60 year old woman who hasn't worked!

Maestroman

Hello all

Is there anyone out there who knows if my mum will be entitled to the basic state pension (and how much is it exactly?) now that she is about to turn 60.

Basically she is worried because she only worked for about 7 years and then gave up work for the next 30 years to raise her family. She has just been told that she should have informed the govt that she was now a non working parent in order to get credit for the years she wasn't working, but she never actually done this.

Can anyone give any advice

Much appreciated.

Thanks
MM

tanith

There is lots of information here...http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/ your mum should request a pension forecast but she also needs to have her Home Responsibilities Protection updated if she rings this no. 08459158068 at the Inland Revenue with her National Insurance No. handy they can look and see wether she already has any HRP for the time she was home looking after the children..... then once her record is updated she should request her pension forecast .. They should be in touch with her anyway if she is about to turn 60....

I expect someone else with more knowledge than I will be along shortly with some more info......

Good Luck

Maestroman

ta tanith,

shes only a month from 60 so was surprised she hadnt received any forms etc!

CIS

Her HRP may save her , but it wont give her a full state pension.

HRP would have been automatically granted if she was claiming child benefit, but only accrued from 1978 onwards until 5th april prior to the childs 16th birthday.

When where her children born ?, it makes a big difference to the final figure, I used to come across a lot of people who had fallen in to a trap of relying too much on HRP , to their detrement.

CIS

She needs to use forn CF411 to ensure the HRP is on her record, if it's not been applied automatically (it should have been).

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/cf411.pdf

Maestroman

great help CIS. First child was born in 1970 and last reached 16 7 years ago

CIS

In that case, she would have HRP from 6/4/1978 straight through until 5/4/1998 (poissibly 99 depending on birthdate).

That would give her a minimum of 20yrs HRP, the maximum that is actually used is 19yrs.

So, she needs 20yrs for a full pension and ahs at most 7 qualifying yrs, best possible pension is (100/20)*7 = 35%. Anything less than 25% and she wont get any pension at all.

When your dad retires, you mum can claim an increase based on his NI record. This will increase her pension to a figure not more than 60% of his basic state pension. (his pension is un-affected).

To apply for her pension , you need form BR1
http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/pdf/br1/br1apr06.pdf

Any more question , please ask (I used to be a pensionservice advisor)

Maestroman

Really appreciate all your help here CIS, but I'm slightly confused by your 3rd paragraph. Can you confirm that given she worked for 7 years she will get 35% of the full amount (i.e. £85 * 35% per week)?

many thanks

CIS

Yep , thats right.

As a brief into to pensions, qualifying yrs and HRp work as such:,

A woman currently needs 39 'requisite yrs' to get a full pension, so each yr is worth (100/39)= approx 3% of a full pension (circa £85).

HRP reduces the requisite yrs you need for a full pension, so if you have, for example, 10yrs of HRP, you need 39-10 or 29yrs for a full pension.
So, each qualifying year you achieve would then be worth (100/29) or 4%(always roundd up) of a full pension.

Maestroman

great get it now thx.

My Dad will be 65 in another 3 years. Given he has paid full NI conts all his working life (since age 17) what sort of uplift would my mum expect when he hits SPA?

Jays

Could you tell me how part-time work fits into this equation? If a women works full-time for 10 years, then has a break to have a family, but returns to work only part-time, how does the system work?

Thanks for any help you can offer,
Jays