Check your State Pension error

Peter_Kendrick · 11 August 2019 at 3:48PM

For several years I have monitored my State Pension forecast on the government website. I last checked on 24 June 2019 and took a screenshot. It said that I could get my State Pension on 6 September 2019 and my forecast was £168.60 per week. It clearly stated that if I was working I may still need to pay NI contributions until 6 September. I am not working and it made no mention of what to do in these circumstances.

I have just received a letter from DWP stating I will get a pension of £134.76 per week. I have checked the forecast online and it has been changed. I am devastated as it is £33.84p per week less than what I have been advised for the last few years, around 20% less.

Is it a mistake or is the Government forecast website not fit for purpose? What can I do?

molerat · 11 August 2019 at 4:00PM

Either you were not reading the forecast correctly, there are usually 3 figures given and the top line is not always the figure you will get, or your contracted out status was not correctly shown. Without more information it is hard to say which applies to your situation. There is always the possibility to fill gaps, the price of filling these is good value for money - again more information needed.

Peter_Kendrick · 11 August 2019 at 4:13PM

molerat wrote: »

Either you were not reading the forecast correctly, there are usually 3 figures given and the top line is not always the figure you will get, or your contracted out status was not correctly shown. Without more information it is hard to say which applies to your situation. There is always the possibility to fill gaps, the price of filling these is good value for money - again more information needed.

Thanks very much for your reply. The initial forecast on the Government website had only ONE figure which was £168.60 per week. It was around this figure for at least a year. When I go on now there are three figures:
1.Estimate based on your National Insurance record up to 5 April 2018 = £134.76p per week.
2. Forecast if you contribute until 5 April 2019 = £139.58 per week.
3. The most you can increase your forecast to is £149.21p per week.

I am so angry it has been reduced by nearly £34 per week. I was contracted out but surely DWP knew this when they posted my forecast online. I have not worked since 2010.

Peter999_2 · 11 August 2019 at 4:15PM

It sounds to me like you've mis-read the page.

Mine also says that I will get £168.60 a week, however, at the bottom of the page it says :

You’ve been in a contracted-out pension scheme

Like most people, you were contracted out of part of the State Pension.

When I click the link it states -

Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE)

Your COPE estimate is £36.68 a week.
This will not affect your State Pension forecast. The COPE amount is paid as part of your other pension schemes, not by the government.
In most cases the private pension scheme you were contracted out to:

will include an amount equal to the COPE amount
may not individually identify the COPE amount

The total amount of pension paid by your workplace or personal pension schemes will depend on the scheme and on any investment choices.
Find out more about COPE and contracting out (opens in new tab).

Therefore - £168.60 minus £36.68 = £131.92 which is what I'll get a week.

Did you work for a company that are providing you with a pension?

Ganga · 11 August 2019 at 4:18PM

Peter_Kendrick wrote: »

Thanks very much for your reply. The initial forecast on the Government website had only ONE figure which was £168.60 per week. It was around this figure for at least a year. When I go on now there are three figures:
1.Estimate based on your National Insurance record up to 5 April 2018 = £134.76p per week.
2. Forecast if you contribute until 5 April 2019 = £139.58 per week.
3. The most you can increase your forecast to is £149.21p per week.

I am so angry it has been reduced by nearly £34 per week. I was contracted out but surely DWP knew this when they posted my forecast online. I have not worked since 2010.

But if you were contracted out you must have money in another pension somewhere,also if contracted out you were never going to receive the full SP anyway.

xylophone · 11 August 2019 at 4:20PM

my forecast was £168.60 per week. It clearly stated that if I was working I may still need to pay NI contributions until 6 September.

It is not impossible that there has been an error

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2019/06/state-pension-error-hits-almost-400000-workers-are-you-affected/

but it may be that you read your forecast too hastily.

What exactly did it say?

It is possible to obtain a detailed record of your contracted in/out employment.

See post 23 here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=6009662&page=2

xylophone · 11 August 2019 at 4:24PM

But if you were contracted out you must have money in another pension somewhere,also if contracted out you were never going to receive the full SP anyway.

