Pension check for my wife - help needed

frankgoldstar

I wanted to check the pension entitlement for my wife, who has worked for 10 years+.
I followed the link on the recent helpful MSE article about topping up pension entitlements, and the Gov.uk site asks for a government gateway ID. I know I was enrolled in this, but found out it had stopped around 2019 when I tried to use it, as the government had changed the company they had paid to provide it.

My wife pretty much does not exist as far as the government is concerned. She is one of the many classed as "economically inactive". She does not claim any benefit, has no passport, email address, does not use a computer and has no passport. The only government document she has is a current driving licence.

So two questions. 1. why am I being asked for a gov.uk ID when it does not appear to exist any longer, and I cannot find any recent reference to getting one online? 2. How do I check her pension, given that the only email address we have is mine?

Frank

Pat38493

Hello - the government ID or gateway ID definitely does still exist, but if you don’t have one (or have forgotten it) you have to apply for it again or follow the lost password process and you would need to look up the procedure for that.  I am not sure what you mean by something happening in 2019 - I have been using the same government gateway ID since many years before that.

However if it’s your wife who wants to check her state  pension entitlement, it is her that needs to request a gateway ID as state pension entitlement is for the individual person.  You would not find any information about her pension entitlements on your government ID.

A passport shouldn’t be needed - I would assume that having an NI number is a good starting point.

Probably you wife needs to get her own email address to do that (there are various services where you can get a free email account).

I do not know whether there is a way to do this without being online but I would suspect that someone else on the forum knows.

p00hsticks

1. The Government Gateway does still exist.

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

What has changed is the way of verifying your identity if you are a new user or haven't used it for a long time - there used to be a service called Verify, whcih is no longer used. I'm not sure what system has taken it's place. 

2. you;ll need to print off this form and get your wife to fill it in and post it

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/application-for-a-state-pension-statement

calcotti

Or ring the Future Pension Service by phone
https://www.gov.uk/future-pension-centre

Marcon

If you've lost your own government gateway ID and/or password, see https://www.access.service.gov.uk/account-recovery/forgot-userid-password/check-your-emails

It would make life a lot easier if your wife has an email address and sets up her own government gateway account. You won't be able to access her details using your account - although if she's a non-computer user, and would like you to do things for her there is, of course, nothing to stop you setting up the account and accessing it on her behalf.

VXman

p00hsticks said:

1. The Government Gateway does still exist.

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

What has changed is the way of verifying your identity if you are a new user or haven't used it for a long time - there used to be a service called Verify, whcih is no longer used. I'm not sure what system has taken it's place. 

 
2 step authentication. Password followed by a code sent to your mobile phone.

Albermarle

She does not claim any benefit, has no passport, email address, does not use a computer 

On a more general point, she will get left further and further behind in this ever changing digital world. If something happened to you she would find it extra difficult to cope with no digital skills. I think there are community/council groups who offer courses which help with this issue.

p00hsticks

VXman said:

p00hsticks said:

1. The Government Gateway does still exist.

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

What has changed is the way of verifying your identity if you are a new user or haven't used it for a long time - there used to be a service called Verify, whcih is no longer used. I'm not sure what system has taken it's place. 

 
2 step authentication. Password followed by a code sent to your mobile phone.

That's for each time you log on as an existing user.

But there must surely be  bit more than that to confirm that you are who you are claiming to be when you first set up a new account though ?

I seem to recall that when HMRC dropped the earlier use of Verify to confirm a persons identity, there was a bit of fuss because they'd not got DVLA on board in advance for the replacement system, and so at least for a while a driving licence was only an acceptable form of ID if it had been issued in Northern Ireland.

p00hsticks

Albermarle said:

She does not claim any benefit, has no passport, email address, does not use a computer 

On a more general point, she will get left further and further behind in this ever changing digital world. If something happened to you she would find it extra difficult to cope with no digital skills. I think there are community/council groups who offer courses which help with this issue.

I totally agree - and I'd also encourage her to apply for a passport even if she has no intention of going abroad. A driving licence can be taken away, and a passport is the only other form of photo id that many places will accept.

The first time application process is a bit long winded, but once you have one it only needs to be renewed every 10 years and IMO the cost is well worth it for the lack of aggrevation when attempting to prove your ID to officialdom.

frankgoldstar

Thank you very much to all who replied. I have taken a long time to get back due to Christmas etc., but mainly due to my own technology failings in not being able to see these posts.

I had to ask the admin team to find these replies and it was only through their link that I got here.

I will take on board the advice of many posters to encourage my wife to get up to speed with technology. I have been trying and failing with that for thirty years or so, but I am hardly in a strong position to criticise when my own failings are so manifest!

The first requirement of the online pension checking service is to have a government id and that is where I stalled with the enquiry for my wife.

I have seen many, many references to the government gateway ID, but all my searches have directed me to HMRC or the insolvency service, usually with mention of "Super Users" or recovering an id at some point in.

But no easy "this is what you have to do" advice or form.

What I have definitely not seen is any straightforward gov.uk website or online form to get the id. Or any link to any site or form on any of the pages I have accessed that require the id. They all just say they need the gov id as if it should be obvious.

I have not tried my own old give id after being notified the verify id scheme had stopped, but as a pensioner of a few years, I no longer seem to need it very much! And as has been confirmed above, my id will not work for my wife.

I will try to the postal form and also ask her to ring the numbers kindly given above. 



Best, Frank B

MEM62

frankgoldstar said:

I have seen many, many references to the government gateway ID, but all my searches have directed me to HMRC or the insolvency service, usually with mention of "Super Users" or recovering an id at some point in.

But no easy "this is what you have to do" advice or form.

Really?  It is the first link that comes up on a Google search.  Here you go...............

HMRC services: sign in or register: Sign in to HMRC online services - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)