Claiming Pension for my Dad

villieb

Afternoon all,

I spend a few hours with my dad trying to claim his state pension.

When claiming, it asks whether he has registered Government Gateway - which he is

The final question is "Do you have an activation code for "State Pension online" - how on earth do I (and by I... I mean my dad....) get this activation code?

When logging into Government Gateway, we don't see any type of pension service....

Please help...

Thanks

molerat

It looks fairly clear on the on line form

Go to Government Gateway and sign in with your existing user ID and password.

This will then create an activation code which will then be sent to you in the post. This will take 3 to 7 days.

Come back to GOV.UK to start your claim for State Pension online.

What happens when you sign in to GG ? I assume that going from the pension application page to GG will create a code for that service and make it available to you once issued. GG has a habit of only allowing you to see the various pages you are registered for, as you are not registered for it you cannot even see that it exists.

luvchocolate

Its very easy to claim by phone.

xylophone

He might prefer to use the phone service - if he wants his pension paid weekly he will have to ask for it specifically - it will not be offered.

https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/how-to-claim

ArchaeoNeo

Hi, you need to make sure you're claiming through the DWP GG, many people already have access to HMRC GG which tells you about tax, NI, SP forecast, etc. This is not the account to use, you need to do the following:
Go to the GOV.UK website and type SPOL in the search bar, the top result will be Claim Your State Pension Online - you need to be within 4 months of your retirement age to do this, (2 months if claiming over the phone).
Click Start Now and it will ask you a few questions re: the above, living in the UK and whether you are registered. Say NO to registered user and then follow the prompts to set up your DWP GG account.
Your userID and activation code will arrive separately through the post, for security purposes, within 2-7 days.
When these arrive, login again using the userID, and the password you used to set up your account; answer the questions as above but this time say YES to registered user, this time it will ask you for your activation code; type this in and away you go.
Within 14 days of your retirement date you'll receive a letter from the State Pension Dept.
Happy days!

luvchocolate

I still think its easier to phone up...done and dusted in no time at all.

mjmal51

luvchocolate wrote: »

I still think its easier to phone up...done and dusted in no time at all.

+1 agree it is very easy. I wanted weekly anyway so this is the only way to get it paid that way, but remember to ask for this option, they do not offer it upfront.

jamesd

Does he know that those who defer claiming it who reached state pension age from 6 April 2016 have it increased by 5.8% per year of deferral, inflation linked for life? For those who reached SPA before then it's 10.4% mostly inheritable by a spouse, an even better deal.

It's usually good for those in good health without negative lifestyle factors to do this for a while. For such people it's usually a far better deal than say buying an annuity or keeping lots of money in savings accounts.