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

[jungle]

won't work for me, it asks for passport details which i enter exactly as it says in my passport then it tells me my passport details are wrong. i have had 3 new passports in the last 16 years since i left the uk wonder if that has anything to do with it.

[Dannie Boy]

won't work for me, it asks for passport details which i enter exactly as it says in my passport then it tells me my passport details are wrong. i have had 3 new passports in the last 16 years since i left the uk wonder if that has anything to do with it.

If you still have your old passports, you could try entering the details to see if one of them works?

[Big Boy]

Mrs BB only renewed her British passport a few weeks ago, and the new number worked.

[HHTel]

"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."

These figures intrigue me. I'm 70 so have been drawing a state pension for 5 years. I currently receive 198.04 per week (frozen at the beginning of 2013 as I live in Thailand). Seems to me that the new rules are worse than the old ones!

[Big Boy]

These figures intrigue me. I'm 70 so have been drawing a state pension for 5 years. I currently receive 198.04 per week (frozen at the beginning of 2013 as I live in Thailand). Seems to me that the new rules are worse than the old ones!

Me too, because I have 40 years full contributions, yet I will receive a few pence less than Pagey.

[Pagey]

These figures intrigue me. I'm 70 so have been drawing a state pension for 5 years. I currently receive 198.04 per week (frozen at the beginning of 2013 as I live in Thailand). Seems to me that the new rules are worse than the old ones!

Me too, because I have 40 years full contributions, yet I will receive a few pence less than Pagey.

Before April 2016 there were different pension rates depending if you were contracted out etc so paid less NI which is why they now call it a flat rate or single tier although it seems not everyone achieves the maximum flat rate. The new rates benefit me as the old pension would have been around £119 a week.

I can't understand how BB would get less than me as I not only contracted out I paid a reduced rate, class 2 of around £12 a month for 6 years and I've not reached the 35 years for a full pension. I started reading up on it here :
http://www.which.co.uk/money/retirement ... ill-i-get/
This is an extract :
If you reach state pension age on or after 6 April 2016, the starting point for calculating what you get is the ‘full level’ of the new state pension: £155.65. But the name is confusing because you may get more or less than this.

If you have made full National Insurance (NI) payments, building up additional state pension, you’re likely to get more. If you ‘contracted out’ and paid reduced NI contributions for several years, you’re likely to get less.

You’ll get whichever is higher - the amount you would have got on the last day of the old system or the amount you would get had the new system been in place over the whole of your working life.

Government estimates show that only around half of those retiring over the next year will qualify for the full state pension.

[STEVE G]

These figures intrigue me. I'm 70 so have been drawing a state pension for 5 years. I currently receive 198.04 per week (frozen at the beginning of 2013 as I live in Thailand). Seems to me that the new rules are worse than the old ones!

Yes, that is the case, my Mother is 85, only worked for a few years and gets an amount similar to you based on my late father's contributions. Basically, like private pensions, the system is broken because people are living much longer. The retirement age has been 65 since about 1910 when life expectancy was less than 65!
I was talking to a colleague yesterday and the reality is that we'll work to around 70, although hopefully not full time.

[J.J.B.]

...the reality is that we'll work to around 70, although hopefully not full time.

Amen to that!

[STEVE G]

...the reality is that we'll work to around 70, although hopefully not full time.

Amen to that!

To be honest, I'm not against the idea of working longer if it's feasible, if I've got useable talents, I'd be far happier with being an asset to society rather than a burden.

[StevePIraq]

Tried checking mine but as I do not have a UK address I could not verify my identity.

[Pagey]

Tried checking mine but as I do not have a UK address I could not verify my identity.

Neither do I but I managed it OK.

[StevePIraq]

Care to give a clue

[HHTel]

...the reality is that we'll work to around 70, although hopefully not full time.

Amen to that!

...the reality is that we'll work to around 70, although hopefully not full time.

Amen to that!

Excuse me. The above is not a quote of mine!!!

[Pagey]

Care to give a clue

I can't remember what questions they asked other than DOB, NI number & passport details. They ask for your phone number to send you a password number, incl your country so they get the country code so they know you are not in the UK but never asked for address.

[Gregjam]

After a few attempts I managed to get a figure and with a couple more years class 2 contributions I can get the full pension. Only thing is it did not make me feel better as it confirmed I will have to wait until I am 67 to get it. I knew that things had changed and always expected to have to wait until later but the confirmation that it will be another 12 years before my official retirement did not help. I suppose I at least have the cosolation of not being officially old despite others remarks and how I feel some mornings.
I used the gareway register function on the left side of the page and as others have mentioned it asked for passport etc but not UK address. I still have a UK number but it looks like that does not cause any problems based on others posts. I also have two UK passports and fortunately this did not cause any issues either.