UK Pensions (2018)

[sandyf]

On 4/22/2019 at 7:43 PM, Spidey said:

I tried using skype to my bank in the UK. The guy on the other end complained bitterly that it was a bad line and couldn't hear me. I need to communicate with the DWP without arousing any suspicions that I'm in Thailand. When I did call them, they obviously had the CLI facility as they knew which number I was calling from without me telling them. If I called from a Thai number I would be worried that he could see on his display that I was calling from a Thai number.

I use skype regularly to call the UK and never had a problem with quality, in fact usually better than I ever had on a phone, you must have been unlucky.

The downside with skype is no one can call you back and people may not take the call if they do not recognise the number. I think they have a batch of numbers in the US and you just get one that is available.

[JoePai]

It's only 3 Baht a min from your mobile, why bother with anything else ?

[sandyf]

18 hours ago, JoePai said:

It's only 3 Baht a min from your mobile, why bother with anything else ?

How about convenience. Why should I mess about topping up my mobile balance by some estimated amount when I can straight away use skype on my mobile.

Skype rate is about 1.7p/min to UK landlines and I know that in the 10 years I have been here, £10 to my account every couple of years has been quite sufficient.

[billd766]

8 hours ago, sandyf said:

How about convenience. Why should I mess about topping up my mobile balance by some estimated amount when I can straight away use skype on my mobile.

Skype rate is about 1.7p/min to UK landlines and I know that in the 10 years I have been here, £10 to my account every couple of years has been quite sufficient.

My mobile is postpaid and I have international calling as well.

 

I generally call my pension providers one a year in May to get them to send me a letter regarding the amount of my pension. That takes anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month and then I am ready to contact the UK embassy for my letter.

 

Of course that doesn't happen anymore but I will need it for my visa extension anyway.

[DILLIGAD]

My mobile is postpaid and I have international calling as well.
 
I generally call my pension providers one a year in May to get them to send me a letter regarding the amount of my pension. That takes anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month and then I am ready to contact the UK embassy for my letter.
 
Of course that doesn't happen anymore but I will need it for my visa extension anyway.

Mmmmm, will you?


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[fishtank]

12 hours ago, billd766 said:

Of course that doesn't happen anymore but I will need it for my visa extension anyway.

Why?

[Liverpudlian]

I am about to return UK permanently i am recieving 106 quid monthly BUT seems in the UK if you were born before 51 as i was then it would be 168 quid if i live there ?? a good number of years ago i phoned Necastle and they said if i return my pension will stay at 102 DUHH ? true or false any one .

[sumrit]

1 hour ago, fishtank said:

Why?

If asked by immigration, he will need to show the source of his income when applying for his extension.

[sandyf]

1 hour ago, Liverpudlian said:

I am about to return UK permanently i am recieving 106 quid monthly BUT seems in the UK if you were born before 51 as i was then it would be 168 quid if i live there ?? a good number of years ago i phoned Necastle and they said if i return my pension will stay at 102 DUHH ? true or false any one .

Not true. Your pension will rise to current rates even if you only go back temporary, I claim for my time in the UK every year.

[sandyf]

14 hours ago, billd766 said:

My mobile is postpaid and I have international calling as well.

 

I generally call my pension providers one a year in May to get them to send me a letter regarding the amount of my pension. That takes anywhere from a couple of weeks to a month and then I am ready to contact the UK embassy for my letter.

 

Of course that doesn't happen anymore but I will need it for my visa extension anyway.

My Thai sim is about 12 years old, pay as you go and voice only, 50 baht lasts a couple of months.

Enough wifi about I don't see the need for data.

[billd766]

14 hours ago, DILLIGAD said:

Mmmmm, will you?


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4 hours ago, fishtank said:

Why?

 

Sorry. I mean the letters from my pension providers.

 

My bad.

[cleopatra2]

6 hours ago, Liverpudlian said:

I am about to return UK permanently i am recieving 106 quid monthly BUT seems in the UK if you were born before 51 as i was then it would be 168 quid if i live there ?? a good number of years ago i phoned Necastle and they said if i return my pension will stay at 102 DUHH ? true or false any one .

Apologies, can you confirm your figures.

When you state 168 quid is this weekly .

