State pension Top Up - Class 3A NI contributions - anyone claimed these with their State Pension?

jay852

Allegedly worth £25 per week when purchased in 2015. It should be possible to claim them when claiming your State Pension.

Has anyone actually done this? No-one at DWP seem to know anything about them. I would be grateful if someone who has successfully claimed could suggest a department who may be able to deal with these claims, or even a phone number other that the normal 'black hole' ...

Thanks!

molerat

Class 3A contributions were only applicable to those reaching retirement prior to April 2016 and the additional amount should automatically be paid.  They were only available to pay up until April 2017. What do you mean by "claim them"

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pension-top-up-class-3a-voluntary-national-insurance-contributions

jay852

Thanks for your reply. What I mean is -  when you reach the time you want to retire the terminology is to "claim" your State Pension. In my relative's case, the Basic State pension has been worked out and is being paid, but the sum "awarded" does not include the Top-Up, either listed separately or within the Basic figure. Enquiries to the DWP are met with a mixture of puzzlement and disbelief on the phone, and letters have been ignored. I was just hoping someone else may have a suggestion of exactly where to try next.

xylophone

https://www.cibservices.co.uk/resources/your-business/paye-nics-and-benefits/state-pension-top-up-class-3a-voluntary-national-insurance-contributions

See above.

Are you saying that your relative made lump sum contributions as indicated but the Additional Pension bought is not showing on their statement of benefits?

squirrelpie

jay852 said:

Thanks for your reply. What I mean is -  when you reach the time you want to retire the terminology is to "claim" your State Pension. In my relative's case, the Basic State pension has been worked out and is being paid, but the sum "awarded" does not include the Top-Up, either listed separately or within the Basic figure. Enquiries to the DWP are met with a mixture of puzzlement and disbelief on the phone, and letters have been ignored. I was just hoping someone else may have a suggestion of exactly where to try next.

Do you mean that your relative was entitled to claim their pension before 6 April 2016 but did not do so then and has now done so? And that in the period before 6 April 2017 they bought some class 3A contributions? But the pension has not been increased to account for those, although it has been increased to account for the delay in claiming?

If so, then I suspect posting some numbers so people here can check them would be a start, as would posting details of what evidence there is that these contributions were bought (either on paper or in the online account).

molerat

OP's earlier post

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6445560/calculation-of-state-penson-claim-for-basic-top-up-2015-scheme-deferment-and-inflation-combined.

xylophone

What exactly does your relative's statement of benefits show?

More detail of the top up scheme here.

https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN07067/SN07067.pdf

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/advisernet/09081615.pdf

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/deferring-your-state-pension

jay852

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Are you saying that your relative made lump sum contributions as indicated but the Additional Pension bought is not showing on their statement of benefits?

Yes

squirrelpie said:

Do you mean that your relative was entitled to claim their pension before 6 April 2016 but did not do so then and has now done so? And that in the period before 6 April 2017 they bought some class 3A contributions? But the pension has not been increased to account for those, although it has been increased to account for the delay in claiming?

If so, then I suspect posting some numbers so people here can check them would be a start, as would posting details of what evidence there is that these contributions were bought (either on paper or in the online account).

Yes.

There is no problem with the Basic State Pension figure - 156.20 per week.  Deferment on this Basic figure calculated correctly. No sign of the TopUp. Expecting £25 (value in 2015) plus uprating (CPI?) to pension date, plus deferment on TopUp.)

Bank Statement shows date paid and amount.

Any suggestions for where to try next?

xylophone

When exactly did your relative reach SPA?

Is the relative male or female?

Are you saying that your relative's statement shows only Basic State Pension?

There is nothing at all concerning Additional State Pension?

No Graduated Pension?

If so, this is indeed strange.

jay852

Apologies for omitting the small amounts below - we didn't think they were material in the hunt for £25!

Graduated Retirement Benefit £1.02

Additional State Pension £3.28

Thanks

molerat

I suspect this is a question for the NI side of HMRC.  DWP can only deal with what HMRC tell them.  Contributions would have been made to HMRC.

I believe this should show up on their annual advice as additional pension

Are they certain they made class 3a contributions and not standard class 3 ?