UK Pension Service - Total Farse

[itsari]

5 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

You would only receive it when you become resident in the Philippines.

Thank you , but is your pension back dated concerning the increases you never received while living in Thailand ?

[Harveyboy]

18 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

You don't say if you are calling the Pension Service or the International Service, the latter is usually easily accessible but is a different number.

Yes true I've put both numbers on here ..hope it's helpful 

[piston broke]

17 hours ago, cleopatra2 said:

For the Government Gateway the credit reference does not have to be recent. However you need a uk address that can be linked to yourself.

The system will go through a number of credit reference questions and responses can be negative if correct.

Such as 

Question: How long since you opened your last current account.

It will then give a number of options for you to choose such as 1 year, 2 year etc,. The final option will be 

More than 5 years ago. 

There will be approx 5 questions of this nature.

 

I successfully registered only last week with just passport and no credit history using the option of  more than x years, and using an old UK address that is no longer connected to me.

 

 

Thank you so much,  your "credit" method worked - i'm now registered !

 

The next problem is that they are asking for 9 years contributions for class 1 N.I. @ 824 GBP p.a - whereas i qualify for Class 2 contrib which is 160 gbp p.a... (as i left the uk  over 15 years and have not worked) ....

 

Just got to find a way of getting them to agree this and to ament my records ......

 

All before 31 july 2023 .....

 

[bluemoonpattaya]

4 hours ago, bluemoonpattaya said:

My state pension started on the 3rd March this year, and missed out on the 10% rise by 1 month.

A few months before i applied for my pension by phone, to the International Pension Centre GOV.UK

+44 800 731 0341   I used skype and the call was free of charge, and i was on the phone for 1 hour.

 

 

3 hours ago, fulhamster said:

Please could you share these numbers ?

read my above message for the number

[jimn]

I have just had my State Pension increased by £74 per month at 10.1% thank you. Also 50% of my BT pension went up by 10.1%. Happy days.

[transam]

3 minutes ago, jimn said:

I have just had my State Pension increased by £74 per month at 10.1% thank you. Also 50% of my BT pension went up by 10.1%. Happy days.

How's Scunthorpe.....?    

[dingdongrb]

As much as I hate to say it but the OP sounds just like the chit us Americans go through in order to try to receive our Social Security pension benefits when living in Thailand.

[Scott Tracy]

18 hours ago, Upnotover said:

I am entitled to the UK state pension at age 64

Really? How so? I'm 65 and not entitled until I'm 66... I should read all before commenting....

[jimn]

10 minutes ago, transam said:

How's Scunthorpe.....?    

Lol, never been there. Much prefer my holiday home in Thailand thank you

[fulhamster]

I'm told that if you do not receive any letter from DWP about claiming your pension, you can call and make the claim online.

If this is correct, does anyone have the number ??

And if they already have your address in Thailand, can you still call and claim if the letter is not delivered ?

[Jumbo1968]

1 hour ago, itsari said:

Thank you , but is your pension back dated concerning the increases you never received while living in Thailand ?

Why would it be you were living in Thailand.

[Brick Top]

I managed to sort mine out I am 65 and turn 66 next February so that's when I will start to receive my pension.

I signed into to the government Gateway system last year and found I only had 15 full years that would have given me just over £70 a week. 

Some years I was only 1 or 2 weeks missing , so in the end I chose to pay 17 years shortfall . It cost me just over £13,000 but now I have 32 years, you need 35 years to get the full pension. They only let me pay any shortfalls in years back to 2006. It a shame because in 1990 I had 51 weeks and in 1992 49 weeks and 1993 50 weeks but they wouldn't let me pay those 6 weeks as it was before 2006.

I will never be eligible for the full pension as I only have 32 qualifying years and you need 35 to get the full pension.

I will however now receive £186.78 starting from next February. To me it was worth paying the £13,000 as i will recoup that money within 3 years with the increased pension i will now receive.

The deadline for repayment of any non qualifying years was April 5 2023 but this has now been extended to July 5 2023.

So you still have time to do it , to short mine out it did take quite a bit of work , i phoned them about 5 times using Skype and also wrote two long letters , they took a long time to answer so I am glad I started early about 2 years before i am 66

[The Fat Controller]

@piston broke EDIT due to mistake.

You can buy back years as far as 2006 until the July deadline.

The final two years between your current age and 66 will be more expensive as the price is only fixed until 31st July and will then increase.

I have never seen any reference at all regarding purchasing missing years at anything else other than the Class 1 rate of around £800.

Each year purchased increases your pension by £5.29 a week (IIRC) 

You are the same age as me and I have done a lot of research on this, but as a higher rate Scottish taxpayer due to my company pension I will pay 42% of my state pension back to HMRC, therefore buying my missing 8 years will take a lot longer to recoup.

EDIT IN : https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/

[VBF]

7 hours ago, Homburg said:

18 years ago the UK civil service was far more accessible.

civil and service - the very definition of an oxy-moron! ????

