State Pension commenced in 2017/18 - incorrect rate being paid!

dampsquib

Is anyone else having difficulty getting DWP to pay the correct rate for a pension claimed this year?

I qualified for my pension at 65 and I have credits for 40 years of full NI Contribution years, including a new system post-baseline valuable credit for 2016/17.
Years of being contracted-out destroy my new-system calculation, so I have to rely on the old system safety-net figure.
As the current old-system rate is now £122.30 per week, and my 2016/17 credit should get me another £4.56 per week, I calculate my pension at £126.86 plus I am also entitled to a few pence per week re ancient graduated contributions.
DWP have revised my rate once after numerous calls, but claim my rate is about 3 pounds less than my figure, but have not explained that anything is wrong with my logic. They also claim oddly that HMRC now calculates the pension rate, rather than DWP. Not heard that one before.
I thought that once the system got updated to show my credit for 2016/17, my rate would simply be increased by £4.56 per week (1/35 £159.55).

greenglide

They also claim oddly that HMRC now calculates the pension rate, rather than DWP. Not heard that one before

Yes, they do. Ever since the Contributions Agency part of DWP became part of HMRC (in the early 90s?) the contributions data is held by HMRC in the NPS system (previously NIRS2).

The data is copied to DWP four months before people SPa . The initial calculations are done by HMRC in the same way that the online pensions forecasts are done by HMRC. The paper forecasts are done by DWP.

Unfortunately the nSP award notification gives absolutely no data to enable the punter to know whether it is right or not. DWP insist on reducing the details supplied because it confuses the punters.

dampsquib

Delighted to report that after months of phone calls and broken promises, a very nice DWP lady rang me today and confirmed that their calculation of my revised rate was incorrect and that the amount due was as calculated by me. More arrears and an increased rate are in the pipeline!:j

Pleased also to discover that in spite of the Government's efforts to destroy the Civil Service, there are still a few trained folks that work for the DWP, rather than just call-center types that can only read from a script.

I learned something else today too. I took the opportunity to point out that there was still a flaw in their (or HMRC's) contribution record software. My record incorrectly claims that 5 years of credits are carried forward re pre-April 75 years, but then correctly adds in only 4 years to the total. Seems that my early credits add up to 4 point something years. For the display, this is then incorrectly rounded up and displayed as 5 years, whereas the calculation correctly only gives me a credit for the 4 whole years. Luckily one year didn't make any difference to me, but had I been one year short, the figures displayed would have suggested I wasn't short, which wouldn't have been helpful.

dampsquib

Just remembered something else I meant to mention which others might find helpful.
After months of ringing DWP on 0345 6060265 and selecting the 'Any other query' option and someone saying that they'd pass the problem on for someone to look at (but nothing ever happened), I was tipped off that I'd be better off selecting the 'Change of Circumstances' option as I would then get through to a completely different office, staffed with folks who could actually do something. Even then I had to struggle on through one incorrect increase, before finally achieving the correct increase to my pension re my 2016/17 NI credit.