Can You Get Paid (and Employed) Without a National Insurance Number?

Yes. You can legally be paid, and an employer can legally take you on, without a National Insurance (NI) number. HMRC does not require the number before your first payday. Your employer runs payroll as normal, leaves the NI number field blank on their submission to HMRC, and adds the number once it comes through. The one thing you do need to sort out is applying for an NI number, because it is your responsibility as the employee, not your employer’s.

Working without a National Insurance number is fine in the short term. An NI number is a personal reference that HMRC and the Department for Work and Pensions use to track your tax and National Insurance contributions. It is not a permit and it is not what gives you the right to work in the UK (more on that below).

If you have started a new job and don’t have a number yet, tell your employer. They can still pay you, and you should still start paying Income Tax and National Insurance in the normal way. Once your number is issued, HMRC reconciles everything against your record, so nothing is lost.

Yes, you can employ someone without a NI number, and you can run payroll for them straight away. Here is how it works in practice:

• Report as normal. On your Full Payment Submission (FPS) to HMRC, leave the National Insurance number field blank. HMRC will match the employee using their name, date of birth, gender and address, so make sure those details are accurate.
• For staff coming from abroad, HMRC’s guidance is to leave the NI letters and contribution values blank until the number is issued, then update your software.
• Set the tax code from the starter checklist. A missing NI number does not by itself set the tax code. If a new starter has no P45, you use the HMRC starter checklist and will usually apply an emergency tax code of 1257L (on a W1/M1 basis) for the 2026/27 tax year, until HMRC tells you otherwise.
• Add the number when it arrives. Once the employee gives you their NI number, enter it into your payroll software. Any tax adjustments are picked up in the next payroll run.

A missing NI number should never hold up someone’s first payslip. If you are unsure how your software handles it, or you are worried about a payslip without a National Insurance number showing errors, it is usually a matter of leaving the field blank rather than entering a placeholder.

Getting payroll right for new starters, RTI submissions and tax codes is exactly the kind of admin our outsourced finance department takes off your plate, so nobody’s pay is ever late.

If your employee has never had an NI number, they apply directly to HMRC. The process is now mostly online:

1. Go to gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number. You can only apply while you are in the UK.
2. Prove your identity, usually online by uploading photos of your ID documents and a photo of yourself. If you can’t verify online, HMRC may ask you to attend an appointment.
3. You’ll get an email with an application reference number, and it can take up to 4 weeks to receive the number after your identity is confirmed.

If you had an NI number but have lost or forgotten it, you don’t need to reapply. Check a payslip, P60 or your HMRC online account first, use the gov.uk/find-national-insurance-number service, or complete form CA5403 to get it by post. The NI number application helpline is 0800 141 2079.

This is the point that trips employers up. A National Insurance number is not evidence that someone can legally work in the UK. Right-to-work checks are a completely separate legal duty. Before an employee’s first day, you must carry out and record a right-to-work check using a valid document (such as a passport) or the Home Office online checking service. Do this whether or not the person has an NI number, because it is the right-to-work check, not the NI number, that protects you from illegal-working penalties.

If new starters, RTI or missing NI numbers are causing payroll headaches, we can help. Call FD Works on 01454 300 999 or email [email protected], and our outsourced finance team will make sure your people are paid correctly and on time.