State pension: can my NI record show what years I was contracted out?

reg091

I am looking at my NI record on the .gov website. It shows me that I have 40 full years, 3 years not complete and 8 years to keep paying in.
My understanding is that although I have 40 years of full contributions some of those years will have been "contracted out". So the term "full" when used in the sense of "qualifying for a full state pension" seems misleading. As I understand it the contracted out years don't count the same  as non-contracted out years towards pension entitlement. But any full years since 2016 can wipe out the "loss" on my record of contracted out years.
The question then: how can I tell how many contracted out years I had? The government (is it DWP or HMRC departments?) must know as they will be taking them into account when calculating my state pension in 2028 (currently!) so surely they must show on the record I am looking at online, but I can't see any identifier.

Linton

Knowing how many contracted in/out years you have is not that helpful in determining your State Pension since the effect of contracting in/out changed over the years.  The only way of knowing where you stand with respect to a full State Pension is to look at your State Pension forecast ( https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension) which will tell you exactly how many extra NI years are required.

And to confirm your understanding - yes the gap between your current entitlement and the full SP can be filled (or reduced)  by NI years accrued up to and including the tax year before you reach State Pension Age. 

reg091

Linton said:

Knowing how many contracted in/out years you have is not that helpful in determining your State Pension since the effect of contracting in/out changed over the years.  The only way of knowing where you stand with respect to a full State Pension is to look at your State Pension forecast ( https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension) which will tell you exactly how many extra NI years are required.

And to confirm your understanding - yes the gap between your current entitlement and the full SP can be filled (or reduced)  by NI years accrued up to and including the tax year before you reach State Pension Age. 

Thanks @Linton. As I said, I am looking at that and it tells me I have 40 full years. What it doesn't do is tell me how many of those years were contracted out years. That is the whole nub of my confusion: either they are "full" years or they are contracted out years but they only refer to them as full years.
EDIT: oh, wait. I was looking at my NI record, I didn't realise that was different to looking at my pension forecast (as I had read that if you have 35 years NI then you get full pension, and this showed I had 40).
However, now I look at the Pension Forecast page it says I need to contribute for another two years to get the full. I am guessing therefore that is compensating for the contracted out years.

NottinghamKnight

reg091 said:

Linton said:

Knowing how many contracted in/out years you have is not that helpful in determining your State Pension since the effect of contracting in/out changed over the years.  The only way of knowing where you stand with respect to a full State Pension is to look at your State Pension forecast ( https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension) which will tell you exactly how many extra NI years are required.

And to confirm your understanding - yes the gap between your current entitlement and the full SP can be filled (or reduced)  by NI years accrued up to and including the tax year before you reach State Pension Age. 

Thanks @Linton. As I said, I am looking at that and it tells me I have 40 full years. What it doesn't do is tell me how many of those years were contracted out years. That is the whole nub of my confusion: either they are "full" years or they are contracted out years but they only refer to them as full years.

They can be full and contracted out years. The new system accrues at a fixed and steady rate, but working back the system was very different, under the old system, which people will fall for some time to come, there is no 'full' state pension. The old system could lead to a pension of £130 per week or less, and exceptionally up to or above £300 per week, once serps, s2p etc were included. 
Do the research on the pension website, this will tell you the maximum you can accrue and how many years you need to work or otherwise qualify for maximum state pension benefits, anything else is irrelevant. 

xylophone

State pension: can my NI record show what years I was contracted out?

See https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75903375/#Comment_75903375

drumtochty

Reg091

It's getting late but you are very poor at reporting facts.

In the first message you say you have a further 8 years to pay NI to get your state pension of approx £175 (my guess) or so a week, that is just wrong. Too many years in that calculation.

In your next message you advise you have 2 years further NI to pay to get the nominal (my guess) £175 a week state pension, that is numerically possible.

Depending on your salary level you have I assue SERPS or Second State Pension for between 4 and 8 years in that calculation. Therefore it suggests you were contracted out for the majority of your working life and contracted in for 4 to 8 years..