Is National Insurance an Insurance Payment?

The reason I ask this question is if it is then surely one has entered into a contract.(Offer / acceptance & money or monies worth)

By paying the NI contributions and by the Govt accepting them surely a contract has been entered into. If this is the case then to change that contract must be illegal.

So for someone on contributions based IB and being migrated onto contributions based ESA isn't that breaking the contract.

Or am i completely wrong on this?

When I was working I never signed a contract with the Government to pay NI in return for anything in particular. The Government just took it and promised nothing!

I think it's an interesting question, but sadly there are a couple of problems.

Firstly, for there to be a contract, there has to be an intention on both parties to create legal relations, and the intent has to be to create the same legal relations. If what one party intends is not the same as what the other party intends, there is no contract and if either party does not intend to create legal relations, there is no contract.

Secondly, any contract can be voided by legislation. You can enter into as many contracts as you like, but if parliament overrides them, you're stuffed.

So in the case of NI, I think the contract argument falls down firstly because I don't think that the crown as represented by her parliament and treasury(who would be the one party to the contract)intends to enter into a contract of the nature you describe; and secondly, any legislation that parliament brings in that conflicts with that contract you thought you had entered into will throw it out of the window.

It's a contract similar to 'the offer you can't refuse', from the Godfather.