National Insurance number

When to use this pattern

Follow this pattern whenever you need to ask for a National Insurance number.

When not to use this pattern

Never use National Insurance numbers to verify a user's identity.

How it works

Use a single text input labelled 'National Insurance number'. Write it out in full and never use abbreviations such as 'NINO' or 'NI Number'.

Show a National Insurance number using the format 'QQ 12 34 56 C' - the spaces will break up the number to make it easier to read, particularly for screen reader users.

When asking for a National Insurance number:

• allow for 13 characters as National Insurance numbers are spaced in pairs followed by a single letter
• let users enter upper and lower case letters, additional spaces and punctuation
• ignore any unwanted characters before validating
• avoid using 'AB 12 34 56 C' as an example because it belongs to a real person and use 'QQ 12 34 56 C' instead
• set the spellcheck attribute to false so that browsers do not spellcheck the National Insurance number