The day after my state pension qualifying age, nothing heard from the DWP

xylophone

the matter of the DWP's lack of a means of accessible communication is still an issue, so I will probably contact them about that.  Thanks for the suggestion.

A very good idea!

by my estimation, that would mean that I have around 40 years of full National Insurance contributions, and the 'New State Pension' page of the UK Government website states that "a woman born on or after 6 April 1953", will "need 35 qualifying years to get the full new State Pension" of "£179.60 per week".  However, they've awarded me £149.29 per week. 

35 years for those who started to contribute post 6/4/2016 - you are under transitional arrangements.

I believe that you also mention that you have an occupational pension. This was very likely contracted out of State Additional Pension.

At 6/4/16, two calculations were done for you.

Old Rules

Full Basic State Pension  2016/17 (because you had at least 30 years) + (Additional State Pension - Deduction for Contracting Out).

Thus £119.30 + (ASP - Deduction for Contracting Out)

New Rules

Full NSP  2016/17 (because you had at least 35 years) - Contracted Out Pension Equivalent.

Thus

£155.65 - COPE.

Your "starting amount" for NSP would have been the higher of the two (almost certainly old rules).

Your COPE could have been on the high side if you were in a contracted out pension scheme for (all/much) of your working life.

You would have been able to improve your starting amount  (up to but not exceeding a full NSP) through  NI  contributions/credits received post 6/4/16 up to the tax year before that in which you reached SPA .

See https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210299/single-tier-valuation-contracting-out.pdf

https://www.dpf.org.uk/explorer/files/TOPPING-UP-YOUR-STATE-PENSION-GUIDE.pdf

Listlad

rosalind110 said:

I completed my state pension application online on 9th April 2021.  Since I received the attached email acknowledgment, I am certain that the application was duly received.  It is now the day after my 66th birthday which was my qualifying date, but I have received no communication of any type from the DWP since the email acknowledgment was sent. Having worked full time for 42 years, although I retired on a workplace pension in 2016, I should probably qualify for the full state pension, but do not know, since the DWP has not confirmed, or advised me when my first payment is due.

Since I am deaf, which the DWP knows, I am not able to communicate by phone and they will not allow anyone else to speak on the phone on my behalf, and the DWP offers no alternative means of contact, so I'm effectively in a position in which I have no way to find out what is going on.  Can anyone help, please? 

Hi. I am in a very similar position to yourself. Almost the same in fact but have no real hearing problem. However I am having the same problem as you. 

Listlad

rosalind110 said:

Thank you very much for your response, which might explain the whole thing.  What I find quite amazing in your wife's case and mine is that, current technical payment difficulties apart, in five months, the DWP has apparently not even bothered to send out the standard by post notification of our pension entitlement and payment method and date.  Nor have they apparently bothered to inform all the people who depend on a state pension just to survive that their payments are being held up due to technical difficulties!


Ostensibly, the DWP does have means of contact that deaf people can use, but, sadly, none of them works for me. Their website, on which people should be able to access their personal pension accounts, requires that you verify your identity using services provided by one of two third party websites.  Unfortunately, I only possess a passport and do not have a driver's license or a government ID card (which costs £21 and may take up to 30 days to be issued). Nor is my mobile phone on a contract, so I only have one of the two means of identity required.  They also suggest that a relay service for the deaf is used, but this won't work on any device that I own or that my son owns....

I have had no letter either. Nothing. My birthdate was 3rd August too. And no payments so far and this is 7th September.

JGB1955

What is bizarre about all of these posts is that the situation seems to have got worse over the past 9 months.  I was due my SP in January 2021 - got an email (in October 2020?).. applied, got an email back within days, telling me what my payments would be and when they would arrive - which they did.  I have no idea why the process has become so 'shabby' 9 months later. They can't use Covid as an excuse - the process worked a year ago.... why doesn't it now?

Listlad

Glad to see you have had success. I too have contemplated a letter to my MP. I already have one drafted up. So having noted your success I will do the same. Thanks for posting. 

Listlad

rosalind110 said:

Update on my situation. 

I wrote to my MP, who wrote back the next day, asking for further details so that she could contact the DWP.  Today she emailed me a copy of the reply sent to her by the DWP.  It states the amount that I will receive and says that my first four weeks of pension will be paid in arrears into my bank account on 26th August, and four weekly thereafter.  I still haven't received a letter from the DWP, but they claim in the email to my MP that they sent one out on 19th August, so it may still be in the post.

