Combining State pension contributions from European countries

Markyaluny

I recently returned to live in UK after living abroad for 20 years. During part of that time I was working for 12 years in Spain and paying contributions to DSS in Spain all that time though not quite long enough to qualify for Spanish pension. Being part of Europe I believed that my contributions in Spain can count towards the number of qualifying years for my UK pension ( I also have 20 years worth in UK), but when I called up DSS in UK they told me that they cannot confirm if those years will count until they make the final assessment and calculation when I am 67 in the 3 months before any pension would begin (I’m now 55 years old).

Is there a way I can confirm if the years in Spain will count towards my UK pension now? I need to know now in order to decide whether to pay AVC’s or not over the next 12 years.

Dazed_and_confused

Have you checked your State Pension forecast on gov.uk to see how relevant this will be?

Do you mean AVC's or voluntary NI?

lisboa84

Markyaluny wrote: »

I recently returned to live in UK after living abroad for 20 years. During part of that time I was working for 12 years in Spain and paying contributions to DSS in Spain all that time though not quite long enough to qualify for Spanish pension. Being part of Europe I believed that my contributions in Spain can count towards the number of qualifying years for my UK pension ( I also have 20 years worth in UK), but when I called up DSS in UK they told me that they cannot confirm if those years will count until they make the final assessment and calculation when I am 67 in the 3 months before any pension would begin (I’m now 55 years old).

Is there a way I can confirm if the years in Spain will count towards my UK pension now? I need to know now in order to decide whether to pay AVC’s or not over the next 12 years.

Did you contact the UK future pensions centre?

I suspect the DSS in Spain said that they can't confirm until they make your final assessment because it's like asking what the rules in the future are going to be.

The way I understand the rules of today is that you are currently on course to receive both 12th/35.5 of the Spain state pension, plus 20th/35 of the UK state pension; but this I would call the future pension centre to confirm the rules as of today.

xylophone

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

woolly_wombat

Markyaluny wrote: »

I recently returned to live in UK after living abroad for 20 years. During part of that time I was working for 12 years in Spain and paying contributions to DSS in Spain all that time though not quite long enough to qualify for Spanish pension.

Under current current EU/EEA pension rules, you would still be eligible for a Spanish pension:
https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/retire-abroad/state-pensions-abroad/index_en.htm

Eligibility periods

In some EU countries, you must have worked for a minimum period of time to be entitled to a pension.

In such cases, the pension authority has to take into account all the periods you've worked in other EU countries, as if you'd been working in that country all along, to assess whether you're entitled to a pension ( principle of aggregation of periods).

If you click on the dropdown menu near the top of the page (UK decision to invoke Article 50) and click on the first option you will see that the rights of EU and UK citizens would continue under the Withdrawal Agreement. If you are concerned about the possibility of a 'no deal' then speak to your MP!

Being part of Europe I believed that my contributions in Spain can count towards the number of qualifying years for my UK pension

No, that's a common misunderstanding of how the principle of aggregation of periods operates, and in any case you already have more than the current 10 years minimum for a UK State Pension. You can boost your State Pension further through employment in the UK or by paying additional voluntary NICs.