Cut off from Future Pension Centre phone line - is there an easier way to sort things out?

Manchesterlodger

molerat said:

COPE is shown at the bottom of the forecast in a click link in "You've been in a contracted-out pension scheme".  It looks like you will have one as the numbers don't work otherwise.

The only thing the COPE affects is the number of pre 2016 years you can use.

You need 13 more years to reach the full pension with 8 years, including 2022-23, left so need to fill at least 5 gaps to be able to get there.

18-19 is an easy part filled win at £158.50, around the same as class 2 with no arguments / work involved.

For the periods you were working overseas you need to investigate the availability of class 2.  You can mix and match class 2 and class 3 within a year if you were only working some weeks but you will need to come up with a work history for those periods.

It does seem that Canada has an agreement with the UK so a little light reading may be in order https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1995/2699/made?view=plain

Re: 18-19 is an easy part filled win at £158.50, around the same as class 2 with no arguments / work involved.

Yes, that makes sense to me too - though I presume from the way you write this, I pay Class 3 for this? (I will be frank and say I have no idea what Class 2 and Class 3 mean - I know they are different charges for voluntary contributions but I didn't fully understand the descriptions when I read them on the government site recently). 

Re: For the periods you were working overseas you need to investigate the availability of class 2.  You can mix and match class 2 and class 3 within a year if you were only working some weeks but you will need to come up with a work history for those periods.

I don't have a clear work history for these periods. I did bits and bobs of work - a lot of it low paid and contract (I studied for 2 degrees while I was in Canada, one p/t and one f/t and I also injured myself at work - so I only had a relatively short period of full time employment while I was out there). Some of the work was self-employed and some work I fitted around my studies or student holidays. I can try and go back through emails/computer files to see if I can find dates but I'm unlikely to be able to get complete information and it will be an awful lot of work which I'm unlikely to complete in time. I also no longer have payslips for things (or invoices) so can't evidence proof of paid work. In Canada you complete tax returns with income listed for each year but I no longer have the tax returns (I might have a few computer files but, again, it will take ages to track down and I don't know whether they will contain the information required). 

Given this situation, would it just be easier to pay a set number of years and a particular class to cover things?

For eg, if I paid for 2018 - 2019, and then 4 other years - would that make up the 5 year gap?

I just want to sort the whole issue out with minimal stress tbh - I found trying to sort all this out back in 2018 overwhelming and I didn't get much help from the pension staff when I rang them then - and I struggled to understand their explanations as well. But they offered me no further help at the time and I didn't know what to do so I left it - which I very much regret now. 

Re: It does seem that Canada has an agreement with the UK so a little light reading may be in order https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1995/2699/made?view=plain

I looked at this and it made no sense to me - this is part of the issue for me. A lot of feels complex and specialist and it's not my area of expertise or study - so all that happens is that I feel overwhelmed when I try to sort this issue out. Which I really want to do. I have some savings which I had hoped to use to buy somewhere to live in the UK but I am priced out of the property market so it seems sensible to top up my state pension - but I just need to know what to do. 

Thanks for posting your responses - if you have any other suggestions, do let me know. I dread having to call the pension centre (assuming I can get through), to try and sort this all out again and just be met with explanations that I don't understand and/or I can't action because I don't have the information. 

Manchesterlodger

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Manchesterlodger said:

molerat said:

COPE is shown at the bottom of the forecast in a click link in "You've been in a contracted-out pension scheme".  It looks like you will have one as the numbers don't work otherwise.

The only thing the COPE affects is the number of pre 2016 years you can use.

You need 13 more years to reach the full pension with 8 years, including 2022-23, left so need to fill at least 5 gaps to be able to get there.

18-19 is an easy part filled win at £158.50, around the same as class 2 with no arguments / work involved.

For the periods you were working overseas you need to investigate the availability of class 2.  You can mix and match class 2 and class 3 within a year if you were only working some weeks but you will need to come up with a work history for those periods.

