Universal credit and private pension contributions

ader42

Well done for seeing this through, hopefully it will help many that want to save for a decent pension.

It was clear to me that this ability to contribute to a personal pension without penalisation was by design and intent when UC was devised.

It would be really extra nice if we at some point can get a good pointer to case law that we can give UC staff to refer to to keep them in line so to speak.

calcotti

ader42 said:

It was clear to me that this ability to contribute to a personal pension without penalisation was by design and intent when UC was devised.

It was of course similarly possible under Tax Credits to reduce earnings used by making pension contributions. For legacy DWP benefits pension contributions are also taken into account when calculating earnings (albeit only 50% of the contributions are deducted from the gross earnings). The opportunity for people to increase benefit entitlement by making pension contributions is thereforenot new.

steely333

TMel42 said:

It wasn’t mentioned but as it was upper tribunal, I think ( correct me if I’m wrong!) it’s made case law. Previously there was no case law regarding this type of thing. I am unsure how it will pan out after the initial back payment is calculated. 

Hi TMel42 have you had any official word yet on how you are to report your pension contributions? Or how yours is being handled?

TMel42

Nothing! I chased asking how long it would take for the payment to be processed as they have had the paperwork same length of time as me. She couldn’t give me an answer at all. 

I think I will have to go back to my mp or a lawyer. For a full year my kids should have been entitled to free school meals and I should have been able to claim council tax benefit but because of this I couldn’t. In turn all of this made me have to accept a different job which in turn means I can’t fulfil my caring responsibilities as I should. 

And yet now they are still depriving my family of income and I have a house riddled with damp awaiting repairs. They make me sick! 

steely333

TMel42 said:

Nothing! I chased asking how long it would take for the payment to be processed as they have had the paperwork same length of time as me. She couldn’t give me an answer at all. 

I think I will have to go back to my mp or a lawyer. For a full year my kids should have been entitled to free school meals and I should have been able to claim council tax benefit but because of this I couldn’t. In turn all of this made me have to accept a different job which in turn means I can’t fulfil my caring responsibilities as I should. 

And yet now they are still depriving my family of income and I have a house riddled with damp awaiting repairs. They make me sick! 

I would have thought yours would now be processed quicker having been to a tribunal, makes you wonder if anything works at DWP, I would strongly suggest going back to your MP as it should not take this long.
They make a simple thing so complicated then make you jump through hoops.

Yessy

Nothing better than printing my pension statement off every month to upload to UC. All after 10 journal messages to get somebody who understands the system to supply me with an upload link. Then have to wait a few months to get them to look at it.
Suppose it is all worth it in the end. 
Surely there should be an easier way for the staff to process this, their also put out by all the paperwork and messages.
I was originally told to just alter my  earnings minus the personal pension contributions on my journal, in the work and earnings section. This didn't work because it ignored my figures and just used my employers from HMRC regardless.

HaircutHel

Hi @TMel42  - I have just read this thread through and can’t believe the fight you had. 

I was wondering whether you now have a process for declaring your contributions so that they are deducted? I will be moving across to UC at some point this year and am going to encounter the same issue due to making payments into a SIPP from my take-home pay… 

spaniel101

HaircutHel said:

Hi @TMel42  - I have just read this thread through and can’t believe the fight you had. 

I was wondering whether you now have a process for declaring your contributions so that they are deducted? I will be moving across to UC at some point this year and am going to encounter the same issue due to making payments into a SIPP from my take-home pay… 

Hopefully you 'should' be ok these days.   The message has indeed taken a very long and frustrating path but dare I say UC are becoming more 'compliant' with the legislation, inparticular the Decision Makers.


I have recently gone through this.  With very many thanks to the extremely knowledgeable folks on here - I dived in head first, fully prepared for battle and stuck to a short paragraph and legislation:-


Requested an upload function for private pension contributions (ignored).
Phoned a few times, pushed through to Case Manager (ignored).
Phone put down on one occasion (following lots of finger tapping by the operator).
Left Journal message every 2 days.
Resulted in 1) Complaint for ignoring 2) Complaint for appauling/ignored customer service.
Allocated another Case Manager, who sent it all through to HMRC for an RTI check (very swiftly informed NO - its nothing to do with RTI wages, see my previous paragraph etc).
Even 'told off' at one point as the "journal is not a direct messaging service" (I complained about that too).
Picked up by Complaints Manager (who thankfully was excellent) and contacted me via journal (apologising).
Pushed new case Manager / Decision Maker that day.
By lunch time, I had my first 2 statements recalculated (+ 2 Decision Maker letters) and the owed pennies paid within 2 days (2 months worth).
There was a random 'confirm last 12 months income' check that popped up on 'To-Do' list in the middle of this too (done straight away).


The Decision Maker also left me a message on Journal, explaining for future months to request upload function and for immediate MR (mandatory reconsideration) and they will approve it moving forward (which is essentially what I did).   They also informed the case manager and fed back to complaints manager who sent me an apologetic letter on journal later that day. 


Once your upload function has been put on your journal, upload your private pension contribution statement (I highlighted the relevant payment), with a message:


For MR/Decision Maker - separate to my occupational pension (net pay pre-tax RTI), I also pay into a relief at source Private personal pension (SIPP) post tax.  I am required to report these to you separately on a monthly basis in order to deduct from pay to establish employed earnings used in the calculation of UC.  Please confirm this has gone to a Decision Maker.

UC legislation 55 (5) (a):

"In calculating the amount of a persons employed earnings in respect of an assessment period, there are to be deducted from the amount of general earnings or benefits specified in paragraph (2) to (4):

a)   ANY relievable pension contributions by the person in that period.

Also covered under UC ADM H3170 to H3173.
 



Unfortunately the work coaches / case managers are not that familiar with it (lack of training in this area), so you must push through to Decision Maker.   Keep messaging on journal, ensure you receive confirmation each and every time that it has been sent through for MR, and dont allow them to drop the ball (or ignore you).

HaircutHel

Thank you @spaniel101 sounds like a huge pain, but worth it I guess. Very helpful advice!

RobinHill

My partner had no end of problems with this. Due to the pension contributions calculations being delayed sometimes for six months or so this caused council tax and prescription charges that could not be subsequently rectified. Fortunately she is no longer on UC.