Deducting SIPP contributions from earned income for UC

NedS

The correct process to follow...

Assuming you've received your first UC payment, and they have not deducted your private pension (SIPP) contributions, you should request a Mandatory Reconsideration on your journal.

Specifically, read and reference the following bit in the expanded area at the bottom of your UC statement:

If you have new information that could affect your payment or think something has been overlooked, you can request a mandatory reconsideration. When we've looked at the decision again, we'll explain our reasons in a mandatory reconsideration notice.

This will ensure consideration of your pension contributions goes to a Decision Maker, who knows the legislation, rather than the Case Managers who apparently still do not know how to deal with these cases correctly.

You will be asked to provide evidence of your pension contributions, either for the Decision Maker, or after they have made the decision to allow.

NedS

With regard to time scales for a decision maker to make a decision, I've seen some cases lingering for getting on for 6 months, so don't hold your breath.

If timing is important to you, I would strongly suggest making any additional pension contributions into your workplace employer's scheme and later transferring these contributions into a SIPP if that is what you want. Any contributions made into your workplace pension scheme will be deducted directly from your pay and correctly reported to UC on the RTI feed, so there is nothing further to do. You could simultaneously make very small monthly contributions (say £10/month) into a SIPP and report these contributions to UC to force them to accept, and then increase them once you know the process is working for you.

michaels

NedS said:

With regard to time scales for a decision maker to make a decision, I've seen some cases lingering for getting on for 6 months, so don't hold your breath.

If timing is important to you, I would strongly suggest making any additional pension contributions into your workplace employer's scheme and later transferring these contributions into a SIPP if that is what you want. Any contributions made into your workplace pension scheme will be deducted directly from your pay and correctly reported to UC on the RTI feed, so there is nothing further to do. You could simultaneously make very small monthly contributions (say £10/month) into a SIPP and report these contributions to UC to force them to accept, and then increase them once you know the process is working for you.

Unfortunately I can only change employer scheme contributions once a year, informed by Feb for changes starting in April and back in Feb I had not even received my migration notice.

NedS

michaels said:

NedS said:

With regard to time scales for a decision maker to make a decision, I've seen some cases lingering for getting on for 6 months, so don't hold your breath.

If timing is important to you, I would strongly suggest making any additional pension contributions into your workplace employer's scheme and later transferring these contributions into a SIPP if that is what you want. Any contributions made into your workplace pension scheme will be deducted directly from your pay and correctly reported to UC on the RTI feed, so there is nothing further to do. You could simultaneously make very small monthly contributions (say £10/month) into a SIPP and report these contributions to UC to force them to accept, and then increase them once you know the process is working for you.

Unfortunately I can only change employer scheme contributions once a year, informed by Feb for changes starting in April and back in Feb I had not even received my migration notice.

Hopefully it will be sorted by February!