It does seem that Canada has an agreement with the UK so a little light reading may be in order https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1995/2699/made?view=plain

Re: COPE - I logged on and clicked where you suggested and it says the following:

Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE)

Your COPE estimate is £10.30 a week

This will not affect your State Pension forecast. The COPE amount is paid as part of your other pension schemes, not by the government.

In most cases the private pension scheme you were contracted out to:

• will include an amount equal to the COPE amount
• may not individually identify the COPE amount

The total amount of pension paid by your workplace or personal pension schemes will depend on the scheme and on any investment choices.

It doesn't say anything about the number of pre-2016 years I can use?

Any information on this appreciated. 

You need to look at your NI record for that.

Sorry that doesn't make sense to me - what do you mean? I looked at my NI record - it tells me what years I can make up and how much these will cost - I posted this earlier in the thread. Is there somewhere else I should be looking on my NI records?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

Manchesterlodger said:

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

Manchesterlodger said:

molerat said:

COPE is shown at the bottom of the forecast in a click link in "You've been in a contracted-out pension scheme".  It looks like you will have one as the numbers don't work otherwise.

The only thing the COPE affects is the number of pre 2016 years you can use.

You need 13 more years to reach the full pension with 8 years, including 2022-23, left so need to fill at least 5 gaps to be able to get there.

18-19 is an easy part filled win at £158.50, around the same as class 2 with no arguments / work involved.

For the periods you were working overseas you need to investigate the availability of class 2.  You can mix and match class 2 and class 3 within a year if you were only working some weeks but you will need to come up with a work history for those periods.

It does seem that Canada has an agreement with the UK so a little light reading may be in order https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1995/2699/made?view=plain

Re: COPE - I logged on and clicked where you suggested and it says the following:

Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE)

Your COPE estimate is £10.30 a week

This will not affect your State Pension forecast. The COPE amount is paid as part of your other pension schemes, not by the government.

In most cases the private pension scheme you were contracted out to:

• will include an amount equal to the COPE amount
• may not individually identify the COPE amount

The total amount of pension paid by your workplace or personal pension schemes will depend on the scheme and on any investment choices.

It doesn't say anything about the number of pre-2016 years I can use?

Any information on this appreciated. 

You need to look at your NI record for that.

Sorry that doesn't make sense to me - what do you mean? I looked at my NI record - it tells me what years I can make up and how much these will cost - I posted this earlier in the thread. Is there somewhere else I should be looking on my NI records?

No, it was because of this comment.

It doesn't say anything about the number of pre-2016 years I can use?

I hadn't looked back at all the previous posts but you have previously posted this information so not sure what more you need?

xylophone

 if you have any other suggestions, do let me know. I dread having to call the pension centre (assuming I can get through), to try and sort this all out again and just be met with explanations that I don't understand and/or I can't action because I don't have the information. 

See

https://www.dpf.org.uk/explorer/files/TOPPING-UP-YOUR-STATE-PENSION-GUIDE.pdf
may be of interest.

The above was produced at inception of NSP.

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/who-can-pay-voluntary-contributions

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/deadlines

Manchesterlodger

So after dialling at 8am, I got through to the Future Pensions centre after a 56 minute wait and was told that my years living in Canada count for a UK pension even if I didn't work there - that just living there counts. I was told that I need to provide proof that I lived in Canada 4 months before I claim my UK pension. The documents for proof are unspecified (when I asked I was told it could be a letter from someone who knew me). I was also told to call the International Pensions line to check this and that, depending on what they say, I may not need to pay the £158.20 charge for 2018 - 2019.   

I want to trust the information I've been given but it's the first time I've been told this so it's floored me. 

I will try and get through to the International Pensions line and see what they say (and update this post once I have). 

jem16

Manchesterlodger said:

So after dialling at 8am, I got through to the Future Pensions centre after a 56 minute wait and was told that my years living in Canada count for a UK pension even if I didn't work there - that just living there counts. I was told that I need to provide proof that I lived in Canada 4 months before I claim my UK pension. The documents for proof are unspecified (when I asked I was told it could be a letter from someone who knew me). I was also told to call the International Pensions line to check this and that, depending on what they say, I may not need to pay the £158.20 charge for 2018 - 2019.   