 

For the basic state pension anybody born before 1951 recieves the pld rate , approx current £129 . Pensio  credit to make it upto the new single tier rate £169 is means tested

[Liverpudlian]

44 minutes ago, cleopatra2 said:

Apologies, can you confirm your figures.

When you state 168 quid is this weekly .

 

For the basic state pension anybody born before 1951 recieves the pld rate , approx current £129 . Pensio  credit to make it upto the new single tier rate £169 is means tested

I can well believe that, when i get it adjusted i will report back Cheers.

[Spidey]

1 hour ago, cleopatra2 said:

Apologies, can you confirm your figures.

When you state 168 quid is this weekly .

 

For the basic state pension anybody born before 1951 recieves the pld rate , approx current £129 . Pensio  credit to make it upto the new single tier rate £169 is means tested

Top rate is 168 with at least 35 years NI contributions. I get 164 because I opted out of SERPS back in the '70s.

[UKresonant]

I have 40 full years of NI contributions, and they say I shall have to pay a further 6 years of NI contributions, to get the full New State Pension rate, as I was "contracted out" for most of the 40years! (I think the NSP is a bit of a propaganda exercises, as it effectively capped the maximum benefits paid and accrued by people under SERPS, to a lower cap, under the banner of Simplification! In 2016. That minority may not realise they were ripped, until they draw it, or not know at all)

 

Full New state pension rate £168.60/week (35 years NI of certain types)

Full Old state pension rate £129.20/week (35 years NI or credits)

 

On the phone front, I have an app called VIBER OUT, set up against my current UK mobile number. This app perfectly emulated calling from the UK mobile, whilst in Thailand recently ( to a banks security department). Rates seem ok, perhaps not the cheapest, but not expensive.

Edited May 5, 2019 by johnwf1963

[Tanlic]

They come up with some crackers but that one takes the biscuit.

 

The one that gets me is the inflation rule.......no increases will be awarded to expats living in Thailand despite the fact you worked your butt off for 30 years and never mussed a NI payment......... a lot of us are ok because we have other pensions or annuities etc but some people not necessarily in Thailand depend on that money to feed themselves but by the time they reach 85 could starve to death with no increase in income..........we could say they should have stayed in the UK but only if we are uncaring morons

[sandyf]

23 hours ago, johnwf1963 said:

I have 40 full years of NI contributions, and they say I shall have to pay a further 6 years of NI contributions, to get the full New State Pension rate, as I was "contracted out" for most of the 40years! (I think the NSP is a bit of a propaganda exercises, as it effectively capped the maximum benefits paid and accrued by people under SERPS, to a lower cap, under the banner of Simplification! In 2016. That minority may not realise they were ripped, until they draw it, or not know at all)

 

Full New state pension rate £168.60/week (35 years NI of certain types)

Full Old state pension rate £129.20/week (35 years NI or credits)

 

On the phone front, I have an app called VIBER OUT, set up against my current UK mobile number. This app perfectly emulated calling from the UK mobile, whilst in Thailand recently ( to a banks security department). Rates seem ok, perhaps not the cheapest, but not expensive.

There is no SERPS in the new state pension and if you were contracted out a deduction is made for the contributions that were never made. Post 2016 people would have been paid the higher of the old and new calculations. As SERPS stopped in 2016 the influence will deteriorate as the years go by.

You are right in principle that the 2016 reforms were a deliberate move by the government to move responsibility for income in later years away from the government and on to the individual.

As life expectancy increases the burden on individuals will also increase but recent reports indicate that the rise in life expectancy is slowing down, good news or bad news?

[UKresonant]

On ‎5‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 10:28 AM, sandyf said:

recent reports indicate that the rise in life expectancy is slowing down, good news or bad news?

Something more like it appeared to many where I worked, just before I early retired last year. Relatively heavy industry, where there seemed to be spate of people that died, before even drawing their works pension! Never mind the state pension....So many others have early retired now...

Edited May 7, 2019 by johnwf1963

[evadgib]

Of interest to anyone hoping to resume NI cont to top up their shortfall:

 

During a call to the Ni Cont office this afternoon I established that they're currently running TWELVE WEEKS BEHIND SCHEDULE from the date that letters are received in UK. I therefore have earmarked a date on my calendar in mid June in which I should ring them again to find out whether or not I can resume payments at the class 2 (self employed) rate as there is no way i'm paying cl3 (vol).

