Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) online and (b) postal CA8421 certificate applications are currently overdue for processing and how long the backlog for applicants is for each.

Due to increased demand for National Insurance services ahead of the 5 April 2025 deadline for making voluntary contributions, there have been delays in processing A1 applications.

As of 2 December 2025:

• There are around 11,000 digital (online A1) applications outside of service level agreements (SLA). The average wait time is 7 months.
• Within the above 11,000 figure, there are approximately 4,240 digital (online) CA8421 applications which are outside of SLA. The average wait time is 7 months.
• There are around 1,300 postal applications outside of SLA. The average wait time is 7 months.
• Within the above 1,300 figure, there are approximately 430 postal CA8421 applications which are outside of SLA. The average wait time is 7 months.

HMRC is aware of the impact of these delays on customers and is taking steps to improve processing times. HMRC is training 700 more National Insurance advisers and expect to meet their SLAs on this work by the end of December 2025.

HMRC encourages customers to apply online for A1 certificates as these are quicker to deal with.