State Pension

They wrote to me automatically.

It is frustrating I know…but you could just ring them to claim. All you need is your National Insurance number.
Just google state pension helpline.

Me too.

I claimed mine at the end of last year. I had a query with one of the questions on the form and phoned. It took a while to get through but when I did the handler was great. She said don’t bother filling in the on line form it’s the old long one and we have all that info already. She posted out a very short form where I only had to confirm my NI number, address, dob, bank details, sign and return it. This arrived a few days later and I checked in by phone a week before the first payment date that everything was ok. And hey presto I get a 4 weekly drop of cash.
Ok, it was a wee bit muddled as the spelling of my surname had somehow been changed and it took a couple of extra calls to sort this out. But they called me to do this and everything is now hunky dory.
If you set up an online access to all of your HMRC details you can see everything. It’s very secure.

I already had a government gateway userid and password, so it was easy. My friend, who is tippy toeing into the www rang up HMRC, they sent a letter she had to complete and return.

The pension helpline staff are very helpful.

Just as a sideline, have you considered deferring your pension for a few years?
Unless the rules have changed recently, it is certainly worth considering if you could manage without it as it increases for every year you defer.
Then when you do claim it, you will get the increased rate for the rest of your life.
With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had waited as we don’t actually need it for day to day living.

I was too excited though at the thought of that money magically appearing in my bank account each month!

I found the online form not too difficult (I didn't need to use a smart phone) but they did not send confirmation that my claim was processed or when I would get my pension. I had to phone to check with them. This was a few years ago. Neither did I get a reminder of when my pension date would be and mine was a random date, not near a birthday.
All these things would be very difficult for those not online.

Very annoying! You can get help with this from (depending on what is handiest for you):
local library
local Law Centre / Citizen's Advice
Age Concern

I have had a query with them now for 7 months, still unresolved. I have written 3 times (no response) telephoned - long wait then cut off. Is there somewhere that this can be reported?

I didn’t hear anything automatically, so I applied online, not too difficult, they said I would be contacted in two weeks, after a month I tried to ring them, but there was an automated message which basically said, that all they were dealing with was a change in circumstances, a death presumably.
After a couple more weeks I tried again, this time it said unless it was urgent to hang up and try later as waiting times were very long. I thought, no I’ll just wait, pressed the relavent button and was put straight through.
She was informative and helpful, but it was all a bit of a fuss.
Then a couple of days later, I get a letter to say I owe £2,500 pounds in national insurance contributions from the year 2014!
So that’s the first few months taken care of!

It's the Civil Service, why the surprise?

JenniferEccles

Just as a sideline, have you considered deferring your pension for a few years?
Unless the rules have changed recently, it is certainly worth considering if you could manage without it as it increases for every year you defer.
Then when you do claim it, you will get the increased rate for the rest of your life.
With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had waited as we don’t actually need it for day to day living.

I was too excited though at the thought of that money magically appearing in my bank account each month!

Yes you can do this but think carefully. A friend of mine worked out that it would take over 10 years before he would start gaining. ie had received the same payment from the government by delaying it.

I agree Rumpunch. It's only really worth deferring if you're in a higher tax bracket, but expect your total income to dip below the higher rate threshold after retirement. For anybody on a low income who might claim Pension Credit in the future, it's definitely not worth it, as it can affect benefits. Of course, you also run the risk of not surviving for ten years after pension age.

I claimed my pension in December of last year. I worked for the DWP processing the State Pension, I would strongly recommend claiming by phone, it took 10 mins and received a letter the following week advising how much I had been awarded and when my first payment would go into my account and the amount.

My husband worked that out for me too, takes too long to recoup?
.

Thanks, cathyjean09. That's really useful advice!

Yes you can do this but think carefully. A friend of mine worked out that it would take over 10 years before he would start gaining. ie had received the same payment from the government by delaying it.

I'm perplexed by this Rumpunch. I deferred claiming my State Pension for 2 years because I was still working full time. Once I'd decided to retire, I phoned the Pensions Agency with my anticipated date of retirement (you cannot claim a deferred pension online if you've deferred it by more than 12 months) and was informed that my weekly pension had increased by 5.8% for every 52 weeks that I hadn't claimed it. The benefits of that are immediate and beat any savings account currently available.

YouGov website: Your State Pension will increase every week you defer, as long as you defer for at least 9 weeks.
Your State Pension increases by the equivalent of 1% for every 9 weeks you defer. This works out as just under 5.8% for every 52 weeks.
The extra amount is paid with your regular State Pension payment.

growstuff

I agree Rumpunch. It's only really worth deferring if you're in a higher tax bracket, but expect your total income to dip below the higher rate threshold after retirement. For anybody on a low income who might claim Pension Credit in the future, it's definitely not worth it, as it can affect benefits. Of course, you also run the risk of not surviving for ten years after pension age.

Yes, look at it very carefully. I think the rules have changed
a little in recent years and I have one friend who did it some time ago, but says that he wouldn't do it today if he had to make the same decision.

JenniferEccles

Just as a sideline, have you considered deferring your pension for a few years?
Unless the rules have changed recently, it is certainly worth considering if you could manage without it as it increases for every year you defer.
Then when you do claim it, you will get the increased rate for the rest of your life.
With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had waited as we don’t actually need it for day to day living.

I was too excited though at the thought of that money magically appearing in my bank account each month!

Hmm. Careful with this one. Work it out for your needs. My OH deferred but now realises he’ll have to live to nearly 90 before he gets back what he didn’t claim for those 2 years. If it works for you great, but be careful.

Sorry for repeating other posters! That’ll teach me to read it all ?

Rumpunch is correct, Chewbacca. You can work it out for yourself.

Let's say for convenience, your pension is £100 a week.

If you defer for two years, you are not receiving £5,200 a year. When you do claim, you receive an extra £5.80 a week (£301.60 a year). You need to live 17 years to recoup the amount you deferred.

It's not quite so simple because it depends what rate tax you are paying.

Ooops! I meant "if you defer for one year". If you defer for two years, you need to live for another 34 years after starting to receive state pension.

I would say think very hard about deferring taking your state pension. OH and I were advised against it by an adviser from the DWP who said the future is unknown. A friend did this and sadly died before he could claim his pension.