FUTURE PENSIONS CENTRE

carl86ukuk

hello

I have been trying for many months to get through to the Future Pensions Centre.  As this appears impossible and no doubt as the end of July deadline approaches they are likely to get busier wondered if someone could help

Amount accrued to date - £186.46 per week
Tax year you reach SPa - 2031-2032 
How many pre 2016 years you have - 34 years (albeit I was in a Company pension scheme)
How many post 2016 years you have - 5 years
Which pre 2016 years are available - 2014 - 2015 and 2015 - 2016
Which post 2016 years are available - 2021 - 2022 onwards

thank you

Silvertabby

carl86ukuk said:

hello

I have been trying for many months to get through to the Future Pensions Centre.  As this appears impossible and no doubt as the end of July deadline approaches they are likely to get busier wondered if someone could help

Amount accrued to date - £186.46 per week
Tax year you reach SPa - 2031-2032 
How many pre 2016 years you have - 34 years (albeit I was in a Company pension scheme)
How many post 2016 years you have - 5 years
Which pre 2016 years are available - 2014 - 2015 and 2015 - 2016
Which post 2016 years are available - 2021 - 2022 onwards

thank you

Easy answer is that, in your case, paying the pre 2016 gaps won't add to your pension, so no need to fret about the July cut- off.

You need another 4 years of NI contributions to take you to the full nSP - but as the 4th year would only add a few pence ( for the same cost) it wouldn't be worth it.  

Plenty of time to address this after the current madness!

p00hsticks

Silvertabby said:

carl86ukuk said:

hello

I have been trying for many months to get through to the Future Pensions Centre.  As this appears impossible and no doubt as the end of July deadline approaches they are likely to get busier wondered if someone could help

Amount accrued to date - £186.46 per week
Tax year you reach SPa - 2031-2032 
How many pre 2016 years you have - 34 years (albeit I was in a Company pension scheme)
How many post 2016 years you have - 5 years
Which pre 2016 years are available - 2014 - 2015 and 2015 - 2016
Which post 2016 years are available - 2021 - 2022 onwards

thank you

Plenty of time to address this after the current madness!

And, as you have enough years available going forward to reach the maximum, there are a number of different ways available to you to do that without paying now for past years. 

So.....   . 

• If you are still in full time employment or self-employed, then you will be paying NI going forward anyhow. 
• If you are claiming Universal Credit, Child Benefit for a child under 12 or certain other benefits you will get Class 3 credits
• If you are looking after grandchildren under 12 so that their parent can work, you can potentially claim Childcare Credits.
• And if you want to make voluntary contributions, rather than having to paying for previous years now, you could spread the cost by setting up a monthly direct debit to pay for the current year. 

EP456

Can anyone help me please as I cannot get through on the helpline either.  I've got the details as requested above. 

I retired early in 2021 aged 58.

·       Headline amount that you are forecast to get - £203.85

You have:

• 43 years of full contributions
• 7 years to contribute before 5 April 2029
• 1 year when you did not contribute enough

·       What you current entitlement is shown as , and is it up to to 05 April 2022                  - £198.46

·       How many full NI years do you have prior to April 2016 – 38 years

·       How many full NI years do you have after April 2016  - 5 years

COPE figure - £55.26

2021 to 2022

Year is not full

You have contributions from

Paid employment: £418.78

You can make up the shortfall

Pay a voluntary contribution of £154 by 5 April 2028. This shortfall may increase after 5 April 2024.

Is it just a case of me paying £154 to obtain the full state pension, and if so, can I only do this by getting through to Future Pensions by telephone.

Many thanks for any help.

·      

MallyGirl

it would seem so - try at 8am on the dot

p00hsticks

MallyGirl said:

it would seem so - try at 8am on the dot

But note that as it is a recent year, that price will remain the same until April next year. 

As you are not close to State retirement age and there is therefore no urgency, you will probably save yourself a lot of time waiting on hold on the telephone if you leave it until after the end of July when the demand should die down considerably. 

EP456

Further to my query above, my husband has a shortfall of 2 years.

He retired in 2021 aged 62. He is eligible for State Penision in 2024.

His years that he did not contribute enough was also the year we retired, 2021.

From the Government Gateway page

You have:

• 47 years of full contributions
• 2 years to contribute before 5 April 2024
• 1 year when you did not contribute enough

You need to continue to contribute National Insurance to reach your forecast

Estimate based on your National Insurance record up to 5 April 2022

£193.82 a week

Forecast if you contribute another 2 years before 5 April 2024

£203.85 a week

£203.85 is the most you can get

Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE)

Your COPE estimate is £83.87 a week

2021 to 2022

Year is not full

You have contributions from

Paid employment: £273.30

You can make up the shortfall

Pay a voluntary contribution of £231 by 5 April 2028. This shortfall may increase after 5 April 2024

Will making this voluntary contribution increase his to the full state pension?

Many thanks again 

p00hsticks

EP456 said:

2021 to 2022

Year is not full

You have contributions from

Paid employment: £273.30

You can make up the shortfall

Pay a voluntary contribution of £231 by 5 April 2028. This shortfall may increase after 5 April 2024

Will making this voluntary contribution increase his to the full state pension?

Not competely, no. 

Making up the part year 2021-22 will add one further year to his record and so increase his forecast by £5.82, taking it to £199.64.

But he'll also need to make voluntary contributions (at  cost of £824.20) or get credits for the year 2022-23 to add the final £4.21 to get him to the maximum £203.85.  

EP456

Many thanks P00hsticks and MallyGirl

trumpeter_2

My wife has been trying to get through to future pensions and, like most others it would seem, failing! I think she needs to take advantage of the opportunity to make up at least 3 years. Here are the details:

SPA year: 2025-26

Estimate to 5/4/22 £175.89pw
Forecast if you contribute to 5/4/25 £193.36pw
Maximum you can increase forecast to £203.85pw

years prior to 2016 37
years post 2016 none so far

COPE £21.35

She can buy:
15-16 £649.85
16-17 £301.15
17-18 £31.70 (not a typo)
other years at £824.20 (perhaps a little less from 23 onwards because she's working and paying contributions, but not much)

If I understand correctly, if she makes up those three 'cheap' years (15-18) it will increase her estimate to 5/4/22 to £193.36pw. And we can deal with the rest of the shortfall in due course.

I would be very grateful if one of you could confirm my understanding, or tell me why I'm wrong, please?

Many thanks in advance