What the term "reduced rate" on National Insurance Record actually means

fearbeag

My wife has three terms on her National insurance record namely "Payment not needed" "too late to pay" both of which are self explanatory and the third is "reduced rate"  which is displayed  for eight years from 1975/1976 through to 1982/83. Will these years count fully towards the 35 years needed for her full pension. One reason I ask is because for the five years from 1978/79 (when Home responsibility protection was introduced) to 1982/83 she was in receipt of child benefit for our three children. To complicate the matter, there are also the years from 1968 to 1975 most of which she was in full time employment and yet HMRC say they don't have records beyond 1975. It's a bit of a nightmare. Any help / guidance would be appreciated as we believe she is not receiving the amount of pension she is entitled to since commencing to take it in June 2017    

Dazed_and_C0nfused

fearbeag said:

My wife has three terms on her National insurance record namely "Payment not needed" "too late to pay" both of which are self explanatory and the third is "reduced rate"  which is displayed  for eight years from 1975/1976 through to 1982/83. Will these years count fully towards the 35 years needed for her full pension. One reason I ask is because for the five years from 1978/79 (when Home responsibility protection was introduced) to 1982/83 she was in receipt of child benefit for our three children. To complicate the matter, there are also the years from 1968 to 1975 most of which she was in full time employment and yet HMRC say they don't have records beyond 1975. It's a bit of a nightmare. Any help / guidance would be appreciated as we believe she is not receiving the amount of pension she is entitled to since commencing to take it in June 2017    

Why do you think your wife, as someone with a pre 2016 NI history, needed 35 years 🤔

What is her currently weekly award?

QrizB

OP has another current thread on the same subject:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6493601/incomplete-national-insurance-records-and-the-problems-getting-info-from-hmrc-or-dwp/p1

Per that thread, her current pension is £163.70.

molerat

Could it possibly relate to paying the reduced rate NI, otherwise known as married women's small stamp ?

If it does then those years will not count towards the state pension and make her ineligible for HRP.

Does she have access to her on line NI records or have you only got a print out ?

Flugelhorn

molerat said:

Could it possibly relate to paying the reduced rate NI, otherwise known as married women's small stamp ?

If it does then those years will not count towards the state pension and make her ineligible for HRP.

Does she have access to her on line NI records or have you only got a print out ?

it will be the married woman's stamp - they paid less and relied on the husband's contributions for the pension entitlement - didn't work out well for some though 

fearbeag

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

fearbeag said:

My wife has three terms on her National insurance record namely "Payment not needed" "too late to pay" both of which are self explanatory and the third is "reduced rate"  which is displayed  for eight years from 1975/1976 through to 1982/83. Will these years count fully towards the 35 years needed for her full pension. One reason I ask is because for the five years from 1978/79 (when Home responsibility protection was introduced) to 1982/83 she was in receipt of child benefit for our three children. To complicate the matter, there are also the years from 1968 to 1975 most of which she was in full time employment and yet HMRC say they don't have records beyond 1975. It's a bit of a nightmare. Any help / guidance would be appreciated as we believe she is not receiving the amount of pension she is entitled to since commencing to take it in June 2017    

Why do you think your wife, as someone with a pre 2016 NI history, needed 35 years 🤔

What is her currently weekly award?

I understood she needed 35 years because she started to receive her pension in June 2017 a month before her 64th birthday. I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that the new pension system requiring 35 years had come into force by then.  Her national insurance records which shows details from 1975/76 to 2016/17. Of those 42 years there are 21 years "payment not required"  8 years "reduced payment" and 13 years "too late to pay" The letter which accompanied her National Insurance records also states "our records show that you have 26 qualifying years up to 5th of April 2017. Of the 13 years which are "too late to pay" there are two specific years 1983/84 and 1984/85, she was receiving child benefit for our three children so I felt she should have been entitled to Home responsibility protection for those two years. This is also the case for the five years from 78/79 when Home responsibility protection became applicable, which are showing "reduced rate". it's all a bit of a minefield so that is why I assumed (perhaps wrongly) that the records for the six five years which are missing, from 1968 (when she started working) to 1974 may have boosted her pension. Her current pension is £166.73 per week. Given that there were 15 years from 78 to 95 that she was in receipt of child benefit and having worked most of her life, it just seemed a bit low.. Any help or advice you can offer would be very much appreciated. Best Regards.      

molerat

The new pension only requires those born this century and starting their NI history from 2016 to have 35 years.  Anyone with a pre 2016 history needs as many years as it takes them according to their own personal history, from anecdotal evidence on here that has been between 28 and 50 years.  I have 42 and do not receive the full pension.

Did she pay the reduced stamp which married women could elect to do ? Many women did this egged on by colleagues telling them how much extra they got in their pay packet, a foolish decision in hindsight. If so that could explain the "reduced rate" marker which would mean those years would not accrue credits for the state pension.  It would also preclude her from home responsibilities protection.  If her record states 26 years and you can only see 21 that may account for the pre 1975 years.

Is it possible for her to get access to her on line tax account ?  That gives a much clearer picture.  She would need a photo driving licence or passport to be able to sign up.