The Court of Appeal
heard Mr Kearney's appeal on 3 March. The Court comprised the
Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, Lord Justice Sullivan and Lady
Justice Arden. The unanimous judgment was delivered on 23
March. It allowed the appeal, so Mr Kearney is permitted to pay
the arrears of NI contributions out of time, and is entitled to a full
State Retirement Pension.
Any OSPA member wondering whether this judgment might be drawn upon to
help his or her own claim should read the whole judgment, and pay
particular attention to the last paragraph, and even more particularly
to its final sentence, reproduced below:
"For the reasons given above, I would allow this
appeal and reinstate the decision of the Commissioners. I would
observe that the result in this case should not be thought to reduce
the importance of the duties imposed on those who are liable to pay
NICs or who have the option to do so. Ignorance is not an excuse
save in limited circumstances. It is a person's own
responsibility to pay NICs, and, if he or she fails to do so at the
right time, he or she may lose the chance to pay them later on the
basis of ignorance at the appropriate time of the need to pay.
The facts of this case are unusual, and, while of course this judgment
deals only with this appeal, I would observe that facts like these may
not often occur."
To find the judgment on the website, go to:
www.bailii.org
then click on:
Recent decisions;
then:
England and Wales;
then:
Court of Appeal (Civil Division) which
gives a list of the
recent decisions, including the Kearney case.