After 47 years of Full Payment I'm still over 20% down - no help anywhere time to give up!

Squizz1967

I reached pension age in August 2016 and my NI record shows 47 of the previous 49 years as Fully Paid.
The 2 exceptions are:-
1992-93 shows as 39 weeks paid (I changed jobs in that year) with the comment that it's too late to do anything.
2013-14 (I took early retirement that year) states the DWP is checking, will contact me when it's done and there is no need to do anything.

Since retiring I've always had a lesser pension payment but no-one has ever given me an explanation for this. I currently receive £185.17 per week, nowhere near the £220'sh everyone else tells me I should get as a post April 2016 retiree with 47 completed years of contributions.

Over the last few months I've rung the Pension Service, been promised a call back within 28 days but never had any response.

I've even emailed my MP but all I get are automated responses.

I've emailed and posted elsewhere on this forum not asking for specific personal advice but for suggestions as to email addresses that might be productive. All I got from MSE was the recommendation that I post my own thread in the hope that some helpful Forumite might have some positive suggestions.

So here we are, before I give up the ghost can I ask is there anyone out there who can give me a contact number, email address or uncomplicated website where I can find out why I'm not getting, nor have ever got, a full pension payment after nearly 50 years of making NI contributions.

Thanks if anyone does respond 

Sarahspangles

It’s simply because all your contributions for the State Pension were pre April 2016 (the tax year in which you reach State Pension Age doesn’t count). So all of your pension was based on the pre-2016 system which had a lower maximum payment. Some people who didn’t contract out of SERPS/S2P do have a higher amount of State Pension accrued under the old system, versus having contributed to a personal pension.

If you’d retired in 2017 tax year you would at best have one year in the new system so you still wouldn’t be close to the New State Pension max. 

molerat

Unfortunately "everyone" is wrong telling you that you should be getting the full pension.  

At April 2016 you were given the higher of the old or new calculations.  Having in excess of 35 years and not receiving the full pension means you were in a contracted out pension scheme accruing little to no additional pension - you receive a "works" pension.

The calculations carried out were 

old X(max 30) x £119.30 / 30 + S2P 

new X(max 35) x £155.65 / 35 - COPE 

A current pension of £185.17 means your 2016 starting amount was £130.33 which was made up of either 

old £119.30 basic + £11.03 S2P or 

new £155.65 - COPE.  

That COPE amount must have been at least £25.33 to bring the new calculation below the old £130.33.  

So you are receiving exactly what you were entitled to under the old rules, your new rules pension would have been lower.  The new pension though gave the opportunity to add to that starting amount with post 2016 contributions.  Unfortunately you retired at the start of the new scheme and had no opportunity to do that.  A slight plus point is that all of your pension is uprated with the triple lock whereas under the old rules only the basic pension would receive triple lock with the additional pension only getting CPI.  There is no need to contact DWP or your MP, there seems to be nothing wrong with the calculation.

Silvertabby

Contrary to popular (mis) belief, not all pensioners who reached SPA after April 2016 automatically receive the full new State pension.  

Squizz1967

Thanks all for your helpful comments and at least they make sense and follow logical reasoning. This is information I couldn't get from anyone and why I was recommended to put my query on the forum. Shame the DWP couldn't tell me but perhaps the systems too complicated for them!

Anyway thanks again Molerat, Silverspangles and Silvertabby for your helpful comments.