State pension question,help please.

[Khon Kaen Dave]

Hi all

This is my first time visiting this forum.I hope i am in the right place to get some advice.I have been here for some time and am some time from collecting my state pension.However i have a question.

A close friend of mine and i were having a conversation recently and he asked me a question that i couldnt answer,because i simply dont know.My mate is a good chap,who has been here some years.He came here in 2006 and has had a successful bar for the last 5 years.He is married(legally) to a Thai woman and together they have made enough money to allow them to retire to her village.

My pal,is not the sharpest knife in the draw,and as a young man,worked for people who paid him cash, hence,he never paid enough stamps to qualify him for his full pension,(although he was an excellent kitchen and bathroom fitter)

He is approaching 65 soon and will be able to claim the basic pension.I believe,listening to others that this is around 150 quid a week.

The question is,as he is married ,will he be able to claim for his Thai wife also?.I did read that when you die,your pension dies with you.This he understands.But until then can he claim for her,even if she is Thai and has never even been to the UK.

Is there a form that has to be filled out,and where can he get it.I can print it off for him if necessary.I wouldnt normally get involved in this sort of thing but he has been a good mate over the years,but,unfortunately.completely computer illiterate(not that i'm much better) so it has fallen to me to do what i can to help out.

Thanx in advance for any replies and information given.

Regards KKD.

[MartinL]

AFAIK, since he's not yet 65, he'll get a pension based on the new rules that came into force in April 2016. He'll only get a UK state pension if he has more than10 years worth of National Insurance contribution - less than 10 years = no pension. 

 

To get the full pension, it's necessary to have at least 35 years NI contributions. If he has, say, 15 years NI contributions, he'll get a pension of 15/35 (= about 43%) of the basic pension of £155 a week or £66 (ish). To make it more complicated, if he was Contracted Out at any time, the pension will be reduced further. 

 

To illustrate that, in my own case I have 39 years NI conts. so qualify for the full pension when I reach 65 in 3 years time. That would be, as I said, £155 BUT, because I was Contracted Out, that will be reduced to about £118 a week.  

 

As for claiming for his wife - every pension now is based on the INDIVIDUAL'S NI record, not their spouse's. Therefore if his wife has never been to UK then she has no NI record; she can't claim a pension in her own right and he can't claim anything because they're married. 

Edited September 24, 2016 by MartinL

[Khon Kaen Dave]

MartinL

Thank you for taking the time to answer the question.I didnt know about the 2016 ammendment.I would think that he has the ten years,as he was an apprentice to a large company for 5 years,and his stamp would have been paid.Then he worked for his father for another 5 before going on his own,so i suppose he will get the basic.Thanx again.

[rockingrobin]

16 minutes ago, Khon Kaen Dave said:

MartinL

Thank you for taking the time to answer the question.I didnt know about the 2016 ammendment.I would think that he has the ten years,as he was an apprentice to a large company for 5 years,and his stamp would have been paid.Then he worked for his father for another 5 before going on his own,so i suppose he will get the basic.Thanx again.

The first thing to do is contact the DWP to obtain an estimate.

The state pension he will be entitled (if any) will be dependant  upon his NI record.It should be noted that the period of apprenticeship may not count it will depend  upon if the salary was at or above the level to pay NI

There are currently 2 state pension  systems running in tandem , the old system(Basic £119 +any serps) and the single tier (£155 for 35 years  of NI) , he will  receive whichever is the greater amount.

Any periods of being contracted  out to a private  or personal pension complicates the calculations.

 

 

 

[Khon Kaen Dave]

Thanx roking robin.

[Phuket Man]

Everything he needs to know is here. https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension

 

His Wife will get nothing. That includes bereavement benefit.

He will get nothing if he has less than 10 years National Insurance payments.

More than that and he will get 1/35th for each year he has contributed.

I.E. 11 years contribution will get him around £48.90 a week.

If he gets anything it will never increase as long as he stays in Thailand.

Edited September 24, 2016 by Phuket Man

[Phuket Man]

2 hours ago, MartinL said:

To illustrate that, in my own case I have 39 years NI conts. so qualify for the full pension when I reach 65 in 3 years time. That would be, as I said, £155 BUT, because I was Contracted Out, that will be reduced to about £118 a week.  

 

 

 

You might want to check that.

Depending on the actual dates you might be nearer 66 when you actually reach retirement age.

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-age/y/age/1954-04-10

Edited September 24, 2016 by Phuket Man

[rockingrobin]

18 minutes ago, Phuket Man said:

Everything he needs to know is here. https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension

 

His Wife will get nothing. That includes bereavement benefit.

He will get nothing if he has less than 10 years National Insurance payments.

More than that and he will get 1/35th for each year he has contributed.

I.E. 11 years contribution will get him around £48.90 a week.

If he gets anything it will never increase as long as he stays in Thailand.

The ability for  spouse to inherit additional state pension has not been totally abolished, however it is severely curtailed. The following explains

http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7631

[Phuket Man]

Counts out most of our Wives I think.

 

Quote

However, there is transitional protection to cover pre-implementation NI records.  There would be no change where both members of a couple reach, or would have reached, SPA before the nSP was introduced. In other cases, the transitional arrangements depend on when the survivor and deceased reach SPA.

 

 

[lungbing]

Are you sure the  widow of a UK pensioner would not get death benefits.  I thought they were dependent on the NI contributions of her late husband.

