Finding Contracted Out Pensions

TightAndy

Recently taken over my Mother's Finances as she has been diagnosed with Dementia (Power Of Attorney in place). I notice on her State Pension statement she is deducted £40 a week for Contracted Out Deduction but as far as I can see she does not have a separate private or company pension. She has worked for a number of places but cannot remember anything about Contracting Out. Unfortunately I can't find any paperwork regarding former employments.
Can anyone advise about finding out where any Contracted Out payments went so I can see if there is a lost pension out there?

MallyGirl

you could do a subject access request to get all her employment details.

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

Silvertabby

Did she ever work in the public sector - ie, NHS, local government, civil service?  These are all contracted out, and she could have been enrolled with her realising.

xylophone

If your mother was never a member of a contracted out scheme, (and do check this) was your father? 

Is she now receiving a widow's pension from that scheme?

https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8635/CBP-8635.pdf

21. Widows and other survivors who inherit pensions also have the inherited pensions set against their entitlement to additional pension [...] The GMPs for both the pensions to which a widow is personally entitled directly and those to which she is entitled by inheritance are to be deducted from the maximum entitlement of the widow under section 52. In other words, the widow’s maximum entitlement is calculated before, not after, any additional pension is deducted. This may mean that the widow’s total additional pension is limited by the “prescribed maximum” before the occupational pensions are offset.26

The rationale is that the contracted-out occupational pensions were funded through reduced NI contributions:

Those rules reflect the receipt by her of a widow’s pension from her late husband’s occupational pension scheme as well as receipt of her own occupational pension scheme. Parliament has provided that both should be taken into account as both were contracted- out schemes for which lower levels of national insurance contribution were payable.27

Marcon

TightAndy said:

Recently taken over my Mother's Finances as she has been diagnosed with Dementia (Power Of Attorney in place). I notice on her State Pension statement she is deducted £40 a week for Contracted Out Deduction but as far as I can see she does not have a separate private or company pension. She has worked for a number of places but cannot remember anything about Contracting Out. Unfortunately I can't find any paperwork regarding former employments.
Can anyone advise about finding out where any Contracted Out payments went so I can see if there is a lost pension out there?

See https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6267734/is-there-a-really-detailed-online-method-to-check-nics/p1

It's a horribly long post and unfortunately there aren't any numbers on each, but if you start on the first page, the second post down (mine) has the link you need to request a full NI history, which will include contracting out details if your mother belonged to a contracted out scheme in her own right. Ask for the years covering the whole period from age 16 (when NI first became payable) to when your mother reached State Pension Age.

Then go to the third page of that long post and have a look at my post of 3 June 2021, which points you to the page or two of info which will be really relevant to your question (unfortunately you have to get the whole lot - you can't just ask for this part of the info).

TightAndy

Thanks for all your responses. Having found Mum's previous pensions paperwork it looks like the Contracted Out Deduction started after my Father died and my Mum started receiving her Widow's pension. My Father was contracted out.