Thanks to everyone for your advice and help, without which I would still be in the dark.

I now have another query concerning the amount of the pension they have said I'll receive.  According to my Government Gateway account, I have, and I quote, 

"45 years of full contributions

1 year to contribute before 5 April 2021

4 years when you did not contribute enough"

by my estimation, that would mean that I have around 40 years of full National Insurance contributions, and the 'New State Pension' page of the UK Government website states that "a woman born on or after 6 April 1953", will "need 35 qualifying years to get the full new State Pension" of "£179.60 per week".  However, they've awarded me £149.29 per week. 

Since I still have no means of contacting them, does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do about this?


 

  

Here my claim differs. I have 41 years of full contributions. With gaps. But I still have41 years of full contributions. My understanding is I only need 35 and they don’t need to be continuous. I have had a future pension estimate and it is for a full claim. So I am expecting the full monies. However like yourself I am getting nothing from the DWP that sheds light on when they will process the claim and payout. 

Do you have a contracted out private pension, by the way?

xylophone

They can't use Covid as an excuse - the process worked a year ago.... why doesn't it now?

Oh, they can......  the clerks are suffering from "working" from home  fatigue?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/08/09/department-health-ditches-return-office-diktat/

Listlad

TaweJohn said:

Hi, just to say that my wife is experiencing the same problem. We completed the online form in March. My wife's birthday 14 July 1955,  we heard nothing, wrote on 14th July to follow up, no response.

Today my wife telephoned the application telephone number, waited an hour to  speak to someone and be told there was a "Bank Fail" which appears to be an internal system fault and not to do with the bank receiving the payment. The lady said she would email the relevant section. So, hopefully will be sorted soon.

I am really surprised that the DWP do not have any electronic means of contacting them, either by chat or email.

I hope that you have been able to contact them and resolve the issues which is holding up your payment. Good Luck

Any luck now? 

Listlad

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

the 'New State Pension page of the UK Government website states that "a woman born on or after 6 April 1953", will "need 35 qualifying years to get the full new State Pension" of "£179.60 per week". However, they've awarded me £149.29 per week. 

You have taken that out of context.

You need to read the whole of that guide on gov.uk, in particular the section 

Valuing your National Insurance contributions and credits made before 6 April 2016

It is only those starting to pay NI from April 2016 that need 35 years, everyone else is under transitional rules and having 35 years is irrelevant. 

You may be able add to the £149.29/week but need to post the full details of your forecast, including which years you don't contribute enough.  The. We will be able to clarify what your options for increasing the £149 are.

Were you working in 2020:21?

I recall the government website clearly states  (somewhere) that the years do not have to be continuous. In my case they state that I have 41 qualifying years. And I had those before 2016. My latest future pensions estimate earlier in the year was £229.76 per week.

p00hsticks

Listlad said:

rosalind110 said:

Update on my situation. 

I wrote to my MP, who wrote back the next day, asking for further details so that she could contact the DWP.  Today she emailed me a copy of the reply sent to her by the DWP.  It states the amount that I will receive and says that my first four weeks of pension will be paid in arrears into my bank account on 26th August, and four weekly thereafter.  I still haven't received a letter from the DWP, but they claim in the email to my MP that they sent one out on 19th August, so it may still be in the post.

Thanks to everyone for your advice and help, without which I would still be in the dark.

I now have another query concerning the amount of the pension they have said I'll receive.  According to my Government Gateway account, I have, and I quote, 

"45 years of full contributions

1 year to contribute before 5 April 2021

4 years when you did not contribute enough"

by my estimation, that would mean that I have around 40 years of full National Insurance contributions, and the 'New State Pension' page of the UK Government website states that "a woman born on or after 6 April 1953", will "need 35 qualifying years to get the full new State Pension" of "£179.60 per week".  However, they've awarded me £149.29 per week. 

Since I still have no means of contacting them, does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do about this?


 

  

My understanding is I only need 35 and they don’t need to be continuous.

Your understanding is incorrect. Only those starting their working lives after 2016 needs 35 years. Those of us who started work prior to then are under transitional rules and may need more or less than 35 years to get to the maximum amount depending on their exact individual circumstances (for example whether they were contracted in or out and how much additional State Pension they had accumulated).