[MartinL]

3 hours ago, Phuket Man said:

 

You might want to check that.

Depending on the actual dates you might be nearer 66 when you actually reach retirement age.

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-age/y/age/1954-04-10

 

 65 years, 3 months & 19 days - confirmed some years ago

[Phuket Man]

11 hours ago, lungbing said:

Are you sure the  widow of a UK pensioner would not get death benefits.  I thought they were dependent on the NI contributions of her late husband.

 

Maybe I was a little premature. 

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/929220-what-is-a-thai-woman-entitled-to-in-law-when-her-husband-dies/?page=2#comment-10924733

Quote

 

As Meatboy has said there is a 2000 pound one off benefit to be claimed. A Thai marriage, providing it is the legal one, is recognised in the UK.

They are going to do away with this benefit but have shelved the idea until next year I believe, so its still available now. No pension though.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2016 by Phuket Man

[tomwct]

What's a quid?

[colinneil]

10 minutes ago, tomwct said:

What's a quid?

Whats a q uid?

It is 1 pound sterling.

 

[tomwct]

Thanks!

[steve187]

a quid is 2 x ten bob notes

[Jip99]

11 hours ago, lungbing said:

Are you sure the  widow of a UK pensioner would not get death benefits.  I thought they were dependent on the NI contributions of her late husband.

 

 

I think you are referring to Bereavement benefits.

 

At present a Thai widow is entitled to receive a Bereavement Payment of GBP 2,000. The deceased only needs to have made ONE  NI contribution to qualify.

 

Additionally, she may be entitled to Bereavement Allowance or Widowed Parents Allowance. In the case of WPA the child does not need to have been fathered by the deceased.

 

In the Pensions Act 2014 the government introduced the Bereavement Support Payment and with it sneaked in the fact that you have to reside in the UK to claim it. This change was expected to be effective 6 April 2016 but was deferred.

 

https://www.gov.uk/browse/benefits/bereavement

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/pensions-bill

[colinneil]

Just now, steve187 said:

a quid is 2 x ten bob notes

Showing your age speaking about 10 bob notes

[Jip99]

3 minutes ago, steve187 said:

a quid is 2 x ten bob notes

 

 

Or 20 Shillings...

[Phuket Man]

4 minutes ago, steve187 said:

a quid is 2 x ten bob notes

 

Or 8x Half Crowns.

[Khon Kaen Dave]

Or ten florins!

[Khon Kaen Dave]

Quid pro quo.Pound for pound.You tell me something and i will tell you something of equal value in return.or a favour for a favour.A quid was the weight of an ingot of lead in the Roman occupation of Britain.'Pound' became the proper address many years later,but 'quid was re introduced into common language,In to cockney slang.many centuries down the line.The saying was used in the silence of the lambs movie.

[billd766]

5 hours ago, colinneil said:

Showing your age speaking about 10 bob notes

 

You could also have said 4 crowns, 8 half crowns, 10 florins, 20 shillings, 40 sixpenny bits, 80 threepenny bits, 240 old pennies, 480 old half pennies or even 960 farthings.

 

Yes,  I am old enough to remember and even use that sort of money.

[lungbing]

But you never called it a threepenny bit.  It was a thrupny bit. And the six pence was a tanner and the shilling a bob.  When my father died 4 years ago, I found in his desk a set of all those coins from the year I was born, 1948.

[Phuket Man]

As far as I can remember Tanners were always put in Christmas Puddings.

[billd766]

32 minutes ago, Phuket Man said:

As far as I can remember Tanners were always put in Christmas Puddings.

 

Along with silver "thruppeny bits".

[billd766]

32 minutes ago, Phuket Man said:

As far as I can remember Tanners were always put in Christmas Puddings.

 

Along with silver "thruppeny bits".

[banK]

On 9/25/2016 at 9:12 PM, Phuket Man said:

As far as I can remember Tanners were always put in Christmas Puddings.

No, silver thrupeny bits!!

[orientalist]

On 9/24/2016 at 0:57 PM, Khon Kaen Dave said:

My pal,is not the sharpest knife in the draw,and as a young man,worked for people who paid him cash, hence,he never paid enough stamps to qualify him for his full pension,(although he was an excellent kitchen and bathroom fitter)

He is approaching 65 soon and will be able to claim the basic pension.I believe,listening to others that this is around 150 quid a week.

 

If he didn't pay NI for the years he was paid cash, he won't be getting the full pension. Normally you can pay the last 6 years' NI yourself, but there is a special deal for those who fall under the new pension rules in that they can pay up 10 years of NI for 2006 until 2016. He should do that ASAP. It will give him an extra 10 years of pension entitlement.

He'll need to call HMRC to request a statement of how much he has to pay.

[sandyf]

On 9/24/2016 at 2:07 PM, rockingrobin said:

The first thing to do is contact the DWP to obtain an estimate.

The state pension he will be entitled (if any) will be dependant  upon his NI record.It should be noted that the period of apprenticeship may not count it will depend  upon if the salary was at or above the level to pay NI

There are currently 2 state pension  systems running in tandem , the old system(Basic £119 +any serps) and the single tier (£155 for 35 years  of NI) , he will  receive whichever is the greater amount.

Any periods of being contracted  out to a private  or personal pension complicates the calculations.

 

 

 

It is not that simple, credits are available. I have 48 years plus one incomplete year of contributions, and as they finish at age 65 they must have started at 16, when I was a very low paid apprentice.