring really can’t be far away.
