Are you a woman over 60 who doesn’t get a state pension? Get £1000s back

EdInvestor

Wonderwoman wrote: »

Thanks so much for all help but I come back to my original question - is it better to pay it now or to hang on to my money til the 2009 expiry date??? Once again apologies to sound so dim!!!

It may not be necessary now for you to pay anything at all following the rule change - the letter you received has been overtaken by events.You need to work out if you will have accumulated 30 years at your retirement date, or will fall short.

After doing that, if you think you will have 30 years, then go back to the Pensions Service to confirm you don't have to pay extra.

EdInvestor

hellojaney wrote: »

they said she would have to pay UPFRONT £1600 and it would not even be worth her effort in the long run!

Each case is different.This idea won;t work for everyone.If the woman has only a very few years in the first place, she will usually be better off taking 60% of her hiusband's pension based on his contributions.

they also told her my fathers pension is £87.(got full stamp)but my uncle gets over £100.

Your uncle will also be entitled to SERPS/S2P on top of the basic state pension (that's the 87 pounds a week).Probably your father was 'contracted out" of SERPS/S2P and receives instead a private or company pension which includes this amount (and may actually be larger.)

EdInvestor

Pippachops wrote: »

Next March i am 60, but my husband is not 65 till 2013 (ie both born in 1948).
I have worked approximately 18 years (Full Stamp).

Do i have any pension entitlements when i reach 60 or do i wait until my husband is 65?

Yes you will be entitled to a pension in your own right from aged 60.Make sure if appropriate that you are credited with extra years for staying at home looking after the children.

If your pension is less than 60% of what your husband gets when he turns 65,they will top your pension up to that level at that time.

As you will reture before 2010, you can get a forecast now of what you will get, and check that the years credited are correct here:

https://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk

Nytehawk

MSE_Martin wrote: »

Hi folks

Thanks for all the great contributions above. Sadly the allocation system is incredibly complex; and it's for this reason I avoided too much of an explanation. There is nothing wrong with calling the number in the first post and simply asking if you're eligible - in fact its by far the easiest way

Martin
Do you think you could ask a member of the D WP to participate in this thread as it is clear that there are many issues that could be answered without the hassle caused by hanging on phones and clogging up an extremely busy department. That way the information would be nearer the facts and folk here could be better informed especially those that are directly affected

Just a Thought...

jxehee

Woodville wrote: »

As my missus only receives a pension of £211.20, due to paying the reduced "married woman's" rate after we married in 1962, she did not collect 10 years full contributions. However, after reading the blog, I made some enquiries, and sure enough, the pension service are looking in to it for me, so that the wife can "pay back" the shortages, and thus receive a full basic pension of £87 per week. The repayment outweighs the contributions that are owing, so with luck, we will get a dividend backdated to 2001, plus an increase in her pension of about £130 a month. The direct telephone number to ring is 0191-218-2550. The staff there are very good, and will advise you as to what you have to do next. This will suit all women who are over the pension age and not receiving the full whack. Thanks a million for the advice. Cheers, Woodville.

I also paid the married woman's NI stamp and telephoned the deficiency helpline. They told me I could only go back to 1996 and it was aprox.£300 per year shortfall and then passed me onto another dept.only to be told that I would not benefit by paying the shortfall as I was receiving 60% (£211.20) of the pension against my husband's contributions. He also said that back in 60s married women were treated dreadfully and were NOT told by the Govt.they would NOT receive a pension (and I believe sick benefit). I asked if we could sue the Govt.the same as many have done so with missold Endowment Mortgages for misselling the married woman's national insurance to them. He said he could see that happening in a couple of years time. How about now? My last job was fulltime for 21 years until retirement in 2000.

EdInvestor

jxehee wrote: »

I also paid the married woman's NI stamp and telephoned the deficiency helpline. They told me I could only go back to 1996 and it was aprox.£300 per year shortfall and then passed me onto another dept.only to be told that I would not benefit by paying the shortfall as I was receiving 60% (£211.20) of the pension against my husband's contributions. My last job was fulltime for 21 years until retirement in 2000.

60% of husband's pension equates to approx 23 years NI credits.So if you can't get more than that using the 10 years' back payments, plus HRP (max 16 years from 1978) plus whatever other years you might already have from working, then you won't benefit from buying back years.

seven-day-weekend

I must have worked for a very good company then, because I always knew that paying married womens' stamp would not provide me with a pension. I started work in 1966 and got married in 1971. I did pay the 'small' stamp for about a year and then switched. I'm so glad I did.

keaskin

I agree with Nytehawk in asking Martin if he could ask someone from dwp to answer some of the questions on this thread.

I will reach 60 in 2009 so old rules apply to me,on getting a forcast i have been told I have these options,

A No pension not enough contributions,

B Buy years to enable me to get approx 70% of pension,

C Wait four and a half years and get 60% from my husbands pension,

D If we get DIVORCED before I reach pension age I would then be able to claim full 100% pension from my husbands contributions.

This goverment advocates FAMILY VALUES yet it seems its pension policy for women promotes divorce by paying you at the moment full pension of £87 a week if you divorce. Also is this not discrimination against married women.


I also asked dwp if I could claim two extra home responsibilities years as my son stayed on at school two years after his sixteenth birthday and I was still getting family allowance for him Two people I spoke to said no and one said yes I could if I can send proof I was getting family allowance,I phoned social services only to be told they dont have records that far back ( 1994 ) so how am I supposed to get proof if what this person said is true.
does anyone know the answer to this please.
Thank you.

margaretclare

jxehee wrote: »

He also said that back in 60s married women were treated dreadfully and were NOT told by the Govt.they would NOT receive a pension (and I believe sick benefit).

Sick benefit, unemployment benefit and retirement pension. The only thing that the 'small stamp' covered was industrial injuries.

When I married for the first time in 1957 no one 'told' me anything, the Government certainly didn't. It was just generally assumed that a married woman didn't need those things, her husband provided them for her. It all goes back to the assumptions made by Beveridge, the main architect of the Welfare State, who talked about married women having 'other duties' which he said were to 'replenish the population'. So that was how it was, from 1948 to 1978, when the option to pay reduced contributions disappeared for women marrying from April that year.

Like 7DWE, I did it for a short while and then switched back. It was one of the best things I ever did. I'm in the 30% of retired women who receives full SRP in my own right.

Margaret

CIS

This goverment advocates FAMILY VALUES yet it seems its pension policy for women promotes divorce by paying you at the moment full pension of £87 a week if you divorce. Also is this not discrimination against married women.

A Full penion isn't always the case on divorce, the actual pension calculation looks at both your and your ex's contributions and a calculation is made on that (uses a process called substituion) - a large number don't get 100%.

I also asked dwp if I could claim two extra home responsibilities years as my son stayed on at school two years after his sixteenth birthday and I was still getting family allowance for him Two people I spoke to said no and one said yes I could if I can send proof I was getting family allowance,I phoned social services only to be told they dont have records that far back ( 1994 ) so how am I supposed to get proof if what this person said is true.
does anyone know the answer to this please.
Thank you.

HRP is only accrued up to and including the last full tax year prior to a child's 16th birthday - i.e the maximum per chidl is 15 yrs.