Imagine being told by the taxman that you are officially dead. That is the Kafkaesque reality facing one woman after HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) mistakenly allocated her National Insurance number to a stranger who has since died, leaving her in administrative limbo for over a decade.
A Bureaucratic Error With Lifelong Consequences
The reader, who now lives in County Clare, Ireland, was first issued the NI number in 1991 when she moved to the UK to work for six years. The number was supposed to be hers for life. However, the problem began in 2015 when she returned for another job. HMRC could not find her original number on its system and insisted on issuing a temporary one.
Since then, she has embarked on a frustrating quest to reclaim her original identity. Hours on hold, letters sent, and visits to HMRC offices have all proved futile. She was recently informed she might face an 86-week wait for a response. The situation reached a critical point when she needed to submit a state pension forecast, only to be blocked because HMRC's records insist she is "deceased".
HMRC's Shocking Admission and Pitiful Response
When challenged, HMRC provided a shocking explanation. It admitted that back in 1991, it issued her with a number that already belonged to someone else. How two people shared the same NI number for six years without detection remains a mystery HMRC refuses to solve, claiming too much time has passed to investigate.
Only after the threat of media exposure did HMRC act, resolving within five days what it had failed to do in ten years. Its solution? The woman must now apply for a brand new NI number from the Department for Work and Pensions. HMRC has promised to then merge the records from her previous two numbers, but given its track record, confidence in a swift resolution is low.
For a decade of distress and potential financial detriment, HMRC has offered a derisory £250 in compensation. With the potential for missed entitlements or incorrect tax liabilities due to the three different numbers, the victim has been advised to seek professional financial advice.
What This Means for Your NI Number Security
This case exposes alarming flaws in a system where an NI number is a cornerstone of financial and legal identity. The consequences of such errors can be severe, ranging from identity fraud to ruined pension plans. HMRC's initial insouciance and lengthy delays highlight a systemic failure in handling serious data errors that devastate individuals' lives.
The core facts remain: a citizen has been declared dead by the state due to a clerical error, her pension rights are in jeopardy, and after a ten-year struggle, a solution is only now, tentatively, in sight.
