Letter re state pension

Flugelhorn

State Pension due Mid November - got letter re applying online at the end of July, applied straight away and got online acknowledgement. 

When DH  did this he got a letter within a couple of weeks re dates and amount  but so far I have had nothing - how soon do people here? should I have heard by now or are they waiting in case the budget changes things?

molerat

The letter is often dated  the same date as the application and received within a couple of weeks.  Is your pension straightforward class 1 / class 3 / child benefit credits etc or is there any class 2 "missing" years ?  If the former you should definitely have heard by now, the latter would mean going to a manual desk to sort it.

Flugelhorn

 all the qualifying years are listed as full - up until stopping work 4 years ago

In the past  I did some self employment but earned enough for PAYE to cover the class 1 for those years. No child benefit credits as was either on mat leave or working . 

PS just checked - and under a couple of the recent years there is this

"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."

I stopped work May 2020 at age 61 so 20/21 was full but  21/22 & 22/23 both have this message - I didn't pay any NI then so not expecting any credits etc 

molerat

That will likely be the problem, that normally appears when you were eligible to pay class 2 but didn't.  Your record will likely have been flagged for manual checking and there is a huge backlog.  Might be worth giving them a ring and someone might push a few buttons to clear that marker.

Flugelhorn

Thanks @molerat perhaps that is the problem - the last communication I had with them was when they had one of their "we think you've paid too much NI and we might want to give you some back" moments ... that was from 8  years and they had already issued a refund for the excess but somehow didn't seem to register the fact ... can imagine this could take ages. Yes I'll ring them - I have plenty of full years and am happy with the forecast so perhaps I can get them to just calculate it on that 

pinnks

Just to add to the issue, when my wife claimed she did not receive her award letter until 2 weeks after her birthday, even though her case was simple Class 1 then 3 for a few years.   DWP said it could be any time up to about the date she got her letter and to call and check if it is not received by two weeks after your birthday.  That was 2 years ago so things could have changed, I guess.

Flugelhorn

pinnks said:

Just to add to the issue, when my wife claimed she did not receive her award letter until 2 weeks after her birthday, even though her case was simple Class 1 then 3 for a few years.   DWP said it could be any time up to about the date she got her letter and to call and check if it is not received by two weeks after your birthday.  That was 2 years ago so things could have changed, I guess.

that's interesting - clearly all a bit random - DH got his about then very quickly - his was just class 1 and child benefit 

molerat

Flugelhorn said:

Thanks @molerat perhaps that is the problem - the last communication I had with them was when they had one of their "we think you've paid too much NI and we might want to give you some back" moments ... that was from 8  years and they had already issued a refund for the excess but somehow didn't seem to register the fact ... can imagine this could take ages. Yes I'll ring them - I have plenty of full years and am happy with the forecast so perhaps I can get them to just calculate it on that 

At present those 2 years simply don't exist, they are not counted for your current or forecasted amount and they are not available to be filled if needed. Your forecast could state that you are below the maximum but cannot improve it but when those markers are removed your forecast could be improved.

Flugelhorn

Contacted them and they said that I should here by 2 weeks before I get the pension - woman I spoke to promised to send message to chase things up

This morning £2200 landed in my bank account and listed as "class1" so presumably for overpayment one year. Maybe that was why there was a delay and perhaps I will hear something soon