New National Insurance number service change for millions in UK

A new service introduced by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) may have an impact on as many as 83 million persons who have active National Insurance numbers (NINOs). Millions of individuals will be able to safely save and quickly retrieve their National Insurance number online thanks to the new "Store my NINO" service. The new service is expected to help around 17m who currently have an online Personal Tax Account and 1.6m people who are allocated a new National Insurance number every year through HMRC or the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The service will be available to users on computers and the HMRC app, reports the Daily Record. People with an Apple iPhone can already store their NINO in their Apple Wallet while a similar function will be available to Android users from this month. HMRC is keen to point out that storing your National Insurance number online or in the app is not mandatory.

The 'Store my NINO' service overview

HMRC guidance explains that the ‘Store my NINO’ service will enable individual users to:

• view their National Insurance number on the screen
• generate a copy of the fully accessible PDF version of the National Insurance number letter
• store a copy of the National Insurance letter in their chosen device via a digital app wallet such as Google Wallet or Apple Wallet
• print a National Insurance letter
• share a National Insurance letter
• store their National Insurance securely in an app wallet of their choice for Android and Apple to enable access to it in the future without signing into their digital account

HMRC lists the benefits of storing your National Insurance number.

• enhanced user experience
• streamlined process to access National Insurance number
• safe and secure storage of National Insurance number for future use
• quicker access to National Insurance number
• increased confidence in the accuracy and security of their information

This also means customers can now save up to 15 days by avoiding having to wait for HMRC to resend this letter by post.

Customer groups affected

HMRC guidance states that the following groups are affected:

• potentially everyone with a live National Insurance number: 83m
• Personal Tax Account/HMRC existing users: 17m (estimated)
• people allocated a new National Insurance number each year either via DWP or HMRC: 1.6m
• people who contact HMRC by phone for confirmation of their National Insurance number (estimated this is calls not individual people): 519,000
• people who contact HMRC by webchat for confirmation of their National Insurance number (estimated this is calls not individual people): 53,000

What people need to do as a result of the change

Once the user has successfully signed into the ‘Store my NINO’ service through their Personal Tax Account, they will be presented with the digital wallet functionality, and also an accessible PDF view of the NINO letter and an option to print that letter. The user can then store or print their NINO should they choose to. Full details about the service can be found on GOV.UK here.