This is not necessarily the case.

See post 8 and 38 here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=6011028&page=2

molerat · 11 August 2019 at 4:31PM

Peter999 wrote: »

It sounds to me like you've mis-read the page.

Mine also says that I will get £168.60 a week, however, at the bottom of the page it says :

You’ve been in a contracted-out pension scheme

Like most people, you were contracted out of part of the State Pension.

When I click the link it states -

Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE)

Your COPE estimate is £36.68 a week.
This will not affect your State Pension forecast. The COPE amount is paid as part of your other pension schemes, not by the government.
In most cases the private pension scheme you were contracted out to:
will include an amount equal to the COPE amount

may not individually identify the COPE amount

The total amount of pension paid by your workplace or personal pension schemes will depend on the scheme and on any investment choices.
Find out more about COPE and contracting out (opens in new tab).

Therefore - £168.60 minus £36.68 = £131.92 which is what I'll get a week.

Did you work for a company that are providing you with a pension?

You misunderstand how the system works, COPE is not deducted from the top line figure, it was only ever used in the 2016 starting amount calculation. If there is a COPE amount quoted you should get the figure on the top line provided you make any further contributions which will be specified.

It does seem that OP's original forecast is suffering, as are many others as shown in xylophone's link, from a missing contracted out element in the 2016 calculation which only came to light when the final calculation was done and, with buying 16-17, 17-18 and 18-19, can only now get to £149.21p.

OP, I am afraid there is not a lot you can do about it as you were never going to get the full amount and the only way to increase the new figure is to purchase those post 2016 years which are incredibly good value. I would argue that you should be able to purchase 16-17 at the original price, £733.20 against £780, due to the misinformation from HMRC / DWP. Have you been looking after grandchildren while the parent is at work at all since 2016 ?

Peter999_2 · 11 August 2019 at 5:22PM

Hi Molerat,

I had a good laugh at your post pointing out that I have mis-read the page when I was pointing out that I thought the OP mis-read the page.

I honestly thought it meant that I would have the money discounted, but reading again I guess it does say that it does not make a difference to the forecast.

Mine says that I need to contribute another 6 years before 2039 to get the full amount. Must admit, I'm not confident either that I'll make it to 2039 or if there will still be a state pension by then.

jazzy · 11 August 2019 at 6:00PM

I am in a similar situation. I was always under the impression that I would receive a full state pension because I have 41 years of full NI contributions and the pension forecast website states on the top, in large letters that my forecast is £168.60 per week (the full state pension). After reading this thread and checking my Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE) my cope estimate is £17.94 a week.

Does this mean that state pension which is due next year will now be £150.66? and the £17.94 is then paid by my private works pension?

The pension pot of the private works pension is valued around £26K and I have recently been looking into transferring this pot to another company to withdraw 25% and to use the rest for purchasing an annuity. If I carry on with this how will this affect my COPE payment?

molerat · 11 August 2019 at 6:20PM

jazzy wrote: »

I am in a similar situation. I was always under the impression that I would receive a full state pension because I have 41 years of full NI contributions and the pension forecast website states on the top, in large letters that my forecast is £168.60 per week (the full state pension). After reading this thread and checking my Contracted Out Pension Equivalent (COPE) my cope estimate is £17.94 a week.

Does this mean that state pension which is due next year will now be £150.66? and the £17.94 is then paid by my private works pension?

The pension pot of the private works pension is valued around £26K and I have recently been looking into transferring this pot to another company to withdraw 25% and to use the rest for purchasing an annuity. If I carry on with this how will this affect my COPE payment?

COPE was only ever used in calculating your starting amount in 2016, it has no bearing on what you will receive. As long as you comply with the requirements stated on your forecast you should receive the top line figure. The problem the OP has is they were contracted out but their forecast was not showing a COPE figure so the 2016 calculation was incorrect. Your COPE figure has no bearing on anything in future.

Check your State Pension error

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