Have yet to receive my state pension invitation letter

bigk

I am due to start receiving my state pension on 6th September but still haven't got my "invitation to claim" letter. I have accessed my estimated pension amount via the gov.uk portal but this has obviously not been confirmed yet and there is less than 3mths left to sort it all out (especially if it is not correct). I have contacted DWP and they tell me that I should wait until the 2mth point (even though their website and other sites say I should receive the "letter" about 4mths before the Pension is due to start!


How near to their pension starting have other people received their letter? I may be worrying unnecessarily but there are other things to sort out (like tax) and the fact that the estimate and the actual pension assessment may differ and time is running out!


Thanks for your help.

elphicks

It's not necessary to have received the letter to make a claim.
As a new user I can't unfortunately provide a link. google "claim state pension" and click on the second result from the top: "The new State Pension: How to claim - GOV.UK" link. This will give you your options.

bigk

Thanks for your reply. I just wondered why I had not yet received my letter and how others had fared receiving theirs. I also wanted a written confirmation from the DWP of the "estimated" pension amount as seen via the portal online, thus giving me a chance to challenge it if there are any discrepancies.

Freeman24reverseFpenny

bigk wrote: »

I am due to start receiving my state pension on 6th September but still haven't got my "invitation to claim" letter. I have accessed my estimated pension amount via the gov.uk portal but this has obviously not been confirmed yet and there is less than 3mths left to sort it all out (especially if it is not correct). I have contacted DWP and they tell me that I should wait until the 2mth point (even though their website and other sites say I should receive the "letter" about 4mths before the Pension is due to start!


How near to their pension starting have other people received their letter? I may be worrying unnecessarily but there are other things to sort out (like tax) and the fact that the estimate and the actual pension assessment may differ and time is running out!


Thanks for your help.

I didn't receive a claim form either. When it got to within just under 3 months I called them, and made a claim over the phone. Literally as simple as that. A few days later I got my award notice.

You can make a claim over the internet as well. I can't do links as I've not been here long enough, but if you google "claiming state pension online" it'll take you there.

Gers

I got mine late March for a July start and then did the online claim. On 26 April I got my confirmation letter of the amount and start date.

bigk

Many thanks for your helpful replies. I contacted DWP about 3 weeks ago and was told that I could not make a claim until after 6th July (in other words 2mths or under before my pension is due.) I told them that I didn't think it was long enough to iron out any problems which may arise but to no avail. This was the pensions futures department. Thankfully I am not dependant on collecting my pension on time if things go wrong! Having worked in the civil service for 33 yrs, they quite often do!

drumtochty

[FONT=&quot]There is no show stopper here if the pension amount they advise is incorrect or you need to make some voluntary contributions. Your pension will be corrected and any shortfall will be paid to you. You advise you are not waiting on it as you have other funding.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]OK a bit of a pain but not the end of the world. You do say you worked for the civil service before so nothing new here.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I did not get the pension invite letter but by good lady did get hers just over 4 months before her state pension commencement date.[/FONT]

grnglide

DWP regularly "manage" the flow of the invitation to claim letters to manage their resources to process the claims generated. This can often result in them being sent out less than a month before SPa.


If your SPa is in June (say) they will not want the letter going out in March when the may require contributions data for the tax year just finishing.


For most people a State Pension claim is quite straightforward, and should not require any "ironing out". If there are any problems which are still outstanding at SPa date they will just pay what they think is due and make any adjustments in due course.

Gers

Gers wrote: »

I got mine late March for a July start and then did the online claim. On 26 April I got my confirmation letter of the amount and start date.

grnglide wrote: »

If your SPa is in June (say) they will not want the letter going out in March when the may require contributions data for the tax year just finishing.


For most people a State Pension claim is quite straightforward, and should not require any "ironing out". If there are any problems which are still outstanding at SPa date they will just pay what they think is due and make any adjustments in due course.

Well, I got mine in March for a July start.

Tom99

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

p00hsticks

Gers wrote: »

Well, I got mine in March for a July start.

What grnglide says makes sense...


If DWP delay slightly processing pension applications for those who are due to retire in the period immediately after the previous years NI records are updated (September / October ?) , and for whom that final year makes a material difference to their pension entitlement then they'll get it right first time and not have to almost immediately recalculate it.


. or would that be too sensible for a government organisation ?