Will i have a pension?

Craftythorny

Hi, i am posting this on behalf of my client (I work in mental health); he is a 60 yr old single man who has not worked for the past 16 years due to being a full time carer for his parents - his mother died several years ago and he now looks after his very poorly father.  He had considerable savings during this time that have now dwindled to about £3000; his only income is Carers Allowance and Attendance Allowance.  His father is not expected to live more than a few months and he will then have to look for work.  Does anyone know if he would receive a pension when he gets to retirement age? and if so would it be a 'full pension'?  He would very much appreciate any information or advice that anyone has, thank you. 

Albermarle

As far as I know receiving carers allowance means you still get NI credits towards your pension.
Anyway it is easy to check, where you stand.
Check your State Pension forecast - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If you are not sure what some of the info means, feel free to come back.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Without a doubt the single most important thing he needs to do is check his State Pension forecast on gov.uk.

It is crucial he reads the whole thing as the headline figure can be misleading.

If a COPE amount is shown this is not deducted from his State Pension but is an indication that he will have another pension elsewhere.

billy2shots

'Does carers allowance pay your National Insurance contributions?

For every week that you receive carer's allowance, an automatic Class 1 contribution or 'credit' will be made to your National Insurance record equal to 1/52th of the amount that is needed to make a qualifying year that year.9 Jun 2022'

Source

Pension and National Insurance for carers

Updated on 9 June 2022




Whether it's a full pension will depend on his individual circumstances with his previous NI contributions from work, added to his NI contributions from carers allowance. 



He needs to check his personal NI record to see what he has built up re state pension.

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Marcon

Craftythorny said:

Hi, i am posting this on behalf of my client (I work in mental health); he is a 60 yr old single man who has not worked for the past 16 years due to being a full time carer for his parents - his mother died several years ago and he now looks after his very poorly father.  He had considerable savings during this time that have now dwindled to about £3000; his only income is Carers Allowance and Attendance Allowance.  His father is not expected to live more than a few months and he will then have to look for work.  Does anyone know if he would receive a pension when he gets to retirement age? and if so would it be a 'full pension'?  He would very much appreciate any information or advice that anyone has, thank you. 

Other people have provided helpful answers in relation to the state pension, but I wonder if he has any private pension arrangements? If he is 60 and hasn't worked for 16 years, then there is presumably quite a sizeable chunk of time from when he left education until about age 44 when he could have built up pension entitlements.

If you have a look at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6267734/is-there-a-really-detailed-online-method-to-check-nics/p1 there is a link in the second post which he may find useful. There is a further post from me (top of page 3 of that thread) which will help him plough through what he'll receive, but it really is worth doing if he's ever been employed.

enthusiasticsaver

He can check on the government gateway website as to how much SP he should  get. Many benefits give NI credits so carers may well be one of these and if he paid NI prior to giving up work that is presumably approx 25 years towards his pension.  He should check if he has any private pension from previous employers. 

Easyjet77

Craftythorny said:

Hi, i am posting this on behalf of my client (I work in mental health); he is a 60 yr old single man who has not worked for the past 16 years due to being a full time carer for his parents - his mother died several years ago and he now looks after his very poorly father.  He had considerable savings during this time that have now dwindled to about £3000; his only income is Carers Allowance and Attendance Allowance.  His father is not expected to live more than a few months and he will then have to look for work.  Does anyone know if he would receive a pension when he gets to retirement age? and if so would it be a 'full pension'?  He would very much appreciate any information or advice that anyone has, thank you. 

Hello, The current main criteria for claiming attendance allowance is that the claimant must be over state pension age. Your client may have qualified under an older set of rules or slipped through the system. Chase up the online state pension forecast as suggested. It is very Informative. Regards

Craftythorny

Thank you all so much for your comments.  I have passed them on to my client and he also is very appreciative and will feels more positive about things; he intends to book an appointment with the Citizens Advice Bureau as he does not have access to the internet.  They can help him look into things more officially.