Pension office ignoring me.

ottersteve01

 Hello,

My name is Steve. I am 68 years old and currently drawing a state pension of £142.39 per week.

I have twice spoken to someone at the Government pensions advisory service who have said they will send me the paperwork I need to apply for the Pension “top up” scheme.

Several weeks have gone by and still no paperwork. My first phone call to them was 6th July and the second call was 2nd August 2022.

What do you suggest my next steps should be to partake in the pension top-up scheme? Obviously I am just being fobbed off with unkept promises when I phone the relevant people.

JGB1955

Are you talking about Pension Credit?  If so, you can apply either online or by post - see Pension Credit: How to claim - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Devongardener

If it’s Pension Credit you want to apply for, it’s probably easier to do that online at gov.uk.

ottersteve01

Pension credit is a different beast. The top-up scheme allows people to make up the difference in years between actual contributions and maximum contributions. I have only 34 years pf contributions and if i pay the difference to make it up to 40 years I can increase my weekly pension.

Devongardener

Ah OK sorry I misunderstood. 

mjm3346

ottersteve01 said:

Pension credit is a different beast. The top-up scheme allows people to make up the difference in years between actual contributions and maximum contributions. I have only 34 years pf contributions and if i pay the difference to make it up to 40 years I can increase my weekly pension.

Not quite that simple, only seems to cover gaps back to 2006 - the MSE article includes a freephone number

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/

and complaints 

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/complaints-procedure

molerat

mjm3346 said:

ottersteve01 said:

Pension credit is a different beast. The top-up scheme allows people to make up the difference in years between actual contributions and maximum contributions. I have only 34 years pf contributions and if i pay the difference to make it up to 40 years I can increase my weekly pension.

Not quite that simple, only seems to cover gaps back to 2006 - the MSE article includes a freephone number

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/

and complaints 

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/complaints-procedure

Because only gaps back to 2006 can be filled, and the option to go back that far ends in April next year.

OP, you could simply write a cheque to HMRC and pay the required amount providing you know precisely which years to pay.  Do you have access to your on line tax account so you can see your NI history and missing years ?  If you have that information you can simply phone the FPC and confirm your thoughts.  https://www.gov.uk/future-pension-centre

ottersteve01

Update:
I'm afraid the information in the MSE article (8th June 2022) I'm referring to is incorrect. It states  - if you are already at pension age:

Contact the Pension Service on 0800 731 0469

Wrong. You must contact HMRC on 0300 200 3500 where a very nice person will sort it all out for you in a jiffy.