Since October 2010, HMRC have been phasing out the use of plastic National Insurance Number cards and from October 2011, any new or replacement National Insurance Numbers will be sent instead by way of a letter. Employers should now expect to see an employees’ N.I. number in either format. Individuals of course will need to keep the letter safe in the same manner as with the plastic cards. Personally, I prefer the card as I think a letter with this vital information is more likely to get lost or destroyed but I guess the government have to make savings somewhere other than just finding ingenious ways of taxing ‘Joe Public’.
If you have lost or don’t know your N.I. number you can request HMRC to send it to you by filling in the form Your National Insurance number at www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/ca5403.pdf
Employers can trace N.I. numbers on behalf of their employees by filling in the form Employees National Insurance trace at www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/ca6855.pdf
Both forms can be filled in on-screen then printed before signing and posting to HMRC.
