How to check your NI contributions & Pension entitlement in the UK

[Pagey]

This is some info which may be useful for any UK citizens who have retired before state pension age.

Background info : A few years ago the UK reduced the amount of qualifying years you needed to pay NI to 30 years to receive a full state pension. As from this April they have increased the qualifying years to 35 and introduced a new flat rate pension. ( most of this is my understanding of the rules & regs based on my situation).

Previously you had to write to the gov agency to verify how many years you had paid so that you could stop paying if you had reached the 30 years, I was working overseas and paying voluntary class 2 contributions, and reached 30 years so stopped paying.

I've just checked the Govt website to contact them about how many years I've actually paid and to re commence my voluntary contributions to make up the shortfall and discovered you can check online by registering with them, takes 5 minutes verifying DOB, NI number, passport number etc and then you can check online your current pension entitlement and how many years NI you have paid.

https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/checkmystatepension

So within 10 minutes or so I have discovered at age 66 I will currently be entitled to £120.03 per week out of a maximum of £155.65 state pension and I have paid 31 years of full contributions.
Saves a lot of time with letters and phone calls to verify your situation.

[STEVE G]

I tried it but after wasting twenty minutes, it won't allow me to enter a national insurance number for some reason.

[Big Boy]

It worked for me - I'm 'almost' identical to Pagey.

[Pagey]

I tried it but after wasting twenty minutes, it won't allow me to enter a national insurance number for some reason.

Have you got the correct format Steve ? 2 letters, 6 numbers and a letter with no spaces?

[Big Boy]

So within 10 minutes or so I have discovered at age 66 I will currently be entitled to £120.03 per week out of a maximum of £155.65 state pension and I have paid 31 years of full contributions.
Saves a lot of time with letters and phone calls to verify your situation.

Thinking about it, I'm confused (nothing new there then). My entitlement will be slightly less than you, but my summary states I've paid in more i.e.:

Conts.png (4.67 KiB) Viewed 2316 times

Any idea how that works?

[STEVE G]

I tried it but after wasting twenty minutes, it won't allow me to enter a national insurance number for some reason.

Have you got the correct format Steve ? 2 letters, 6 numbers and a letter with no spaces?

It doesn't allow me to type anything in that box. There's a section at the bottom to email problems and that bit doesn't allow you to put in an email address!

[Pagey]

Only difference I can see is age, I have until 2026 which is when I reach state retirement age.

However, if you only need 35 years contributions you should be at the maximum pension as I understand it.

[Pagey]

I tried it but after wasting twenty minutes, it won't allow me to enter a national insurance number for some reason.

Have you got the correct format Steve ? 2 letters, 6 numbers and a letter with no spaces?

It doesn't allow me to type anything in that box. There's a section at the bottom to email problems and that bit doesn't allow you to put in an email address!

It does say something at the top about it being 'BETA' and still at the testing stage.

[STEVE G]

They've got plenty of time to sort it out as I'm not planning on retiring for a while!

[Vital Spark]

Thanks for the link, Pagey. I managed to log in successfully, and they gave me an estimate of my entitlement. I haven't paid in since 1997, so don't get the full pension. Not sure whether to top-up or not, I'll think about it in the next 12 years. I was a bit disappointed that I have to wait until I'm 67 as I thought I'd get it when I was 65. Had a look for Mr.VS, but they said as he was living and working abroad they couldn't give a figure - how do they know he's working here?

VS

[Pagey]

Thanks for the link, Pagey. I managed to log in successfully, and they gave me an estimate of my entitlement. I haven't paid in since 1997, so don't get the full pension. Not sure whether to top-up or not, I'll think about it in the next 12 years. I was a bit disappointed that I have to wait until I'm 67 as I thought I'd get it when I was 65. Had a look for Mr.VS, but they said as he was living and working abroad they couldn't give a figure - how do they know he's working here?

VS

The phased increase in retirement age was announced many years ago now, probably more than 6 years ago!

If you can pay 2nd class contributions like I was it's definitely worth doing from a financial aspect. Current rate is £2.80 a week, I need to pay a maximum of 4 years worth for my pension to increase by £35 a week. There are rules on whether you can pay class 2 or 3 which is more expensive.
https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-i ... tributions

As for your hubbys situation I wouldn't have thought it mattered whether he was working or where, if he's paid NI he should be entitled to a proportion of the govt. pension, but I'm no expert, I just try to keep abreast of my own situation.

[Big Boy]

It'll be interesting to check out my wife's entitlement. She worked a few years, and was exempt from payments for quite a while - I'll check it out tomorrow morning if I have time.

[Big Boy]

LOL - the suspense got to me. I've checked already.

Mrs_BB.png (4.43 KiB) Viewed 2217 times

That combined with her 600 Baht/month State Thai Pension, maybe I'll become a kept man

[Pagey]

LOL - the suspense got to me. I've checked already.

Mrs_BB.png
That combined with her 600 Baht/month State Thai Pension, maybe I'll become a kept man

15,000 Baht a month is not to be sniffed at over here, more than a lot of people earn I bet.

[Big Boy]

Yes, I was well pleased when I checked it out - a lot more than I expected, and not far behind me when I take tax off mine.