how much time to allow DWP to investigate?

MrKriss

Hi all, I have been claiming new state pensions for almost 4 years now.  I was living and working abroad for many years including 2006 to 2019 when I returned to the UK. When I got my pension forecast it naturally said "year is not full for those days".  I regret I did not check the details as it was rather obvious to me.  I also was able to obtain state pensions from the countries where I was working.  For 2006 to 2011 my record states that I can pay voluntary contributions at £824.20 per year.
However, for 2011 to 2020, expanding the details shows this ...

Year is not full

We are checking this year to see if it counts towards your pension. We’ll update your record when this is finished, you do not need to do anything.

1) Is there a time limit by when DWP should update this or contact me directly?
2) who should I contact to pursue this?
3) for years where I cam already claiming a foreign state pension can I still pay voluntary contribution sot enhance my UK state pension (some countries pay more than UK, others pay a lot less.  )
4) after recent pension increase how much each year of voluntary contribution augment my weekly UK state pension (I know I should be able to find that somewhere but not sure the numbers I find would reflect 2024 increase.)

Thanks in advance for any help offered and I hope it helps others too.

molerat

1) Is usually sorted prior to state retirement, it is normally "just done", no contacting.

2) HMRC are the ones that deal with the NI record so you will need to speak with them.

3) Yes

4) A year 2016-17 and later will increase your pension by £6.32 per week, a year 2015-16 and earlier by £0, £5.65 or £6.32 depending on your exact circumstances.

You may be able to pay class 2 at around £170 for the years where you were working abroad, you would need to speak to HMRC about that.  This is something you need to get a move on with if you intend to pursue it as the years 2006-07 to 2018-19 cease to be available to buy from April 2025.

Contacting the Pension Service is the starting point to find out how purchasing years will affect your pension but it is a very slow manual process noting my comment above but someone will be able to give you pointers if you supply the following few pieces of information.

How much is your current weekly £££.pp amount ?

How many full NI years 15-16 and earlier ?
How many full NI years 16-17 and later ?
Were you ever in a contracted-out pension scheme ?

pinnks

To confirm your ability to pay Class 2 as opposed to Class 3 for the years you were abroad, you need to submit form CF83 to HMRC - link in the "Details" section of this link Social Security abroad: NI38 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

MrKriss

Thanks for the informative responses.  I will get on to all of that without delay.