# claiming a uk pension at 62 - irish is 66 help?



## NOAH (9 Jan 2013)

We have moved back from UK and have paid the full NI contributions to get a full UK pension,  and time has flown by.  My wife qualifies for her pension next january 14 so wants to plan ahead. But we have noticed the age for retiring in ireland is 66 and the UK pension site states that she must apply via the country she resides in ie IRELAND but HOW?

Or does she qualify for UK pension now and than at age 66 revert to Irish one?

However as she had qualified for full UK one in 2009 ie 30 years or more she may not achieve the 48 required in Ireland or is it a like for like xfer?  ie full UK = full irish but paid earlier?

I must admit I am a bit confused.

help


----------



## Gervan (9 Jan 2013)

Has your wife worked in Ireland? 
If she has, see http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/Pension/Pages/eupen.aspx for Form EUP 65.
If not, contact   Charity, Assets and Residence, 
Residency, Room BP1301, Benton Park View, Newcastle  upon Tyne, NE98 1ZZ, United Kingdom




> When the time comes for you to claim your pension, you'll have to *apply* in the country:
> 
> 
> where you're living (even if you just worked there for a short time)
> ...


----------



## rayn (9 Jan 2013)

1.   Download form "application for a state pension forecast" from HM Revenue and Custom website.
2. Fill in and send to The Pensions Service , International Pension Office, Tyneview Park Whitley Road, Benton, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE98 1BA.
You will then get a comprehensive forecast re amount, date of commencement, and how to increase it if possible. They will then tell you how to apply. The application is made through the Irish Pensions service in Sligo.
You should do this for both of you.


----------



## NOAH (10 Jan 2013)

Thanks both for quick replies.  We have sent off pension forecast etc.  I should add my other half was under the impression she could have 2 pensions, ie a full UK one and a part irish one. And as she has worked in ireland for 13 years almost, should get something but it looks as if this is not the case.

happy new year


----------



## Guns N Roses (10 Jan 2013)

You are allow to have 2 pensions. In fact The Irish Pension Service will insist that you apply for any pension entitlement that you may have in another country. If you qualify for both however, I believe the Irish Pension Service may deduct your UK pension from your Irish one and you will receive the remainder.

Apply for both and see what happens. If you don't qualify, they'll let you know.


----------



## jpd (10 Jan 2013)

If you qualify for a pension in 2 or more EU countries then, in theory, your public pension entitlements are calculated in each country using your full service record and then are paid pro-rata to the periods/payments made in each country.

For a simple example, if you work 10 years in Ireland and 30 years in UK then you have 40 years of contribution - both Ireland and UK will calculate your pension on the basis of 40 years of contribution but then Ireland will pay you 25% of your Irish entitlement and the UK will pay 75% of your British entitlement.

It's much more complicated than that but you get the idea


----------



## Jim2007 (10 Jan 2013)

NOAH said:


> We have moved back from UK and have paid the full NI contributions to get a full UK pension,  and time has flown by.  My wife qualifies for her pension next january 14 so wants to plan ahead. But we have noticed the age for retiring in ireland is 66 and the UK pension site states that she must apply via the country she resides in ie IRELAND but HOW?
> 
> Or does she qualify for UK pension now and than at age 66 revert to Irish one?
> 
> ...



Yes there is a lot of confusion all over Europe about how this works, but really there are only two changes to note:

- You apply for your pension to the authority in the country where you currently reside (Ireland in this case) unless you are living outside the EEA, in which case you apply to the authority of the last EEA country you worked in.

- When it comes to determining if you meet the minimum requirements for a pension, each country must take your total contributions in all EEA countries into account.

Other than that things remain the same:
- You qualify for a pension when you reach the pension age in the UK
- The amount is based on your contributions there 
- It is paid by the UK government 

When you reach Irish retirement age, you then make another claim based on your Irish contributions and so on, if you had worked in other EEA countries.

Overall, the big change is that in most cases you no longer loose out on any of your contributions, so long as your contributions in total throughout the EEA meet the minimum requirements.


----------



## Dave Vanian (12 Jan 2013)

Can I ask a related question?  

Mrs Vanian was born in the UK and worked there for 13 years until she came over here in the 1990s.  We've checked with the UK pension service and she has 13 years' National Insurance contributions clocked up.  

She's been living in Ireland since and we'll probably be in Ireland for the rest of our days.  She has some PRSI paid here - its broken at the moment as she runs around after the little Vanians but she'll probably work up some more PRSI in time.  

The UK pension office told us she has qualified for a partial pension there already, but we can pay a few bob in voluntary contributions to the Queen to bring her closer to the full 30 years required for a full UK pension.  

Is there any point in doing this?  Will her additional UK pension (that we've contributed towards) not just reduce down whatever entitlement she'd have from Ireland?  

Thanks,

DV


----------



## Jim2007 (12 Jan 2013)

Dave Vanian said:


> Can I ask a related question?
> 
> Mrs Vanian was born in the UK and worked there for 13 years until she came over here in the 1990s.  We've checked with the UK pension service and she has 13 years' National Insurance contributions clocked up.
> 
> ...



Yes, as things currently stand it would be to her benefit to make the payments, as she would qualify for a full UK pension and an Irish pension.  However, this of course may change in the future...

As I said in my earlier post, total contributions in the EEA are used to determine if you meet the minimum requirements for a pension in each state, but the amount you get is dependent on your contributions in that state, there is no off set with pensions received from other EEA states.  Neither the UK or Irish sites make a great job of explaining this and even worse they confuse the issue by spending a lot of time explaining a calculation that is only needed if your total pensions fall below the minimum pension for the country you are resident in!

What concerns a lot of people making UK contributions, is that the documentation says "you may", rather than "you will", so there is no guarantee that you'll get anything for those extra contributions.


----------



## Ann1 (12 Jan 2013)

I found this link from 'Your Europe' good. 
http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/retire/state-pension-claims-and-calculation/index_en.htm


----------



## Black Sheep (13 Jan 2013)

To simplify things:-
A person now living in Ireland on a UK State Pension and having paid PRSI in Ireland at any time should apply to Pension Office in Sligo at age 66 for their Irish (part) pension. This does NOT decrease their UK payment

Simuliarly 
A person living in the UK who has both Irish and UK contributions should apply


----------

