State pension amount

rhylbloke

Hi, I'm 70 next month, married for 40 years,  and started receiving my state pension in June 2021. I actually retired at the end of March 2017, after 42 years in local government. Looking at my NI record on HMRC website, it says full year contributions for every year since 1975 ( and 4 years prior to that ) I'm was just curious about why I don't receive the full state pension ( mine will be £881.68 per month from this month ) My wife is 2 years older than me, had to retire from the NHS on ill health in 2001 and was on incapacity benefit until she became 63 in May 2016 and started receiving her state pension, which is a bit more than mine,  but again, not the full state pension.
I did actually ring the DWP today to query this and was told "you don't have enough qualifying years"
How many is that?  I asked. "35" he said.  So, 42 years full years contributions is not enough in my case ? "No" he said. Obviously I'm none the wiser after that extremely unhelpful phone call. 
Is there any way of checking this or do you just have to accept that the DWP are infallible in their calculations ? I realise this is a very complicated subject but any guidance would be much appreciated.
Thank you.

Voyager2002

The reason is likely to be that part of your pension was "contracted out". Probably the only way to get an explanation is to seek assistance from your MP.

molerat

35 years is only relevant to those wholly under the new system so generally those born this century.  Everyone with a pre 2016 history is on a hybrid scheme needing anywhere between 28 to 50 years according to personal circumstances.  Being in a contracted out scheme will generally increase the number of years needed due to the 2016 starting amount being based on the old pre 2016 basic pension with little additional pension and needing post 2016 years to top up that amount, you may have had many pre 2016 years but only 30 would have been useable.  I assume you took advantage of the top up opportunity available to you ?

Tescodealqueen

I reached state pension age last year and needed 48 years because I was in contracted out schemes all my working life, luckily I was able to pay the years I needed  voluntarily and there were just the right number of years since the start of the new scheme. You can look into paying additional contributions but It tends to be slower and more complicated once you have claimed your State pension, i believe you will need to contact DWP rather than HMRC now and I am not sure you can pay for years after you reached State Pension Age though I may be mistaken

Dazed_and_C0nfused

I'm was just curious about why I don't receive the full state pension ( mine will be £881.68 per month from this month ) 


Another bonus from posting your query is that you will now £881.68/year better off than you thought as you cannot be paid State Pension monthly, your £881.68 will be being paid every 4 weeks 😉

Silvertabby

Your NI record doesn't actually say that you have 42 years of full NI contributions - it just says that you have 42 financial years.  Your Local Government service was contracted out (of SERPS/SP2) from 1978 to 2016, meaning you paid reduced rate NI.  You haven't lost out - far from it - as the difference (and more) between your actual State pension and the new single tier pension is being paid as part of your LGPS pension.

We are similar ages, and as I retired at 60 (SPA 66) I was able to top up my pension with enough post 2016 years to take me up to the full new rate.  In my case, that took a total of 48 years of NI contributions, being 44 from working and 4 from paying voluntary Class 3s.  The person you spoke to at DWP was quite wrong to quote 35 years - that only really applies to those who started work after April 2016, with the rest of us falling under transitional arrangements with varying requirements.  Anything from 28 years to 50 years.

Sarahspangles

rhylbloke said:

Hi, I'm 70 next month, married for 40 years,  and started receiving my state pension in June 2021. I actually retired at the end of March 2017, after 42 years in local government. Looking at my NI record on HMRC website, it says full year contributions for every year since 1975 ( and 4 years prior to that ) I'm was just curious about why I don't receive the full state pension ( mine will be £881.68 per month from this month ) My wife is 2 years older than me, had to retire from the NHS on ill health in 2001 and was on incapacity benefit until she became 63 in May 2016 and started receiving her state pension, which is a bit more than mine,  but again, not the full state pension.
I did actually ring the DWP today to query this and was told "you don't have enough qualifying years"
How many is that?  I asked. "35" he said.  So, 42 years full years contributions is not enough in my case ? "No" he said. Obviously I'm none the wiser after that extremely unhelpful phone call. 
Is there any way of checking this or do you just have to accept that the DWP are infallible in their calculations ? I realise this is a very complicated subject but any guidance would be much appreciated.
Thank you.

