AVC post pension payment vortex

Minky257

I know it's easy to make AVC to top one's pension ... I did it for 3 years before I hit pension age last year then one goes into a black hole where you can't pay online anymore.  I finally got through to someone last July who told me I should have received a form in April when I started at 66 and she promised to organise sending out said form - it would take 2 -3 months she said therefore maybe end of October.?.... and here I am waiting.  
I know I can pay 4 more years, discussed it 4 years ago with Future Pensions chap and he agreed, it will take my pension from apr 2025 from £200 p/wk to the full £220.  I have registered for a call back as per Martin's advice but also tried today to see if I can just get the digital code number.... and so ...
You get through to future pensions and then if you're retired it sends you back to the Gov page.
You get on the Gov page and it tells you to contact pensions.
You contact Pensions and Shirley is very sweet but says it's all HMRC.
HMRC put you in a loop which basically tells you how to refer to their page and get the 18 digit code number - but that's for pre retirement people!!!!!!

It's Orwellian ... an hour and a half and no human being can actually tell you a system for renewing your number and continuing to pay as you have done for 3 years.  I swear to God if I can get the number I'll transfer from savings just to pay the £3296.80 just to never have to go on this roundabout again!!!!!  Why oh why are there no instructions that make sense for making a payment once you have retired to continue topping up??????

molerat

Once you have reached pension age everything is done in writing, it is not a simple topping up exercise any more.  Everything has to go through a Gringott's Bank like set up with back office goblins using quills and paper to work it all out.  It would likely be around a year from first contact to receiving the uprated payment into your bank.  HMRC will not give you a code without the say so from DWP.  You could send a cheque in the post but many departments are currently dealing with postal items from April 2024.  It is currently the worst possible time to be dealing with anything that cannot be done on line.