 

It's as clear as mud!

 

(I had the full 30 years required by my generation until they moved the goalposts in 2016!)

Edited May 10, 2019 by evadgib

[DILLIGAD]

Of interest to anyone hoping to resume NI cont to top up their shortfall:
 
During a call to the Ni Cont office this afternoon I established that they're currently running TWELVE WEEKS BEHIND SCHEDULE from the date that letters are received in UK. I therefore have earmarked a date on my calendar in mid June in which I should ring them again to find out whether or not I can resume payments at the class 2 (self employed) rate as there is no way i'm paying cl3 (vol).
 
It's as clear as mud!
 
(I had the full 30 years required by my generation until they moved the goalposts in 2016!)

Keep us posted please, as I’m in the same situation (33 years paid)


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[billd766]

1 hour ago, evadgib said:

Of interest to anyone hoping to resume NI cont to top up their shortfall:

 

During a call to the Ni Cont office this afternoon I established that they're currently running TWELVE WEEKS BEHIND SCHEDULE from the date that letters are received in UK. I therefore have earmarked a date on my calendar in mid June in which I should ring them again to find out whether or not I can resume payments at the class 2 (self employed) rate as there is no way i'm paying cl3 (vol).

 

It's as clear as mud!

 

(I had the full 30 years required by my generation until they moved the goalposts in 2016!)

Lucky you. I had the full 44 years required by my generation but don't get any extra pension for it.

[Tanlic]

44 years without a miss....that is impressive

[billd766]

10 hours ago, Tanlic said:

44 years without a miss....that is impressive

The problems of being an honest man.

[billzant]

Frozen pensions again - question raised in parliament by Tonia Antoniazzi. Here is q&a:-

https://twitter.com/i/status/1127978752280014848

 

Just the usual inertia response.

[billzant]

Sorry link doesn't work.

 

[billzant]

Try 

 

[denby45]

On 5/10/2019 at 9:05 PM, evadgib said:

Of interest to anyone hoping to resume NI cont to top up their shortfall:

 

During a call to the Ni Cont office this afternoon I established that they're currently running TWELVE WEEKS BEHIND SCHEDULE from the date that letters are received in UK. I therefore have earmarked a date on my calendar in mid June in which I should ring them again to find out whether or not I can resume payments at the class 2 (self employed) rate as there is no way i'm paying cl3 (vol).

 

It's as clear as mud!

 

(I had the full 30 years required by my generation until they moved the goalposts in 2016!)

Thanks for that info. Evad. I sent a letter about 2 month ago because I back paid 6 years, they sent me a letter confirming the same but only credited 5 years according to my online .gov account. Sent them a copy of their letter as proof of payment. I have checked back a few times and they still have not updated. It's good to know that it's because they are behind and not because they are ignoring my claim.

 

Actually there should be no problem with you paying class 2 (for the moment as it may be scrapped soon) but even if you were forced to pay class 3 it is still worth it IMHO.

 

Check it out and you will see you don't have to live very long to get your money back.

 

Den

[p414]

4 hours ago, billzant said:

Try 

 

There is a petition by some donut MP's....

do NOT sign this before you read...They are asking ONLY that those on frozen pensions should receive merely the yearly increase as it would be asking too much to pay the full state pension to these people....ann puckeridge would only benefit by a measly 1-2 pounds a week.

 

[sandyf]

On 5/10/2019 at 3:05 PM, evadgib said:

During a call to the Ni Cont office this afternoon I established that they're currently running TWELVE WEEKS BEHIND SCHEDULE from the date that letters are received in UK.

Not a lot has changed, told me the same thing this time last year, said it would only be temporary.

[sandyf]

On 5/10/2019 at 4:14 PM, billd766 said:

Lucky you. I had the full 44 years required by my generation but don't get any extra pension for it.

Quite, I paid 49 years and one incomplete year, the 5 months from the April till my 65th birthday.

 

A friend of mine in those days was paying voluntary contributions and when they dropped it to 30 years he wrote and asked for the voluntary to be returned, you you can guess the reply.