State Pension Delays

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OP
OP
Chislenko

Chislenko

Veteran
As Colin says you can apply online at the high website. You need a gateway password. Once you have that you can see exactly how much pension you can expect to get and you can also apply for it online there as well.
My experience varies from what others have mentioned. My state pension was due to start on May 6th 2020 and it did. I received a letter several months before this date asking me to apply online three months before my pension date.

I tried to make the application in early February 2020 to be told applications were not being accepted until two months before SP age. I returned in March and got a message saying, I think, six weeks. I was successful the third time and it's a very simple process.

I was surprised when @ColinJ posted sometime ago he had successfully applied several months ahead of his SP age. I just assumed the DWP had experienced problems and sorted them out. Nothing more or less.

I read of difficulties in SP payment. I wouldn't worry, it couldn't be more rock solid and provided you apply correctly you will receive your entitlement but it seems it could be late. It's possible the DWP have delays in other areas involving means tested benefits as these will always take time. SP is simple, a record exists, you qualify for a certain payment, the application is processed and the money should arrive on time.

The one thing I find confusing is the question of buying more years. To qualify for a full SP my wife has to purchase additional contributions. The dates by which this needs to be done are shown online. What I'm unsure of is do all the years have to be purchased at once or individually as the due date for each year approaches?

Again if this applies to you it will show online. The online info is simple and clear to understand apart from my query above.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/oct/16/uk-state-pension-payment-delays-age-uk-dwp
My experience varies from what others have mentioned. My state pension was due to start on May 6th 2020 and it did. I received a letter several months before this date asking me to apply online three months before my pension date.

I tried to make the application in early February 2020 to be told applications were not being accepted until two months before SP age. I returned in March and got a message saying, I think, six weeks. I was successful the third time and it's a very simple process.

I was surprised when @ColinJ posted sometime ago he had successfully applied several months ahead of his SP age. I just assumed the DWP had experienced problems and sorted them out. Nothing more or less.

I read of difficulties in SP payment. I wouldn't worry, it couldn't be more rock solid and provided you apply correctly you will receive your entitlement but it seems it could be late. It's possible the DWP have delays in other areas involving means tested benefits as these will always take time. SP is simple, a record exists, you qualify for a certain payment, the application is processed and the money should arrive on time.

The one thing I find confusing is the question of buying more years. To qualify for a full SP my wife has to purchase additional contributions. The dates by which this needs to be done are shown online. What I'm unsure of is do all the years have to be purchased at once or individually as the due date for each year approaches?

Again if this applies to you it will show online. The online info is simple and clear to understand apart from my query above.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/oct/16/uk-state-pension-payment-delays-age-uk-dwp


I'm definitely ok on years Paul, 46 bl--dy long ones I have paid in and never claimed a penny!!

I am looking forward to the day I get something back 😊
 

PeteXXX

Cake or ice cream? The choice is endless ...
Location
Hamtun
Slightly away from the subject of when to apply, you can (could, if it's different now) also choose whether to receive your pension or to delay it for a year and get a slightly higher pension.
Whether that's worth it or not is up to you, but it's an option worth exploring.
 
Yeah, it's definitely all about laziness.

Actually DWP workers are the opposite, they were one of the last workers to work from home, they stuck it out for months and only started working from home after outbreaks of Covid in the offices they worked at. Most workers are now been pushed to return to the office on a hybrid basis at least to help revive town centres and small businesses such as coffee shops and sandwich shops.

A lot of DWP work is also technical in nature (in the background) due to the ever changing government rules and often requires a full disclosure of information from claimants which often doesn’t arrive plus they are badly let down by very old systems that often crash. I feel for them, they do the best they can with what they have!
 
OP
OP
Chislenko

Chislenko

Veteran
Bloody hell. Can't you lot not bring arguements into a thread just for once.

Why not start your own thread on the other side about lazy (or not) workers. Ye God's.


Thanks WD. I was dubious about putting my initial question on here in case it got moved to NACA. All I required was information from people who had gone through the process recently with the issues that some media outlets are reporting.

Like you I do not wish to get into a debate on the rights and wrongs of working from home and the work ethic of DWP employees.

Thanks to all who have constructively replied and as WD says can we take the arguments elsewhere.
 

Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
What I'm unsure of is do all the years have to be purchased at once or individually as the due date for each year approaches?
Paul - in broad terms, you can buy the extra years one after the other, in one day, or do so individually. The 'Pension Forecast' tells you how many years will make a difference (any more is wasted money!)
 

welsh dragon

Thanks but no thanks. I think I'll pass.
Paul - in broad terms, you can buy the extra years one after the other, in one day, or do so individually. The 'Pension Forecast' tells you how many years will make a difference (any more is wasted money!)


You have to be careful though. There have been stories in the news recently that show sometimes the extra payments you make sometimes make little to no effect on your pension payments. And paying the extra isn't worth it. It's a balancing act.:okay:
 

Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
You have to be careful though. There have been stories in the news recently that show sometimes the extra payments you make sometimes make little to no effect on your pension payments.
I found the webpage very clear: just saying. For people like the OP who has worked since school as an employee (assumed) it's not an issue (over 35 years, see site for clear detail) but for those of us who've taken time out of the employed workforce for children/parents or self-employed or own company, buying extra years is often worth it, to assure the 'full' payment, when the time comes (aged 67 say).
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I'm definitely ok on years Paul, 46 bl--dy long ones I have paid in and never claimed a penny!!
Not necessarily! My sister worked for 48 years but does not have enough contributions for a full state pension because she was contracted out of the state pension for a number of years.

She was looking at whether it was worth just paying the extra contributions, but has now got a part-time job working in a village shop so she will get the required missing NI contributions paid that way.

She worked out if she had paid her missing contributions, she would have to live to at least 73 to get that money back. Since most of our family seem to live to our 80s or 90s, it would have been worth doing.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Just out of curiosity if you never worked and paid no NI would you get any sort of state pension?
You would probably get pension credit?

In which case, I think you might be entitled to other benefits which are not given to pensioners...

My sister used to work as a benefits adviser and she gets really annoyed talking about this kind of thing! (Work hard, pay your way, and get less than someone who didn't!)
 
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