Checking State Pension

toesonthenose

Hi, Im trying to help a friend check she is getting the correct amount of state pension.

Her NI record is

pre 2016:  31 full years of contributions, some partials not included in this total

2016 onwards: 6 full years contributions.

She was a teacher so not involved in SERPS or contracting out.  I understand that the calculation is the founding amount of max of the pension earned prior to 2016 of the old system cf if the new system had been in existence plus the 6/35 of the new pension for 2016 +.  So even if the old system calc was less than the 31/35s then she has more than the 35 years needed for a full pension.  If the old method of calculation was greater then she should get more than blah.

Simply put it would appear she is due a full state pension and yet that isnt what she is getting.  

Everyone defers to the Pensions Office but given the Govs record of IT and recent scandals why should I trust them and not challenge the number with a clear calculation.

Can someone explain how the pension should be calculated as I have been unable to find the maths involved.

Thanks in advance.

molerat

How much are they actually getting ?

A full 30 pre 2016 would give £156.18 + 6 post at £34.95 = £191.13.  There could of course be some S2P added to that pre 2016 amount but with a long contracted out history unlikely anywhere the £12.72 (at today's value) needed to get the full pension.

35 years is of no relevance to anyone with a pre 2016 history.

The maths are at April 2016 she was given the higher of 30/30ths of £119.30 + S2P or 31/35ths of £155.65 - COPE.

amanda1024

I thought the teachers’ pension scheme did contract out of SERPS/S2P - or was she a teacher but not part of the pension? The teachers’ pension scheme should include at least the ‘guaranteed minimum’ from the additional pension.

Devongardener

If she was a teacher, presumably she had contributed to the teachers pension scheme. If so she would have been contacted out.

p00hsticks

Devongardener said:

If she was a teacher, presumably she had contributed to the teachers pension scheme. If so she would have been contacted out.

.....and would therefore potentially have a large COPE figure, which would explain why her 'starting amount' as calculated in April 2016 would most likely be that under the old rules (£119.30 + S2P) rather than the new (£155.65 - COPE).as per molerat's post above

toesonthenose

Thanks all for your help. 

Isnt it a little odd that the DWP isnt transparent about their calculations, (they must have them after all) so that you can check how they have got to the number they have! At least HMRC give you your tax calcs which you can go through and check.

I revisited the various docs I've been referencing and its again odd that some of the numbers used above dont seem to be in the public domain, at least I havent found them maybe you can send the urls.

Ive also gone through some old papers and found a very old forecast of hers where my statement above about serps etc is confirmed.  

The figure is £192.28 per week btw.

Molerat congrats for being close but not quite close enough for the cigar!  Happy new year everyone!

molerat

Working out how the pension is calculated is pretty straightforward.  A post 2016 year is worth £5.82, as simple as that.  Working back to the 2016 starting amount is pretty straightforward maths, there is no available tool to do it though.  The pre 2016 pension is again straightforward, an "old"  year was worth £3.98, a "new" £4.45.  The calculation of the S2P and COPE amounts though comes into rocket scientist maths, the general population would just glaze over looking at it, so it is usually easier to take them as given.  DWP will provide the workings on request though.

My figure was simply the minimum that a contracted out person would have from the number of years given, the confirmed figure simply added 85p S2P, at 2016 rates, to that amount.  HMRC / DWP were previously slated for giving too much information in the forecasts so provided a dumbed down version to suit most people and gives enough to work out any options available. Some still consider it too much information and confusing.  If you really want to learn about it then simply read many of the threads on here, loads of information and useful links.

MACKEM99

I think Molerat deserves a box of cigars for all the help they have and continues to give those on here!

toesonthenose

Thanks again Molerat and I quite agree with you Mackem99 he deserves many thanks, a box of cigars, a crate of champagne, or if you want to be a bit trendy a case of cremant de loire.

Interesting.   I can see how multiple sums with several factors for the basic plus serps cf contracted out over many years could be confusingly detailed.  Simplifying it I imagine would be nigh on impossible hence reducing it to a single number would have been the only real option.  Scale it up to a population of 66million, perhaps a little less due to number of people of working age and an excel spreadsheet wont hack it, lol.  Not to mention how many people know what they earned or contributed throughout their working life, let alone whether they were contracted in or out along with periods of self employment too!