When you say you have full years for every year, does that include 2016/17 to 2020/21 inclusive? It’s those extra years post 2016 that could take people above their previously accrued state pension up to the New State Pension level. If you retired in March 2017 and didn’t contribute further years for the New State Pension after that year, then you had - until recently - an option to buy those extra years.

Hoenir

Voyager2002 said:

The reason is likely to be that part of your pension was "contracted out". Probably the only way to get an explanation is to seek assistance from your MP.

Little point in wasting people's valuable time. 

p00hsticks

When the new State Pension was introduced on April 6th 2016, two calculations were done for everyone, one using the old rules and one the new, to determine everyones 'starting amount' (the higher of the two sums).

The old was
( number of years up to a maximum of 30 / 30 ) X old state pension amount + any SERPS / S2P earned

The new was 
(number of years up to a maximum of 35 / 35 ) x new state penion amount - COPE

SERPS / S2P was built up by people who were contracted in to the STATE Second Pension, and so paid a higher rate of NI than those contracted out. 
COPE (Contracted Out Pension Equivalent) was a figure calculated for those who had been contracted out to take account of the fact that they had paid a lower rate of NI. 
The current old ( basic) state pension amount is £176.25
The current new state pension amount is £230.25

Any additional years after April 2016 simply add 1/35th of the nSP amount to that starting amount until either the maximum amount is reached or the person reaches State Pension Age, whichever comes first. 

AS you had been contracted out for your entire working life, your 'starting amount' would have been based on the old rules, and unfortunately you reached State Pension age before having a chance to accumulate enough post -2016 years  to bring you up to the full new State Pension amount.

dunstonh

 I actually retired at the end of March 2017, after 42 years in local government. 

The new state pension is effectively combining the old Basic state pension, graduated pension, SERPS and State Second Pension.      As you were in a contracted out DB scheme for the majority of the period, you paid lower NI compared to someone who was contracted in.    And you only qualified for the Basic state pension.   You didn't qualify for SERPS/S2P.

When we moved to the new state pension, your record was converted over to give a comparable amount.

 My wife is 2 years older than me, had to retire from the NHS on ill health in 2001 and was on incapacity benefit until she became 63 in May 2016 and started receiving her state pension, 

In old language, she was getting her stamp paid and qualifying for contracted in years.

( mine will be £881.68 per month from this month )

The Basic State Pension, that you would be on had the old system remained is £705.80.   So, you have some additional qualification through being contracted in or qualification under the NSP period (post 2016)

I did actually ring the DWP today to query this and was told "you don't have enough qualifying years"
How many is that?  I asked. "35" he said.  So, 42 years full years contributions is not enough in my case ? "No" he said. Obviously I'm none the wiser after that extremely unhelpful phone call. 

You are right.  It was unhelpful.  Unless you were born this century, the 35 years rule doesn't apply to you.  You are a hybrid of old rules that got converted into new rules.

And seeing as you have more than you would have under the old system, you should be quite happy with that.

QrizB

Sarahspangles said:

rhylbloke said:

Hi, I'm 70 next month, married for 40 years,  and started receiving my state pension in June 2021. I actually retired at the end of March 2017, after 42 years in local government. Looking at my NI record on HMRC website, it says full year contributions for every year since 1975 ( and 4 years prior to that ) I'm was just curious about why I don't receive the full state pension ( mine will be £881.68 per month from this month ) My wife is 2 years older than me, had to retire from the NHS on ill health in 2001 and was on incapacity benefit until she became 63 in May 2016 and started receiving her state pension, which is a bit more than mine,  but again, not the full state pension.
I did actually ring the DWP today to query this and was told "you don't have enough qualifying years"
How many is that?  I asked. "35" he said.  So, 42 years full years contributions is not enough in my case ? "No" he said. Obviously I'm none the wiser after that extremely unhelpful phone call. 
Is there any way of checking this or do you just have to accept that the DWP are infallible in their calculations ? I realise this is a very complicated subject but any guidance would be much appreciated.
Thank you.

When you say you have full years for every year, does that include 2016/17 to 2020/21 inclusive? It’s those extra years post 2016 that could take people above their previously accrued state pension up to the New State Pension level. If you retired in March 2017 and didn’t contribute further years for the New State Pension after that year, then you had - until recently - an option to buy those extra years.

I think you still can buy 2019/20 and 20/21? This might be an option for the OP?