Commencement of UK state pension

[503726]

Hi, 

 

How is the State Pension initiated by the DWP?

 

Do you approach them on or around the date of your eligibility for payment or do they usually send you a letter? What address do they use? Many people living abroad must risk being off the radar, is it advisable to contact them to ensure the pension starts when it should together with the proofs of eligibility, ID & life they may need? Is it best to contact them on line or through the Government Gateway to HMRC & Self Assessment? I'd guess annual Tax Returns help the process, do they?

 

Many thanks in advance

[CharlieH]

If you are applying from Thailznd you have two options, you can phone them and apply over the phone, or you can download the pension app,cation, attach relevant documents and mail it to them.

 

Beware if you phone, you can spend alot of time waiting and calls are not free.

[chickenslegs]

DWP will not contact you, nor will they initiate your pension. You have to claim it, as Charlie said above.

 

https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/how-to-claim

 

 

 

 

[Mutt Daeng]

When I claimed my SP, I phoned the International Pension Centre, 4 months prior to my data of eligibility, which  for me was 4 months prior to my 66th birthday.

Best to do it early IMHO in case of issues/delays. Also best to ring them since less info is required as opposed to the postal application form and you do not need to supply any supporting documents which may be required to support a postal application. Took me approx 20-30 minutes on the phone plus about 5 minutes waiting in the queue.

[BritManToo]

9 hours ago, 503726 said:

Hi, 

 

How is the State Pension initiated by the DWP?

 

Do you approach them on or around the date of your eligibility for payment or do they usually send you a letter? What address do they use? Many people living abroad must risk being off the radar, is it advisable to contact them to ensure the pension starts when it should together with the proofs of eligibility, ID & life they may need? Is it best to contact them on line or through the Government Gateway to HMRC & Self Assessment? I'd guess annual Tax Returns help the process, do they?

 

Many thanks in advance

Depends what address they have for you on your government gateway account.

If it's UK, then they will post an invitation letter to your UK address 6 months before retirement date with a code to enter online.

Then you complete the application online (UK IP or UK VPN required), no documents of any kind required, very simple form, mainly they want to know if you're married (answer is no), and your bank account details.

[503726]

Many thanks all of you, to be able to ask these questions here is such a help. 

 

BritManToo - do you know if the process would be any different if your address for HMRC were here (as you have been on HMRC radar with all your tax returns & payments up to date)?  

[jori123]

On 6/4/2025 at 6:52 AM, 503726 said:

Many thanks all of you, to be able to ask these questions here is such a help. 

 

BritManToo - do you know if the process would be any different if your address for HMRC were here (as you have been on HMRC radar with all your tax returns & payments up to date)?  

Keep your address to UK,they are different. Cannot even imagine being frozen for donkeys years,only to find you have shot yourself in the foot,two of them. Money mag today published figures for ( probably puckerage) pension of 1300 pounds a year when she would be on close to 10000 pounds a year if address kept to UK.there is no law,nobody caught out,nothing to be paid back. DWP will send you one days OAP before retired date to confirm its you,look after yourself,nobody else will do it,cepting massively jealous frozen bunch

[BritManToo]

On 6/4/2025 at 12:52 PM, 503726 said:

Many thanks all of you, to be able to ask these questions here is such a help. 

 

BritManToo - do you know if the process would be any different if your address for HMRC were here (as you have been on HMRC radar with all your tax returns & payments up to date)?  

Completely different process, requiring posting certified documents, a long and intrusive paper form to fill and post back, no invitation code issued. Usually it will take 6 months longer, and the first pension payment delayed by months.

Followed by, frozen pension, and frequent proof of life forms that will often result in pension payments being randomly stopped.

[Mutt Daeng]

14 hours ago, BritManToo said:

On 6/4/2025 at 12:52 PM, 503726 said:

Many thanks all of you, to be able to ask these questions here is such a help. 

 

BritManToo - do you know if the process would be any different if your address for HMRC were here (as you have been on HMRC radar with all your tax returns & payments up to date)?  

Completely different process, requiring posting certified documents, a long and intrusive paper form to fill and post back, no invitation code issued. Usually it will take 6 months longer, and the first pension payment delayed by months.

Followed by, frozen pension, and frequent proof of life forms that will often result in pension payments being randomly stopped.

The DWP sent an invitation to claim my state pension to my Thai address 3-4 months before my pension was due, inviting me to ring them on +44 191 218 7777. No forms to fill in or supporting documents to supply. 

 

[jori123]

On 6/6/2025 at 9:40 AM, jori123 said:

Keep your address to UK,they are different. Cannot even imagine being frozen for donkeys years,only to find you have shot yourself in the foot,two of them. Money mag today published figures for ( probably puckerage) pension of 1300 pounds a year when she would be on close to 10000 pounds a year if address kept to UK.there is no law,nobody caught out,nothing to be paid back. DWP will send you one days OAP before retired date to confirm its you,look after yourself,nobody else will do it,cepting massively jealous frozen bunch

Got those figures seriously wrong,not I but the writer of the piece,also featured in daily Mail.  She quoted over a 15 year term of being frozen,something like 26 000 GBP      loss, now I'm no Einstein,but way off.  The individual quoted  (not Puckerage) was on around 1300 GBP a year 15 years ago ,now the OAP is around 12000 GBP a year,just in one year ,this year its getting on for 11000 GBP loss a year.I figure not 26000 gbp a year loss,but 4 times that figure with compounding taking into account. I'm not going back to calculate,but one hell of a loss which any way you look at it