New State Pension starting amount and full record of qualifying years- trial service

LHW99

Hope its not the same issue as happened with Child Tax Credits early on.
I had managed to register for that online site, then on trying to fill in forms on-line for the next financial year I was told the details (address etc) I was trying to input didn't match their records (despite being the same as on the letters I received).
After significant to-ing & fro-ing between the normal helpdesk and the IT helpdesk it was finally discovered that there were actually 2 databases in use. The one the helpdesk could see - which was correct, and a 'background' DB used to communicate with the online forms and organise payments - the second one had been altered. No-one knew how or how to change it back.
They took the online site down a few weeks later!

Hal17

I just tried to register with Experian this morning and their system does not recognise me either by the details from my Photo ID driving licence and UK passport.

Not surprised this is still in Beta test.

onzey

onzey wrote: »

I requested a paper statement recently which arrived today and compared it to the online result I did mid January this year.

Online £130.66 per week

Paper £126.00 per week

In case it's of interest to anyone I received my SP Award Notice today with a final figure of (trumpet fanfare here)

£129.32 a week.

(Due to begin in May this year.)


The Notice came with a Statement of Details which is a copy of information held on their records, or that I gave.

Something was incorrect in my details and it indicated to ring 0845 60 60 265, which according to the head of page 1 (the Award Notice), is the number to ring, using a textphone, if you have speech or hearing difficulties. The other number mentioned on page 1 was 0345 60 60 265, so I thought I would ring that to get the error corrected. I was told on that number that they only dealt with things once the pension was in payment and said I should be ringing the claim line on 0800 731 7898. This I did and the error was duly noted but it was not something that would make any difference to my SP award.

SP sorted then.

SandLake

Registered with the beta service and got my forecast and detailed NI record

Quite happy with the outcome but it has raised a few questions - I have read through the thread to get some answers but I am floundering in figures.

Amount based on latest NI record (Apr 15) £144.65 pw

Amount if you continue to contribute £155.65 pw

I currently have 38 full years contributions and 1 'not full' year

I am currently 55 (soon to be 56), was made redundant a year ago, currently not workiong alough I may have just secured a casual job.

My questions revolve around how I can make my SP up to the £155pw. Am I right in saying if I make the necessary contributions (annually) the £144.65pw will increase by £4.32pw so I need to contribute for 2-3 years? Under normal circumstances(?) an income of £5824 will produce the required NI contribution which I think is approx £733.20 and if I earn half of £5824 then I can make a payment of half of £733.20 to make it up.
I have been dealing with an IFA regarding my personal/work pensions, is he the right person to talk to about this or should I talk to HMRC?

stanfranks

I have a forecast from the beta site last week.
My date for SP is Mar 2017.
The figure for contributions upto 2015 is 184,50 per week.
I have 45 qualifying years, 22 contracted out and 16 contracted in, the rest made of credits from being unemployed, gap for uni years.
No mention of COD or if its a 'starting amount'.
They state it is an estimate based on my NI record and based on existing laws.
I am already taking my company pension.
The figure given is much higher than expected but is there a sting to come due to being contracted out.

greenglide

No, there shouldnt be. The £184.50 must be the old rules calculation, you should get that.

The amount of the COD (which has always been part of the old rules calculation and "should", as far as possible be taken into account in arriving at the old rules calculation.

The size of the AP and the COD (which is subtracted from the AP) depends crucially on how much you earned during the contracted out and the not contracted out periods. If the contracted out periods were at a low pay compared to the not contracted out periods this would affect it.

It is quite common, my figures are around the same but I have always expected to get this amount, long before nSP came along.

stanfranks

Yes my contracted in years were after contracting out starting with 20% higher salary.
I may also have 2/3 years GP prior to 1978.
A couple of my friends at similar age and NI records have about the same amount so it does look like this is on the old scheme.
Not sure if increases due to triple lock have been included for 2015/16 & 2016/17.
Still its a tidy sum.

SnowMan

https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/checkmystatepension

They now seem to have a link to log in via the old Government Gateway system as well as through Verify, so anyone with old gateway log in details who can't get verified through Verify can have a try with that. I've just logged on via Gateway.

That could be an indication that there are some problems with Verify.

Meanwhile 2 weeks on from having suddenly been blocked out of my experian Verify account and told that they would get back to me in 2 weeks, experian have still failed to sort out why I can't log in so I still have no access. They can't give me a timescale for sorting things, and their only suggestion is for me to try and verify through one of the other providers if I want access. Fortunately the restoration of the Gateway option means I can access my record again.

xylophone

I am currently 55 (soon to be 56), was made redundant a year ago, currently not workiong alough I may have just secured a casual job.

My questions revolve around how I can make my SP up to the £155pw. Am I right in saying if I make the necessary contributions (annually) the £144.65pw will increase by £4.32pw so I need to contribute for 2-3 years? Under normal circumstances(?) an income of £5824 will produce the required NI contribution which I think is approx £733.20 and if I earn half of £5824 then I can make a payment of half of £733.20 to make it up.
I have been dealing with an IFA regarding my personal/work pensions, is he the right person to talk to about this or should I talk to HMRC?

If you are working, then you may be earning enough to pay or be credited with enough NI contributions for a qualifying year.

Otherwise, voluntary contributions would be possible.

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions

The above should be updated after 6 April.

If you work and earn enough, then you will of course continue to pay NI even after having reached your quota of years for a full new state pension.

speedyrite

SnowMan wrote: »

They now seem to have a link to log in via the old Government Gateway system as well as through Verify, so anyone with old gateway log in details who can't get verified through Verify can have a try with that. I've just logged on via Gateway.

A victory for common sense (and a solution for Mrs speedyrite), at last.

SnowMan wrote: »

That could be an indication that there are some problems with Verify.

Yes I read on the Gov Verify blog that they are finally acknowledging that some younger and older citizens cannot get verified because they don't fit the currently narrow profile on the financial front. More Verify providers will be introduced and a wider range of indicators will be checked to increase the acceptance rate. Eventually...