Key Post UK State Pension - Make voluntary contributions to qualify for UK pension on top of Irish pension

[Noreen8]

There should be clear instructions in the letter you got, along with the dates the payment is due.

Okay great just wanted to check did you contact the pensions department before hand. Thanks will have a read of it again.

 

[JKetch]

Okay great just wanted to check did you contact the pensions department before hand. Thanks will have a read of it again.

I phoned them before transferring the money to tell them the sterling amount I would be sending and what years it was to be set against.

It took about about 5 months for the online record to show the years as paid in full.

 

[Stitcher]

I sent the money via bank transfer. I contacted them a few weeks later to see if it had gone through and it did. Others find revolut very easy to transfer the money.

 

[Effervescent]

Thanks to all for the help with this. Only for info - I completed the CF83 and sent in October 2023. I got confirmation of class 2 for the missing years in May. I made a full payment at the end of May and followed up today as it is not yet shown as allocated. According to the advisor (very pleasant) - the current backlog for EU payments to be allocated is 45 weeks! She did acknowledge receipt of my payment and said that once I had paid, the deadline no longer applied. We will see ....

 

[rollick]

I would also like to thank everyone for their contributions, especially the OP.

A relative of mine, approaching retirement, had lived in the UK several years as a child and worked there for less than a year as an adult. They didn't know their NI number, so I brought them through the whole process, mostly out of curiosity. Neither of us expected anything to come of it.

We found four years of credited contributions on record, and submitted the CF83 form online in mid-August of this year. By the end of September they got a letter of eligibility to buy back to 2006 at the Class 2 rate. That, plus the next couple of years, should bring them to at least two thirds of the annual UK pension by the time they hit retirement age, for less than £4k total cost.

 

[SashaGG]

Was wondering did anyone have the same issue as me. When I add up my years contributions I have twelve years but the hmrc calculator says I have 21 years more contributions to make the 35. Also the figure of my current pension is 92.50 sterling approx which equates to between 14-15 years. As I will be using my UK contributions toward my 40 Irish year pension it would be good to know how many years I actually have. Was curious did anyone else have this. Where the figures don’t add up? Thanks

 

[partnership]

Was wondering did anyone have the same issue as me. When I add up my years contributions I have twelve years but the hmrc calculator says I have 21 years more contributions to make the 35. Also the figure of my current pension is 92.50 sterling approx which equates to between 14-15 years. As I will be using my UK contributions toward my 40 Irish year pension it would be good to know how many years I actually have. Was curious did anyone else have this. Where the figures don’t add up? Thanks

Not sure what you mean by using uk contributions for Irish pension. They are taken into account in terms of qualifying . you don't just add them together to get a full pension, there is a formula.

 

[DannyBoyD]

I would also like to thank everyone for their contributions, especially the OP.

A relative of mine, approaching retirement, had lived in the UK several years as a child and worked there for less than a year as an adult. They didn't know their NI number, so I brought them through the whole process, mostly out of curiosity. Neither of us expected anything to come of it.

We found four years of credited contributions on record, and submitted the CF83 form online in mid-August of this year. By the end of September they got a letter of eligibility to buy back to 2006 at the Class 2 rate. That, plus the next couple of years, should bring them to at least two thirds of the annual UK pension by the time they hit retirement age, for less than £4k total cost.

That is a great story! Well done!

 

[DannyBoyD]

Was wondering did anyone have the same issue as me. When I add up my years contributions I have twelve years but the hmrc calculator says I have 21 years more contributions to make the 35. Also the figure of my current pension is 92.50 sterling approx which equates to between 14-15 years.

Have you completed CF83? Are you paying voluntary NICs?

As I will be using my UK contributions toward my 40 Irish year pension it would be good to know how many years I actually have. Was curious did anyone else have this. Where the figures don’t add up? Thanks

For most people it is better to claim the two pensions separately.

 

[Kev1964]

Have you completed CF83? Are you paying voluntary NICs?

For most people it is better to claim the two pensions separately.

Re your last point Danny can you explain what you mean please? For this question I am assuming "better" means financially advantageous.

We are approaching a time when payment ages diverge (IRL = age 66 and UK= 67) so they would be separate for that reason anyway.

When you say "better" does it imply less "better" to disclose the other pension entitlement when applying for either one? If yes, in what way?

This is a genuine question as it's not something that I am clear on despite all my reading on the topic.

