Dare I ask a State Pension related question?

I only started earning pensionable pay at age 29, I had children then went into full time education. I get a small private pension for the few years I worked full time but nothing for the temporary jobs. I was advised to pay a Married Woman’s NI stamp to not receive sick pay. Nothing was said about not getting full pension entitlement. I then paid self employed NI for 30 years so no pension entitlement there. I only get £127 a week pension plus my extra 25p

Dizzyribs

Something else knowing: if you retire from work before your new state pension age for whatever reason you have to pay full national insurance, or have it credited, for each year until your official retirement age. (It can be credited if you are claiming unemployment benefits or looking after grandchildren whose parents are paying full NI and who agree to transfer their unneeded home responsibility allowance to you for example.)
I am on the new state pension. I was contracted out for some of my working life but thought that, as I had 42 full years of NI contributions I would get the full pension even though I left paid work at 60 and didn’t claim unemployment. At 66 I found I was 6 full years short. According to the rules I should have continued paying in during the 6 years when I was living on my small occupational pension and my savings. 🤷🏻‍♀️.

This is different for everyone tho...I'm just 60 ....I have enough NI years ( 39) according to my hard gateway account...I had enough last year and the year before apparently( I got my hard online log in 2 years ago)

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202505/medium-yyd72-screenshot-2025-05-06-at-19-06-16.png https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202505/medium-g6h3hp-screenshot-2025-05-06-at-19-06-26.png

If you look at the transition calculation here at 14 …

www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-state-pension-if-youve-been-contracted-out-of-additional-state-pension/the-new-state-pension-transition-and-contracting-out-fact-sheet

.. you will see the effect of contracted out deductions (COD) in the old and new schemes.

The example is replicated in the graphics for anyone who doesn’t want to follow the links.

Bear in mind the calculations use the rates of basic and new state pensions as they were when the paper was written but the principles remain the same.

That calculation is remarkable similar to my own with that big deduction for rebate derived amount from the nSP.

But note where it says: if he has no further qualifying years …

In my case, I did. I carried on working and paying NIC until I was 66 so I had another five years of contributions after 2016 to “burn off” some of the years affected by COD.

This paper published by Steven Webb, the former Pensioners Minister under the Coalition explains about burning off - page 17:

www.lcp.com/media/1150050/why-is-money-being-deducted-from-my-state-pension.pdf

Note:

in the first year of transition to the new state pension it was estimated that less than half of new retirees reached the flat rate, mainly because of past contracting out. But by the end of the current decade [2030], it is expected that four in five of those retiring will be on the full flat rate. More and more of these workers will have had time to ‘burn off’ any deductions for past contracting out by dint of ‘qualifying years’ post 2016

But read the next paragraph: Conversely … about the element of the new state pension calculation which is to the detriment of those who were contracted out.

It’s all fiendishly complicated but if people try to undertand how this works they will see that claims that new state pension is so much better than the old one isn’t really true for many people who are caught in the transition with most of their working life before 2016.

As Cabbie suggests, it might be worth talking to the Pension Service about paying some voluntary class 3 to see if it can be used to burn off some of the COD years.

The Pension Service
Post Handling Site A
Wolverhampton
WV98 1AF

Telephone: 0800 731 0469

Dizzyribs it may not be too late to pay those missing contributions. Worth checking.

Yes a lot of people don't seem to understand that about National Insurance.
I do try to point it out on here and elsewhere but am often not believed.
If you receive carers allowance you will be credited for NI.

Something else knowing: if you retire from work before your new state pension age for whatever reason you have to pay full national insurance, or have it credited, for each year until your official retirement age. (It can be credited if you are claiming unemployment benefits or looking after grandchildren whose parents are paying full NI and who agree to transfer their unneeded home responsibility allowance to you for example.)
I am on the new state pension. I was contracted out for some of my working life but thought that, as I had 42 full years of NI contributions I would get the full pension even though I left paid work at 60 and didn’t claim unemployment. At 66 I found I was 6 full years short. According to the rules I should have continued paying in during the 6 years when I was living on my small occupational pension and my savings. 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Exactly the same Nana Tuesday. I did check out the missing NI contributions due to being stay at home mum in 70s. No luck I'm afraid. It can be galling working so many years and receiving a lesser pension than someone who has worked less. I am a WASPI but I was aware of the changes to be made to pension age way back in mid 90s.

Most definitely have those missing years checked out but when comparing yourself to your sister you have to remember you've had 3 extra years of SP compared to her.

Sporerb
Amazing , that you actually received a letter as I never have but do have those gaps 😢

Last year, I received a letter from HMRC asking me to check my eligibility for the Home Responsibilities Protection between 1978 to 2010.

I know it will be a waste of time because I do not have any gaps in my National Insurance contributions but I did check it out anyway.

Elusivebutterfly Hundreds of thousands.

Monica - Much the same happened to me. As a single pensioner it would have boosted my income considerably if I had been able to keep my contributions in for my pre-children jobs and join the pension scheme for my part-time post children jobs. There must be thousands of women in this position.

I taught for two years, then had my superannuation contributions returned when I stopped, but some years later, back in school we had a seminar from a financial advisor, who informed us that for a small sum we could get those contributions reinstated. This proved financially very rewarding on my Teacher’s Pension.
I too missed out on a number of years of NI contributions when I was part time, so a number of my years are Not Full, and it is too late now. However, I now get an increase from my late husband’s contributions, which doesn’t happen with the new SP.

I think a lot of us missed out on pension in different ways. I only qualified for one year of domestic responsibilities, despite not working for 7 years when my chidren were young. I stopped work in 1971 and returned in 1979..