[piston broke]

30 minutes ago, Scott Tracy said:

Really? How so? I'm 65 and not entitled until I'm 66... I should read all before commenting....

typo ...i meant 66 !   sorry ...

[piston broke]

18 minutes ago, The Fat Controller said:

@piston broke EDIT due to mistake.

I have never seen any reference at all regarding purchasing missing years at anything else other than the Class 1 rate of around £800.

Each year purchased increases your pension by £5.29 a week (IIRC) 

 

it was my pal who told me .... like me has lived in Thailand for 15 years and not worked ... he said it was tricky as they wanted him to pay class 1 - but he argued the point and they buckled in the end - he has helped pals in similar situation and they all have paid class2 rather than class 1 - quite a considerable saving .....

 

So i'm on the class 2 route .....

[anchadian]

Perhaps someone can enlighten me as to why many members here are paid their state pension either 4 or 13 weeks in arrears.

 

For the past 18 months or so, I requested and this was approved by state pension, to pay me weekly using Wise Ltd, i.e. payments in advance rather than 4 weekly payments in arrears.  Every 4/5 weeks I transfer to a Thai bank.

 

Admittedly, there is always 3 or more weeks payments on hold in Wise.  

Pros:  Payments in advance - wait for a decent exchange rate.
Cons:  3 or more weeks payments tied up in Wise. 

[scubascuba3]

7 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I had a different problem when I registered a year or so ago. They sent me a code but I could only receive it by giving them a rarely used Hotmail address.

Presumably this was the hotmail address you'd given them in the past?

[PPGuy]

11 minutes ago, anchadian said:

Perhaps someone can enlighten me as to why many members here are paid their state pension either 4 or 13 weeks in arrears.

 

For the past 18 months or so, I requested and this was approved by state pension, to pay me weekly using Wise Ltd, i.e. payments in advance rather than 4 weekly payments in arrears.  Every 4/5 weeks I transfer to a Thai bank.

 

Admittedly, there is always 3 or more weeks payments on hold in Wise.  

Pros:  Payments in advance - wait for a decent exchange rate.
Cons:  3 or more weeks payments tied up in Wise. 

I recently changed my state pension payments to weekly (from every 4 weeks) into mu UK bank account. A simple phone call did the trick. My understanding is that the choice of having weekly payments is only allowed for those paying into UK based accounts. Overseas payments are restricted to the longer, 4 or 13 week, payment cycles.

 

That does not affect the frozen issue - mine is still frozen, no matter the pension payment cycle.

[RayC]

1 hour ago, piston broke said:

 

The next problem is that they are asking for 9 years contributions for class 1 N.I. @ 824 GBP p.a - whereas i qualify for Class 2 contrib which is 160 gbp p.a... (as i left the uk  over 15 years and have not worked) ....

 

Just got to find a way of getting them to agree this and to ament my records ......

 

All before 31 july 2023 .....

 

As a 'rule of thumb' if you are living abroad and NOT working, you have to pay Class 1 contributions at the higher rate. This happened to me.

 

However, the rules governing contributions are complicated so it's worth confirming things with DWP. Good luck.

[spambot]

2 hours ago, itsari said:

What happens if you move from Thailand to the phiippines ? Do they back date the increases ?

No they will not backdate the lost pension payments for the indexed benefits lost, but will unfreeze your current pension to pay the same amount going forward as the full payment each month that you would be receiving in the UK as if you had never left.

 

This unfreezing lasts as long as the time of the visit and hence there are two situations a). short visit to Philippines and b) Moving to Philippines full time.

 

If you simply visited the Philippines for x days then your pension could increase for the time you were in the Philippines to reflect the unfrozen amount increase. You just need to provide your full name and home telephone number, date you are arriving and leaving the Philippines, nationality, address and telephone number of where you will be staying during this visit together with any travel details that might be relevant. 

 

This is different to moving your home to Philippines since this would require that you to apply for a change of circumstances and this process will be in writing with retirements to complete a change of circumstances form and a residency test. I am not entirely clear how it works in detail for the Philippines, but if say you were to return to the UK to unfreezing your pension the the following would occur:

 

You would be subject to a 'Habitual Residence Test' and this is designed to test your intent to stay in the UK backed with proof. The sort of things that the decision maker will look for include: how long you’ve been in the UK and how long you intend to stay. You usually need to have been in the UK for at least one to three months to be consider ‘habitually resident’ (but this depends on your circumstances). The test will establish your reasons for returning and how much your life is based in the UK, such as whether you own property in the UK or you have family in the UK or even proof that  you’ve registered with a GP / dentist. The decision maker is looking for anything that shows compelling reasoning that you are there to stay long term. Here you might include proof that you've sold a property abroad or given up a tenancy or proof to show you just bought or rented a property in the UK. The Habitual Residence Test is subjective and can be carried out by your local council, the Department for Work and Pensions, or HM Revenue and Customs. If you fail the test, you have the right to appeal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[anchadian]

23 minutes ago, PPGuy said:

I recently changed my state pension payments to weekly (from every 4 weeks) into mu UK bank account. A simple phone call did the trick. My understanding is that the choice of having weekly payments is only allowed for those paying into UK based accounts. Overseas payments are restricted to the longer, 4 or 13 week, payment cycles.

