Shortfall in National Insurance Contributions

baby_boomer

My son was about to send off his cheque to make up past contributions when I pointed out to him the change in requirement to qualify for a full state pension had just fallen from 44 years to 30.

In the era of "open government" shouldn't the government have told him of this revolutionary change so that he could make an informed decision about what was best for him? (He's currently desperate to save up for a house deposit so that's clearly the best avenue for his money at present.)

It makes me laugh. On pensions issues in general, if the government had been an IFA they could have been sued for £billions. But as the government they get away with it .

EdInvestor

More details here.
http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/pensions-reform/home.asp

One thing they don't mention is that the system also goes unisex from 2010, so males can get state pensions based on their wives' contributions.

There was quite a lot of publicity some time ago when the Bill was presented to the Commons.

IMHO the main criticism is that the DWP has seen fit to shut down its forecasting service for an entire year as soon as the Bill went through.Since there was never any real political opposition to the changes, they could surely have started the work some time ago.

CIS

IMHO the main criticism is that the DWP has seen fit to shut down its forecasting service for an entire year as soon as the Bill went through.Since there was never any real political opposition to the changes, they could surely have started the work some time ago.

If its anything like the change to the new system which was happening as I was working there then it'll be a !!!!!!!! up from the start.

libapasztor

hello everyone this is my first time, please be kind to me!

i called the national insurance helpline today, and they told me that you are unable to buy extra years if you retired before 1996. does anyone know if this is correct, as my wife retired in 1994.

thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer,

steve.

sharnad

libapasztor wrote: »

hello everyone this is my first time, please be kind to me!

i called the national insurance helpline today, and they told me that you are unable to buy extra years if you retired before 1996. does anyone know if this is correct, as my wife retired in 1994.

thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer,

steve.

Yes You are only allowed to buy back ten years worth of conts

libapasztor

hello,

thanks for the reply sharnad, that will be useful advice for my daughter. however, with regards to my wife, i was told that as she retired in 1994, she isnt allowed to buy any years. does anyone know any different?

many thanks,

steve

jamesd

The ten years is because of a lack of reminders sent out after 1996 due to a problem with a new computer system. As a result anyone can buy from that year on based on the assumption that if they had received a reminder they would have acted.

There was no glitch prior to that so there has been no reason to extend this further back in time.

fwor

This thread seems to have been corrupted recently, and some of the posts have gone missing.

Prior to that there was a post that referred to the situation before the recent reform, whereby between the ages of 60 and 65 you would get free NI credits if you did not already have enough years to qualify for a full state pension. The (now missing) post seemed to imply that this would still apply after the reform - meaning that if you had 25 qualifying years by the age of 60 there would be no point in buying the remaining 5 years.

Does anyone know if this is correct or not? I've looked carefully through the Pension Service web pages that describe the reform, but it doesn't ~appear~ to address that specific issue.

sophie2

Hi I am British citizen who has lived and worked in several different European countries, including the UK. I'm nearing retirement age and now find I have to claim my retirement from all the different countries I've worked in. I asked for my E205 form from the UK. I worked from age 13 every Saturday and every holiday, and paid my stamp, but this is not recorded - only from age 16. Also it does not give me any credits for time when i had to stop work to look after my daughter and I am wondering if I can claim for this. She was born in 1968. I read somewhere on this board that my name has to be on a family allowance book to qualify. I wasn't allowed any F.A. as you didn't get it for the first child in those days. I am a single mother. It was difficult to get any help at all in those days. In the end I left the UK because I couldn't manage.

In France I was exploited, because of my situation. My employers didn't declare me even though they had promised to, so that they didn't have to pay the social costs (they often didn't pay me what I was owed also - but that is another story) so I have no employment record for the first year and a half I worked there. Eventually I worked for people who did declare me, but have lost all records with moving around, and the French don't seem to keep any. So I have lost those years too.

I will have a very tiny pension from Switzerland where I worked for about 30 years in total as you need at least 40 years for a full pension.

So I have quite a shortfall and really need to do something about it if I am going to survive. A friend of mine who worked in Switzerland also continued to pay in the UK. I am wondering if I can buy back any years in the UK? I read on this post that it is possible before April. Can anyone tell me how to do so and how much this costs?

Sorry for my ignorance but I am not up-to-date with these matters.

I'm new to this board so hope I am not breaking any rules or posting in the wrong place. I'm not trying to get something I'm not entitled to either. Just recuperate what I have lost. I've worked hard all my life and now find i am in a difficult situation.

Also like to know about deferring pension until age 65 as I am told you the receive a larger pension. Do you pay the stamps during these years. Can someone let me know where I can find out answers to these questions.

jamesd

sophie2, you should contact the Pension Service.

Among the questions you should ask are whether it's possible for you to get enough years to qualify for a UK pension. Buying enough extra years to fill in any gaps in your contributions from 1996 onwards to let you qualify would probably be a very helpful step if it is possible.

They may not be able to give you an answer at the moment because it may depend on them finding out what your EU pension contributions were, notably in France. So the results of the E205 check will be vital.

When you are eligible to retire will also make a difference since those who reach UK state retirement age before 5 April 2010 get a worse deal. For those who reach retirement age before then 11 years of EU employment are required to qualify for the UK basic state pension, receiving only part of the pension for that, the amount increasing as the number of years increases. A full pension would require 44 years worth of pension contributions from employment within the EU (or purchase of extra years to get there). Delaying taking the pension doesn't affect this eligibility question - it's when you're entitled to retire that matters.

It sounds as though you've checked already but if you haven't, the Pension Service can tell you for every year in which you worked in the UK how much you earned and it that year counted towards the pension. They can run through this on the phone even (I did it via the Future Pension Center).

You don't have to pay the stamp if you delay taking your pension.