Contracted Out Ni contributions

Nat6999

When I started work as a civil servant I was given something to sign to contract out of NI contributions, I was 18 & not given any information, just a form stuck in front of me & told to sign it.

I'm 53 now & haven't worked for 10 years, I'm on benefits, I'm worried about my state pension, that I won't get enough to manage, I already get my work pension, through ill health. Someone has said i may have been wrongly contracted out.

Dazed_and_confused

Did "someone" explain why?

The best thing you can do now is check your State Pension forecast on gov.uk to see what pension you have accrued so far.

It is important to read past the headline £168.60 and see what you have actually accrued.

The forecast should also detail how many years you need to contribute to get the standard new State Pension of £168.60. If necessary you can purchase additional years by paying voluntary National Insurance.

In your case there will be a COPE amount shown. And no, you don't deduct that from your State Pension forecast.

p00hsticks

You were presumably contracted out in return for being enrolled in the civil service pension ?

Assuming you were working full time, you will have still been paying some NI, but at a lower rate than if you had been contracted in. This would have entitled you to the basic state pension , but not any 'additional' state pension (SERPS/ S2P).

The introduction of the new State Pension in 2016 did away with the idea of contracting in and out, and chances are that this will have worked out well for you - you'll probably end up with a higher state pension that you would have expected under the old rules, and your civil service pension on top.

If you are on benefits now you should be automatically getting getting NI credits.

Have a look at your State Pension forecast here and see how much you are predicted to get
https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension


Also look into what civil service pension you accumulated while working for them - you should have received a letter when you left. If not this is a good starting point to follow it up https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/members/

hyubh

Nat6999 wrote: »

When I started work as a civil servant I was given something to sign to contract out of NI contributions, I was 18 & not given any information, just a form stuck in front of me & told to sign it.

The pension scheme contracted out, and because of that, individual scheme members were contracted out of SERPS/S2P (not the state pension completely) whilst they were an active member, so your recollection can't be 100% correct.

Being a member of the civil service pension scheme was (and is) a very good idea, since the benefits are way beyond would you would have got by way of additional state pension by being contracted in.

I'm 53 now & haven't worked for 10 years, I'm on benefits, I'm worried about my state pension, that I won't get enough to manage, I already get my work pension, through ill health.

Is this 'work pension' the civil service one? If so, you wouldn't now have it if you hadn't had contracted out!

Someone has said i may have been wrongly contracted out.

From 1988, it was possible for individuals to individually contract out, i.e. not via their employer but by taking a 'rebate' of part of their NI and sticking it into a personal pension. This 'someone' may be confusing that with contracting out via a final salary pension, however as things have gone on, individual contracting out was frequently a good idea too (or at least, you can't say in the abstract anyone was foolish either to contract out via a personal pension or stay contracted in).

Paul_Herring

Nat6999 wrote: »

When I started work as a civil servant I was given something to sign to contract out of NI contributions, I was 18 & not given any information, just a form stuck in front of me & told to sign it.

I'm 53 now & haven't worked for 10 years, I'm on benefits, I'm worried about my state pension, that I won't get enough to manage, I already get my work pension, through ill health. Someone has said i may have been wrongly contracted out.

You didn't 'contract out of NI contributions' (at least not altogether) - you contracted out of the additional bit of NI - called, variously over time, S2P or SERPS.

Your NI record will be unaffected by those years (though read the other replies regarding how it may have affected the amount you actually get.)

molerat

Nat6999 wrote: »

I'm on benefits, I'm worried about my state pension, that I won't get enough to manage,

What does your forecast show ?

Dazed_and_confused

Yes, it has.