Contracted out - Never Knew!!

SINDYGIRL

kaMelo said:

Have a look at this picture which should look like your online forecast.
The very bottom line where it states "you where contracted out of part of the state pension" is a link to details on your COPE figure.

This is what I received last year...

SINDYGIRL

[Deleted User] said:

You also have the opportunity to pay voluntary NI for the years 2018/2019 2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. These could well close your gap. 

I am now paying my 47th and final year to ensure I receive the full new pension minus a few pence. Like yourself I was contracted out for most of my career. As a semi-retired teacher myself I am surprised you didn’t realise the details of the TPS scheme.

I think the years are about £800 ish each?  I'll have to find out if it's worth it...
Yes...daft I know!

Dazed_and_C0nfused

SINDYGIRL said:

[Deleted User] said:

You also have the opportunity to pay voluntary NI for the years 2018/2019 2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. These could well close your gap. 

I am now paying my 47th and final year to ensure I receive the full new pension minus a few pence. Like yourself I was contracted out for most of my career. As a semi-retired teacher myself I am surprised you didn’t realise the details of the TPS scheme.

I think the years are about £800 ish each?  I'll have to find out if it's worth it...
Yes...daft I know!

Can you check your current forecast (reading it in full) on your Personal Tax Account?

That would show the COPE details and also make it crystal clear if you have already reached the standard new State Pension of £203.85?

Pretty sure you have done but that makes it 100% clear.  Providing you read it in full.

Ayr_Rage

It looks to me that you will get the maximum anyway.

The letter says 

You cannot improve your forecast any more.

Have they said anything different since August last year ?

p00hsticks

SINDYGIRL said:

[Deleted User] said:

You also have the opportunity to pay voluntary NI for the years 2018/2019 2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. These could well close your gap. 

I am now paying my 47th and final year to ensure I receive the full new pension minus a few pence. Like yourself I was contracted out for most of my career. As a semi-retired teacher myself I am surprised you didn’t realise the details of the TPS scheme.

I think the years are about £800 ish each?  I'll have to find out if it's worth it...
Yes...daft I know!

If you have the money and average life expectancy it's one of the best investments you can make. Each year bought adds 1/35th of the new State Pension maximum amount - so currently £5.84 - to your weekly amount until you reach the maximum. So you'll have recouped your investment by the time you are around seventy and after that you are quids in.  

As you are not allowed to go over the maximum you need to do your sums to work out if the final year you are missing is worth buying as it can be worth anything from 1p to £5.84 
  
The price of each year increases with inflation each year - usually at the start of the new tax year but this year it has been held until the end of July. So currently 2020-21 is £795.60, 2021-22 is £800.80 and 2022-23 and all other available years £824.20. 
From August 1st 2021-22 and 2022-23 will remain at the same prices as now but the price of other available years will rise to £907.40, the same as for the current year 2023-24.

IvanOpinion

SINDYGIRL said:

kaMelo said:

Have a look at this picture which should look like your online forecast.
The very bottom line where it states "you where contracted out of part of the state pension" is a link to details on your COPE figure.

This is what I received last year...

Is it just me or is that a pair of legs with fluffy slippers at the bottom of the image?

SINDYGIRL

Ayr_Rage said:

It looks to me that you will get the maximum anyway.

The letter says 

You cannot improve your forecast any more.

Have they said anything different since August last year ?

Yes...yesterday on the phone to future pensions they said that info was wrong... hence needing to wait for 10 weeks for someone to do a physical record ...

molerat

Ayr_Rage said:

It looks to me that you will get the maximum anyway.

The letter says 

You cannot improve your forecast any more.

Have they said anything different since August last year ?

But OP states their contracted out history is incorrectly recorded which makes that letter void, the whole subject of this post.

I contracted gov.uk today just to ask something else and was told that they need to get a physical forecast as the one on the website isn't correct. The website states I have 44 yrs of full contributions with 3 yrs when I didnt contribute enough...they have been the last 3 yrs since I retired from teaching...although the website states all is OK and I have the same info in writing they are now saying I was contracted out between 1987-1990 and 2006-2016...I can't understand how this never showed up before

SINDYGIRL

It's just annoying that I was told one thing and now something else...and worse that it's going to take so long for them to sort out.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

SINDYGIRL said:

It's just annoying that I was told one thing and now something else...and worse that it's going to take so long for them to sort out.

Have you looked your forecast online?