Is SP forecast correct?

Cear

I am due to retire at 67 in 13 years time. My forecast on government gateway states I have one more year to pay to get full state pension. (Yes am aware I still have to pay NI after next year but SP will not improve any more)
It shows no COPE amount but since working from age 17 I was contracted out all the time apart from 4 years ( one job where they did not contract out for 2 years and another who paid my contributions back to the government as my new job did not transfer over as requested within the time frame) so surely I should have a cope amount? I was defiantly contracted out as payslips show correct letter for contracting out and one job paid the NI contributions into a DC pension rather than add it into the DB pension. So years don't make sense. I was claiming child benefit 2003 till 20015 so does this count as credit even if opted out? No mention at all of being opted out and each year says paid in full when look at individual years.

molerat

Contracting out and full years is a bit misunderstood.  You will show a full year on your NI history as that is a full basic year, S2P is separate and that is what you would have been contracted out of.  How many years does the forecast show you as holding ?  If more than 35 and showing you as needing one more then there is a contracted out deduction in play.  Does it not mention a contracted out pension on the front page ?  Any COPE is on a clink in that statement, it is not shown on the main page.

Marcon

Cear said:

I am due to retire at 67 in 13 years time. My forecast on government gateway states I have one more year to pay to get full state pension. (Yes am aware I still have to pay NI after next year but SP will not improve any more)
It shows no COPE amount but since working from age 17 I was contracted out all the time apart from 4 years ( one job where they did not contract out for 2 years and another who paid my contributions back to the government as my new job did not transfer over as requested within the time frame) so surely I should have a cope amount? I was defiantly contracted out as payslips show correct letter for contracting out and one job paid the NI contributions into a DC pension rather than add it into the DB pension. So years don't make sense. I was claiming child benefit 2003 till 20015 so does this count as credit even if opted out? No mention at all of being opted out and each year says paid in full when look at individual years.

Best way to check is to get a really detailed year by year breakdown, which you can do online (free): https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/shortforms/form/DPU_SAR_NI?_ga=2.230026460.1544670040.1621021753-1315656139.1609178084

Cear

Thank you Molerat Found the link my COPE is worth £44.91 per week my pension for the opted out part is estimated to be £55 per month at retirement a little short but suppose I cannot do much about it and this is likely to change before retirement (this is a pension the company set up just for the NI opted out payments nothing else was allowed to be added to it). Not sure this covered all of my opted out years though.

Thank you Marcon will send for a breakdown and see if I can work out how many years are in this pension and how many opted years are elsewhere.

If in with a normal DB pension assume I will never know if making the full £44.91 per year.

Albermarle

and one job paid the NI contributions into a DC pension rather than add it into the DB pension

Do you have all the details of this DC pension ? If not you need to find it .

xylophone

Not sure this covered all of my opted out years though.

"Contracted Out".

See

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1030365/contracting-out-and-the-cope-amount-in-the-online-statement-service.pdf

If you were a member of 2 or more contracted out schemes, the COPE amount shown is based on all your schemes and covers all the years you were contracted out.

We will not know the exact amount your scheme will pay you as a result of contracting-out as it will depend on the actual rules of your private scheme, and possibly any investment choices you may make.

At 6/4/16, two  calculations were done to establish your "starting amount" for NSP.

Old Rules

(NI years/30 (max) x Full Basic State Pension) + ( SERPS/S2P - Deduction for Contracting Out)

New Rules

(NI years/35 (max) x Full NSP) - Contracted Out Pension Equivalent.

Your "starting amount" was the higher of the two.

It was almost certainly given by the Old Rules calculation - probably around £ 130 a week.