 

[DannyBoyD]

Better = more money

 

[Kev1964]

Better = more money

Sure I got that thanks…..I’m hoping to be in this situation myself and so I’m genuinely interested to know what are the specific details that lead you to conclude that it is “better for most people to claim the two pensions separately”?

 

[DannyBoyD]

1. You can claim UK state pension (subject to NICs)
2. You can also claim Irish state pension (subject to contributions)

Two state pensions > one state pension.

 

[Kev1964]

1. You can claim UK state pension (subject to NICs)
2. You can also claim Irish state pension (subject to contributions)

Two state pensions > one state pension.

Haha. Got it. Thanks for sharing that pearl.

Seriously though, this is a question I've seen here on a few occasions and I've not seen anyone conclusively prove which is the "best" approach. When I saw your post I thought someone had finally established which approach is "best" and might be willing to share their rationale.

 

[Peckham]

I made my payment at start of April, having rung them a few days previously telling them which years I would be paying.

Still nothing showing on my account, but I rang them last week and they confirmed that there was a payment received and which years it would be allocated to.

She seemed confused as to why it wasn't reflected in my online record so she escalated it to another team.

Update on this. Still nothing showing on my online account, but after a further call 2 weeks ago I received a letter in the post this morning confirming the payment received and detailing the years it has been allocated to.

Not sure what is going on with with online record. For example, when I log in it tells me that my tax for the year ending 5 April 2024 "has not yet been calculated". When I go to the check progress section it tells me that the CF83 application I made in May 2023 is "In progress". Seems like nothing at all has updated on my online record since May 2023 and it is frozen in time!

 

[SashaGG]

Not sure what you mean by using uk contributions for Irish pension. They are taken into account in terms of qualifying . you don't just add them together to get a full pension, there is a formula.

My understanding is that you need 40 years contributions to get a full Irish pension and that any years done in uk or other uk country count towards the 40. I’m just not clear how many years I have done in uk from the hmrc app and I was just wanted to know did anyone else have that issue

 

[DannyBoyD]

share their rationale

I rather thought I did exactly that.

 

[Zobeda]

My understanding is that you need 40 years contributions to get a full Irish pension and that any years done in uk or other uk country count towards the 40. I’m just not clear how many years I have done in uk from the hmrc app and I was just wanted to know did anyone else have that issue

My understanding (I'm open to correction) is that its an either or situation.
You either use your UK contributions to gain a UK pension, as you seem to already be doing, or you seek to have them added to your Irish contributions to enhance your pension here.
The idea that one could make their UK contributions "double job" for them seems ludicrous.

 

[SashaGG]

Have you completed CF83? Are you paying voluntary NICs?

For most people it is better to claim the two pensions separately.

Yes I’m paying the voluntary NICs. My question is about the Irish pension although I know this is a thread for uk pensions. I won’t have enough Irish years alone to make up the full 40 years but my uk years (which at this moment in time count toward the 40 although this may change in the future) aren’t clear on the app. I was there 15 years but spent some in uni. I seem to have between 12 and 14 years there.

 

[Kev1964]

I rather thought I did exactly that.

No not for me sorry.

CLAIMING TOGETHER

As I see it one can apply for the Irish pension coming up to age 66 and at the same time disclose through the application process that you have a foreign pension entitlement. In that event, I understand that the Irish authorities then will claim the foreign pension entitlement on your behalf. How that will work after the UK and Irish state pension entitlement ages diverge between 2026 and 2028, I don't know.

The Irish authorities normally (at the moment anyway) perform a series of pension benefit calculations to establish the best one for that individual. In the event that a foreign pension entitlement is disclosed this entails an additional calculation and again the best outcome is offered to the claimant. (The bit in italics is an assumption on my part but reasonable I think).

CLAIMING SEPERATELY

If one decides not to disclose a foreign pension entitlement to the Irish authorities ( I've no idea what sort of implications stating an untruth may have) ...... this entails applying directly (and separately) to the foreign authority for your pension and likely removes one of the Irish pension benefit calculations mentioned above. Potentially this may be a negative outcome for the Irish pension (ie less money). If we take the UK system as an example, I don't recall seeing anything to suggest that having an Irish pension entitlement affects the UK benefit amount calculation. Perhaps you have.

You have stated that "For most people it is better to claim the two pensions separately."

I'd simply like to know how you arrived at that conclusion because at this stage of my examination of a complex topic, it makes no difference, or if it does, it may be "better" (ie = more pension money) to claim them together. I have a genuine interest in a sensible answer.