I also lost 12 years of occupational pension, firstly because the law in the 60s was that if you stayed in a job less than 5 years, you were booted out of the pensions scheme and your contributions (not your employers) were returned when you left.

I then contributed to a personal pension through an employer for 2 years and that was frozen when I left. It was worth £10 a year in 1968 and still worth only £10 a year when I retired in 2003. Despite the money being invested and earning income and capital growth for the pension fund. That too was changed a few years after I left my job. DH also in the same situation a few years later, earned a pension bigger than his pay was when he worked for the company - obviously in face value not real value.

Later on I worked part time for 5 years and was not allowed to join the pension scheme because of that. That too has now been changed.

I would be considerably better off if I had been allowed to leave my contributions in pension schemes, or join them or get the benefit of the investement value of my contributions.

M0nica

Remember the difference between the old system state pension and the new, is that the old one varied a lot in payment depending on your earnings etc while the new one is a fixed one, no matter how much you earn and contribute to your state pension.

There is also at various times an income related element in contributions to the State Pension that meant your state pension pays out well above the standard amount

. My DH and a friend, who were both high earners and in personal pension schemes for a significant part of their working lives have state pensions well above the standard.

In the 1960s there was something called Graduated Pension, that was taken from your salary with your NI payment if you earned above a certain amount. I paid into this for some years and each year the statement I get from the Pensions Agency lists how the state pension I receive included extra money I receive bcause I contributed to that.

In fact, if you get out the state pension statement you would have been sent earlier this year and look at it, it will give you a breakdown of how your pension is made up.

Perhaps if you compared it with your friend's statement you would be able to see where the differences lie and it may be simply that your friend earned more, so contributed more, so receives more than you for that reason.

Yes , I get this & think it grossly unfair tbh re the New SP . But that’s just my personal opinion.

However besides this as pointed out by Silverbrook the HPR in this instance seems to be a factor , so I’ll wait for the response , maybe not with bated breath .

But it does seem that besides being a Waspi woman , lucking out on 3 years of SP , I then lucked out by 3 weeks of receiving the New SP .

I may be due some good luck 😉

Remember the difference between the old system state pension and the new, is that the old one varied a lot in payment depending on your earnings etc while the new one is a fixed one, no matter how much you earn and contribute to your state pension.

There is also at various times an income related element in contributions to the State Pension that meant your state pension pays out well above the standard amount

. My DH and a friend, who were both high earners and in personal pension schemes for a significant part of their working lives have state pensions well above the standard.

In the 1960s there was something called Graduated Pension, that was taken from your salary with your NI payment if you earned above a certain amount. I paid into this for some years and each year the statement I get from the Pensions Agency lists how the state pension I receive included extra money I receive bcause I contributed to that.

In fact, if you get out the state pension statement you would have been sent earlier this year and look at it, it will give you a breakdown of how your pension is made up.

Perhaps if you compared it with your friend's statement you would be able to see where the differences lie and it may be simply that your friend earned more, so contributed more, so receives more than you for that reason.

If you are receiving the maximum full old state pension then you must have had enough 'stamps' (contributions) to qualify without the missing years. Getting those missing years include will make no difference to your pension amount if you are already receiving the old state pension full amount.
However, If you are receiving less than the full amount of old state pension, those missing years can be added to improve your pension.

Sorry I thought that was the case Silverbrooks, didn't know it could be transferred.

Silverbrook ,
All completed, amazingly I managed to get my Son to answer his phone 📱

62granny
Yes , Thanks I did know that part 😘

That's not correct. HRP is transferable.

If your partner claimed Child Benefit instead of you

You may be able to transfer HRP from a partner you lived with if they claimed Child Benefit while you both cared for a child under 16 and they do not need the HRP.

They can transfer the HRP to you for any ‘qualifying years’ they have on their National Insurance record between April 1978 and April 2010. This will be converted into National Insurance credits.

www.gov.uk/home-responsibilities-protection-hrp/eligibility

Use the online service or postal form CF411 to apply for National Insurance Home Responsibilities Protection, or to transfer it from a spouse or partner.

www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-home-responsibilities-protection

You will only be credited your NI if the child benefit was claimed by yourself if your husband claimed it you wouldn't be eligible.

Silverbrook,
Thank you , 🙏 This is really helpful . I am grateful for the information you have provided.
Personally, I always put the shortfall down to my opting out of serps , this however is a whole different ballgame .

I will endeavour to get on the case & will update on here .

Home Responsibilities Protection

www.gov.uk/home-responsibilities-protection-hrp/what-youll-get

In theory, you should have received HRP automatically if between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2010 you were claiming Child Benefit for a child under 16 but it doesn’t sound as though you have.

There was no protection before 1978 to cover when your older two were younger.

You’ll need to apply to the DWP for HRP if you think it’s missing from your National Insurance (NI) record.

Cases have been missed. See:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-fund-accounts/great-britain-national-insurance-fund-account-for-the-year-ended-31-march-2024

For people reaching State Pension age since 6 April 2010, previously recorded periods of HRP were converted into National Insurance credits. DWP identified administrative discrepancies in the recording of HRP on some customers’ National Insurance records, which resulted in State Pension errors. Correction activity began in Autumn 2023 to identify and process customer claims and to correct the National Insurance records and State Pension entitlement.

People reaching State Pension age between 6 April 2010 and 5 April 2016, needed 30 qualifying years of NIC to get the full basic state pension.

If you are more than four years short of 30 years you should be entitled to four years credits from 1978 to 1981 which I calculate should give you an extra £23.50 a week at current rates (£5.88 pw per missing year).