Not getting full amount of New State Pension

xylophone

The statement of details letter from August 2019 shows no contracted out element. 

By this you mean her letter from DWP giving details of her SP and when it would be paid?

The COPE amount would not be shown on this but on a state pension forecast obtained before she retired.

Did she never obtain such a forecast?

I find it difficult to understand how with no COPE and 41 years NI  at 6/4/16 she is not receiving at least a full NSP (currently £185.15).

It seems to me that a formal enquiry in writing is required. Keep a copy and send "signed for".

She could also submit a SAR to HMRC.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hmrc-subject-access-request

chateau_maison

Thanks again for the quick reply.

All she has is the "Award Notice and Statement of Details" from August 2019 which quotes the £147.85. This sounds different to a state pension forecast you mention, but she doesn't have anything else and doesn't recollect such a thing.

I've made three requests for an explanation. The last of these was sent to be signed for back in April 2022; it has not yet been delivered (which I find particularly galling). I've since made a phone call which resulted in a reply where it was stated they would respond within 6 months which will be around November this year.

I'll pursue the subject access request - thank you for this information.

p00hsticks

chateau_maison said:

Retirement date was 6th September 2019; this was state pension age and retirement from paid employment - date of birth March 1954. 

There were 41 years of full national insurance contribution years up to and including 2014/15 followed by 4 partial years from 2015/2016 to 2018/2019. 

Initial thoughts are that although making up the 2015-16 year would not have any impact, making up the 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 years to full would almost certainly be very worthwhile and could increase her State Pension by nearly £16 a week. Rather than writing a letter to DWP I'd suggest that you encourage your wife to give the future Pensions Service a call to confirm this, and then if this is the case to make voluntary contributions to HMRC to top up the relevant years - unless of course she thinks that it would be 'too much hassle'.

https://www.gov.uk/future-pension-centre

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions

molerat

The forecast was something you had to actively ask for in advance of retirement date, she seems to have just had the invitation to apply followed the award letter. Unfortunately once in receipt of SP there is no easily accessible way of finding out the details. A lot of people read the red top headlines of 35 years for a full pension  - something that was far from reality - and left it at that.

Is she receiving a works pension ? That could lead to a simple answer to your query.

I echo the above post, get in touch with FPC, they will have all the answers and there is the possibility to make up some of that shortfall.  One point of note is that the ability to purchase 2016-17 expires in April.

p00hsticks

chateau_maison said:

I've made three requests for an explanation. The last of these was sent to be signed for back in April 2022; it has not yet been delivered (which I find particularly galling).

It will almost certainly have been delivered, but - assuming you sent it to the Pension Service address in Wolverhampton - it won't have been signed for by an individual. As far as I'm aware DWP themselves try to avoid dealling directly with any written communications -  your letter will have been opened and scanned electronically at the external Post Handling site, and any supporting documentation included also scanned and immediately posted back.

Your correspondence would then have been flagged to DWP electronically for following up (I'm assuming that the letter at least nominally came from your wife rather than you and contained enough information in it (e,g NI number) to allow DWP to identify her.  

xylophone

This sounds different to a state pension forecast you mention, but she doesn't have anything else and doesn't recollect such a thing.

Presumably  she didn't request one prior to reaching SPA in 2019.

It would have looked like this

https://www.which.co.uk/money/pensions-and-retirement/state-pension/your-state-pension-forecast-explained-a24r12y9jt41

Is she receiving a works pension ? That could lead to a simple answer to your query.

The possibility of her having been a member of a contracted out occupational pension scheme has been mentioned in several previous posts but you have not indicated that this is the case.

Perhaps she was and has forgotten?

Another possibility is that she herself  contracted out into a personal pension policy with an insurer and has forgotten this.

What does your wife have to say on this point?

xylophone

The SAR request to HMRC should throw up contracting out history (if any).

SERPS pension check

You can perform a SERPS pension check by writing to HMRC with your NI number and a few other personal details, including your full name, previous name, address and date of birth. HMRC will take around 30 days to respond with details of any pension providers you paid into as a result of opting out of SERPS. You will then need to contact the providers to see how much any pension is worth and whether you can access them.

National Insurance SARs should be sent to:

SARS/DPU
HM Revenue and Customs
National Insurance Contributions Office
BX9 1AN

chateau_maison

She is receiving a teacher's pension as well as a local authority pension. She also has a personal pension policy. It is entirely possible that contracting out happened at some point in the past. She cannot recollect. Would that be visible in the national insurance records? Thanks for the illustration of what a state pension forecast might look like. She did not ask for any forecast prior to reaching state pension age.

molerat

Being a member of TPS and LGPS would have automatically been contracted out, there was no personal choice involved, leading to a COPE deduction from the 2016 new pension starting amount.  That is not visible in the on line tax account NI records but can be requested. Her pension therefore seems probably about right.  I was in a similar situation - a long contracted out career with only £144 pw at 2019 and made some of it up with post 2016 contributions.  What is the cost of those post 2016 part years ?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

chateau_maison said:

Thanks for all the replies.

I'll answer the various questions below.

Retirement date was 6th September 2019; this was state pension age and retirement from paid employment - date of birth March 1954. 

There were 41 years of full national insurance contribution years up to and including 2014/15 followed by 4 partial years from 2015/2016 to 2018/2019. 

The statement of details letter from August 2019 shows no contracted out element. The award amount in this letter was £147.85.

Now you're providing more of the relevant info the most likely explanation is that she is a winner under the new system.  She just didn't ,have enough time to reach the standard new State Pension.

She will have paid reduced NI for many years and then had the opportunity to increase her expected (basic) State Pension closer to the new State Pension.

Chances are that when you/she contact the Future Pension Centre paying up the 3 years 2016:17, 2017:18 and 2018:19 will add £15.87/week to her State Pension.

This may not be backdated (that element seems unclear) but it could benefit her for many years going forward and if those figures are correct and she only needs to pay part of each year would be a fantastic investment.