I don't believe what HMRC have told me!

DepressedSpursFan

Please forgive me if this has been asked before, but I can't find the relevant thread?

Forget the increase in State Pension due in April and this has nothing to do with Income Tax but I recently found that the "full" pension should be £230.25 per week currently. I have been getting £207.50 yet have paid 42 "Full" years NI contributions and 7 "Part" years so should be on full pension.

I phoned to ask for a reassessment and was asked to ring back an hour later as the "… computer is doing a back-up"? Who knows why this couldn't be done at night instead of at a time when people can phone in with queries?

I rang again and was asked, before giving any identifying details, that if I had had a period of self employment (which I had for 3 years) and/or a private pension (which I have from one company I worked for for 8 years), I would not get the full state pension? My request for a reassessment was then refused.

SURELY this is not true? I have paid the same amount into the NI scheme as someone without a private pension so why should I get less out because I also paid into a private scheme?

I considered SERPS but am told by my former employers that scheme didn't apply to me?

Is HRMC right and I am only entitled to a reduced pension?

Many thanks for any advice….

Ayr_Rage

They are probably correct.

For everyone with a NI history prior to 2016 the number of qualifying years is individual, there is no "35 years and that's it"

I was contracted out for all of the applicable years and received my SP last year, I needed around 48 full years to get the full NSP.

eskbanker

Did you at any point go to the state pension forecast website to ascertain the situation before reaching state pension age? Contrary to popular belief, there is no standard number of years needed to qualify for the full pension, as it varies significantly by individual, depending on circumstances - those starting out on their journey nowadays will use 35 years as a benchmark, but for anyone born in the 20th century, it'll be transitional arrangements.

The calculation of your entitlement will have been influenced by whether you contracted out of the main state pension during your working life, which entailed lower contributions to it, while putting the remainder into a private plan, generally a workplace one, so that's what they'll have been referring to.

molerat

I have paid the same amount into the NI scheme as someone without a private pension

Most unlikely. Whilst contracted out into the occupational pension you would have paid a lower rate of NI.

A pity you didn't come here before retirement as you would have been given the heads up on how if possible to increase the pension amount.

When did you reach state pension age ?

Do you have any not full years 2019-20 and later showing in your NI record ?

(And the question has been asked hundreds of time on this forum)

https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/what-youll-get

If your National Insurance record started before April 2016

You may have been contracted out. While you were contracted out, you or your employer paid more into your workplace or private pension and less into your State Pension.

If you were contracted out, you will usually need more than 35 qualifying years to get the full rate of new State Pension.

If your National Insurance record started after April 2016

If your National Insurance record started after April 2016 you will need 35 qualifying years to get the full rate of new State Pension.

dunstonh

Forget the increase in State Pension due in April and this has nothing to do with Income Tax but I recently found that the "full" pension should be £230.25 per week currently. I have been getting £207.50 yet have paid 42 "Full" years NI contributions and 7 "Part" years so should be on full pension.

What makes you think that 42 "full years" qualifies you for the maximum New State Pension?

I haven't hit state pension age yet but needed 44 years thanks to a period of contracting out and self employment under the old calculations.

I rang again and was asked, before giving any identifying details, that if I had had a period of self employment (which I had for 3 years) and/or a private pension (which I have from one company I worked for for 8 years), I would not get the full state pension? My request for a reassessment was then refused.

So, your earliest statement of having paid 42 full years is not correct.

Self employment only qualified for the basic state pension. Not SERPS or S2P.

If you were contracted out via a personal or occupational pension, those years would not give you full qualification either.

You may have had full years under the basic state pension, but if you did not build SERPs or S2P entitlement in a number of those years, then your transitional amount would have been lower, requiring an increased number of years under the new state pension to meet that shortfall.

SURELY this is not true? I have paid the same amount into the NI scheme as someone without a private pension so why should I get less out because I also paid into a private scheme?

No you haven't. You say you had self employment years for example.

You seem to think you didnt contract out, but you may have done. If the employer scheme was a defined benefit scheme, then it would have been contracted out. if it was a COMP it would have been contracted out. If it was a GPPP then it may or may not have been contracted out.

If you also had a individual personal pension, you could have contracted out via that.

Is HRMC right and I am only entitled to a reduced pension?

Probably.

For many people with contracting‑out and self employment periods, even a long list of “full” years under basic pension rules still results in a new State Pension that is less than the full headline rate

Dazed_and_C0nfused

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6657072/i-don-039-t-believe-what-hmrc-have-told-me

I suspect that is part of the issue.

Please forgive me if this has been asked before, but I can't find the relevant thread?

There have been literally hundreds, if not thousands of threads along virtually identical lines. If you haven't been able to find any of those you could well have struggled to understand that the 35 year element of the new State Pension rules don't actually apply to you 🤷

QrizB

Picking up on another point:

I considered SERPS but am told by my former employers that scheme didn't apply to me?

If your former employers have told you that you were not in SERPS, it indicates that you were contracted-out during your employment. You will have paid less NI and those payments will have gone into your works pension instead.

The SERPS entitlement you'd have otherwise built up while employed has instead been replaced by (part of) your works pension.