 

That does not affect the frozen issue - mine is still frozen, no matter the pension payment cycle.

Correct, and Wise Ltd is accepted as one of those UK based accounts.

[Bday Prang]

1 hour ago, Brick Top said:

I managed to sort mine out I am 65 and turn 66 next February so that's when I will start to receive my pension.

I signed into to the government Gateway system last year and found I only had 15 full years that would have given me just over £70 a week. 

Some years I was only 1 or 2 weeks missing , so in the end I chose to pay 17 years shortfall . It cost me just over £13,000 but now I have 32 years, you need 35 years to get the full pension. They only let me pay any shortfalls in years back to 2006. It a shame because in 1990 I had 51 weeks and in 1992 49 weeks and 1993 50 weeks but they wouldn't let me pay those 6 weeks as it was before 2006.

I will never be eligible for the full pension as I only have 32 qualifying years and you need 35 to get the full pension.

I will however now receive £186.78 starting from next February. To me it was worth paying the £13,000 as i will recoup that money within 3 years with the increased pension i will now receive.

The deadline for repayment of any non qualifying years was April 5 2023 but this has now been extended to July 5 2023.

So you still have time to do it , to short mine out it did take quite a bit of work , i phoned them about 5 times using Skype and also wrote two long letters , they took a long time to answer so I am glad I started early about 2 years before i am 66

I believe if your state pension is less than a certain amount you may be entitled  to "pension credit"  But I know absolutely nothing about it. There was an advert I saw on the TV a few months ago when I was in the UK, I think they said it could be worth  up to £3500 per year . Might be worth checking it out

[transam]

3 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

I believe if your state pension is less than a certain amount you may be entitled  to "pension credit"  But I know absolutely nothing about it. There was an advert I saw on the TV a few months ago when I was in the UK, I think they said it could be worth  up to £3500 per year . Might be worth checking it out

If you live in LOS, there is no top-ups.....

[Bday Prang]

9 minutes ago, transam said:

If you live in LOS, there is no top-ups.....

Very unfair, considering habitual benefit scroungers who have never done a days work in their life are almost certainly getting it.   Plenty of illegal immigrants will be no doubt be  properly looked after too !

 Shameful in my  opinion

[spambot]

12 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

I believe if your state pension is less than a certain amount you may be entitled  to "pension credit"  But I know absolutely nothing about it. There was an advert I saw on the TV a few months ago when I was in the UK, I think they said it could be worth  up to £3500 per year . Might be worth checking it out

Pension Credit stops when you move overseas permanently. This is a means-tested benefit, which can top up your weekly income when this is low. You must live in England, Scotland, Norther Ireland or Wales and have reached State Pension age to qualify for Pension Credit. You can not receive this when resident in Thailand (or the Philippines).

[Bday Prang]

4 minutes ago, spambot said:

Pension Credit stops when you move overseas permanently. This is a means-tested benefit, which can top up your weekly income when this is low. You must live in England, Scotland, Norther Ireland or Wales and have reached State Pension age to qualify for Pension Credit. You can not receive this when resident in Thailand (or the Philippines).

Yes so I have been told , 

I can't get anything till I'm 67   not sure I'll last another 5 years

[spambot]

If you were resident or appeared to be resident in the UK, then you would be entitled to benefits. 

[topt]

2 hours ago, The Fat Controller said:

You can buy back years as far as 2006 until the July deadline.

Yes but with the caveat that if you are being based on the "new" pension which needs 35 years then topping up contributions from pre 2016 may not buy you any extra pension.

 

Unless I missed it @piston broke did not specify which of the 2 rates his pension would be based on. This is why you are supposed to (or used to be supposed to)  have a "chat" with someone from the Pensions Advisory Service or similar to make sure paying any contributions was worthwhile. Perhaps they have done away with that now..............

 

Informative article here -

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-11886127/Last-chance-boost-state-pension-100-000.html?ico=mol_desktop_money-newtab&molReferrerUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2Fmoney%2Findex.html

 

A long way down the page is this which is worth reading -

Quote

Is a pension top-up ever a bad idea?

 

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, scubascuba3 said:

9 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I had a different problem when I registered a year or so ago. They sent me a code but I could only receive it by giving them a rarely used Hotmail address.

Presumably this was the hotmail address you'd given them in the past?

I've must realised that it wasn't my UK government portal I had a problem with, but my BT one. My memory was jogged when I checked an email I received last week saying that my pension was being increased by 10%. Of course, the government one won't be, despite the fact I paid into to the system for many years and am now no burden on resources. Thank you BT, and a finger to the UK government.