I want to trust the information I've been given but it's the first time I've been told this so it's floored me. 

I will try and get through to the International Pensions line and see what they say (and update this post once I have). 

Your years in Canada only count with regards you meeting the UK minimum requirement of 10 years. You already meet that requirement. Simply living in Canada will not count with regards to the amount you will receive from the UK. 

Hopefully someone in the International Pension Centre will give you a more sensible answer. 

Suhusa

jem16 said:

Manchesterlodger said:

So after dialling at 8am, I got through to the Future Pensions centre after a 56 minute wait and was told that my years living in Canada count for a UK pension even if I didn't work there - that just living there counts. I was told that I need to provide proof that I lived in Canada 4 months before I claim my UK pension. The documents for proof are unspecified (when I asked I was told it could be a letter from someone who knew me). I was also told to call the International Pensions line to check this and that, depending on what they say, I may not need to pay the £158.20 charge for 2018 - 2019.   

I want to trust the information I've been given but it's the first time I've been told this so it's floored me. 

I will try and get through to the International Pensions line and see what they say (and update this post once I have). 

Your years in Canada only count with regards you meeting the UK minimum requirement of 10 years. You already meet that requirement. Simply living in Canada will not count with regards to the amount you will receive from the UK. 

Hopefully someone in the International Pension Centre will give you a more sensible answer. 

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/publicpensions/cpp/cpp-international/united-kingdom.html

Looking at this link it looks as if the years of living in Canada are accepted as years with contributions in the UK. But yeah, the International Pension Centre will know more.

jem16

Suhusa said:

jem16 said:

Manchesterlodger said:

So after dialling at 8am, I got through to the Future Pensions centre after a 56 minute wait and was told that my years living in Canada count for a UK pension even if I didn't work there - that just living there counts. I was told that I need to provide proof that I lived in Canada 4 months before I claim my UK pension. The documents for proof are unspecified (when I asked I was told it could be a letter from someone who knew me). I was also told to call the International Pensions line to check this and that, depending on what they say, I may not need to pay the £158.20 charge for 2018 - 2019.   

I want to trust the information I've been given but it's the first time I've been told this so it's floored me. 

I will try and get through to the International Pensions line and see what they say (and update this post once I have). 

Your years in Canada only count with regards you meeting the UK minimum requirement of 10 years. You already meet that requirement. Simply living in Canada will not count with regards to the amount you will receive from the UK. 

Hopefully someone in the International Pension Centre will give you a more sensible answer. 

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/publicpensions/cpp/cpp-international/united-kingdom.html

Looking at this link it looks as if the years of living in Canada are accepted as years with contributions in the UK. But yeah, the International Pension Centre will know more.

Yes all that’s saying is that the years living in Canada will help to meet the eligibility criteria - ie the minimum 10 years required. 

Manchesterlodger

jem16 said:

Manchesterlodger said:

So after dialling at 8am, I got through to the Future Pensions centre after a 56 minute wait and was told that my years living in Canada count for a UK pension even if I didn't work there - that just living there counts. I was told that I need to provide proof that I lived in Canada 4 months before I claim my UK pension. The documents for proof are unspecified (when I asked I was told it could be a letter from someone who knew me). I was also told to call the International Pensions line to check this and that, depending on what they say, I may not need to pay the £158.20 charge for 2018 - 2019.   

I want to trust the information I've been given but it's the first time I've been told this so it's floored me. 

I will try and get through to the International Pensions line and see what they say (and update this post once I have). 

Your years in Canada only count with regards you meeting the UK minimum requirement of 10 years. You already meet that requirement. Simply living in Canada will not count with regards to the amount you will receive from the UK. 

Hopefully someone in the International Pension Centre will give you a more sensible answer. 

Thanks for this. This is what concerns me. If you can't get accurate information from the Future Pensions Centre, what hope is there? 

molerat

These are the experts on living overseas https://www.gov.uk/international-pension-centre

Unfortunately it is an area that few of us on here have any direct experience of.