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

Hi Guys,

I'm helping someone with this and they turn 66 in May. Will they be charged at Class 2 as they will be 65 when the submission is made or Class 3 as they will be 66 when the envelope is opened.

Also helping them with the State Contributory Pension application form and there is a section that asks about working overseas and states the following on page 1

If you have lived or worked in another country: We will apply for a pension on your behalf to those countries covered by EU Regulations or Bilateral Agreements.

Any thoughts on this line and the current situation?

Thanks in advance.
 
Coffeeortea said:
Will they be charged at Class 2 as they will be 65 when the submission is made or Class 3 as they will be 66 when the envelope is opened.
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My understanding is that it will be treated on the basis of when the letter is received, not opened.


Coffeeortea said:
If you have lived or worked in another country: We will apply for a pension on your behalf to those countries covered by EU Regulations or Bilateral Agreements.
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It's highly unlikely that they will be better off using paid UK contributions to get to a full Irish SPC. It depends on the patterns of paid contributions in Ireland and UK, and voluntary contributions in the UK. Without knowing that it's difficult to advise.
 
I went to reply & the realised the OP is likely referring to 2 different pension systems.
 
I tried to pay using Revolut but it was flagged as highly suspicious activity, I was wondering if anyone else had this experience? I abandoned it !
 
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Julia20 said:
I tried to pay using Revolut but it was flagged as highly suspicious activity, I was wondering if anyone else had this experience? I abandoned it !
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I pay via Revolut but only a year at a time. Never had an issue with it.

There a lot of payments to that HMRC account so I’m surprised flags are raised.
 
Same response really, see if you can get him registered & find his record of contributions.
 
DannyBoyD said:
Same response really, see if you can get him registered & find his record of contributions.
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Thanks Danny, I will speak with him later and see if was living there for 3 years at least and take it from there.
 
I am having problems getting on the website as I do not have a passport to hand at the moment. I have a valid Irish passport card, but it doesn't accept that. I have written to Wolverhampton for a pension forecast, has anyone any recent experience of how long they take?
 
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I lived and worked in the UK for just over 2 years between 1987 and 1989, so this doesn't apply to me - or so I thought!
But I went through the process of getting the Government Gateway User ID and looked up my N.I. record - and it says I have 5 years of full contributions.

Now, there's obviously something screwy about the record. The individual yearly breakdown only shows 3 years of full contributions and 1 partial year, and one of the full years (that I wasn't in the UK at all) says I have 64 weeks of credits.

I guess I'll fill in the form and see what happens. If anyone else has experienced weirdly incorrect N.I records like this, please share.
 
DannyBoyD said:
I believe from some other posters that there was a process in the past of automatically crediting 3 years contributions.
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Yes, I found this out when I looked into my uk contributions. Worked there for 6 years aged 18-24 but was credited with 9 years. They gave me credits from 16 years of age up, while I was still in school doing A levels and another year at secretarial college before I entered the workforce. Took me a while to work this out from previous posters experience. Happy days!! And thankyou @DannyBoyD for some of your very helpful posts. As a new poster I cannot like the many posts that have helped me with this. Not sure how many posts you have to make on here before you can like posts!! But much appreciate you all on here, you know who you are!!
 
DannyBoyD said:
I believe from some other posters that there was a process in the past of automatically crediting 3 years contributions.
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I reached 66 earlier this year and I apparently had credits from age 15, when I was in school. When I was 15 you could still leave school at 15, so I guess everyone who was still in school got years of contributions credited for the years they remained in school.
 
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My experience is 14 years working in the UK and expecting 14 years of NICs on my record. I was told I had 18. Lucky me I initially thought - I won't question it. Being a naturally cautious chap however, I made a series of phone calls to DWP and HMRC as I tracked my application to pay voluntary NICs, over the last 10 months or so. This was before the backlogs really began in earnest and while I was still in "incredulity mode" ......that I was somehow entitled to this UK pension bounty.

One of the recurring questions I asked was "what must I do to achieve the maximum pension amount"? As I delved deeper into this question I was told that the additional 4 years on my record are somehow connected with having being contracted out of the second state pension. This was an option in the late 80s/ early 90s, now discontinued. I was told that although it looks like I have 18 I will have to accrue 39 years (incl of my existing 18) worth of NICs. I have it writing what I must do in my case so that's what I will do. So far, an additional 15 paid and will pay the next 6 over the coming years before age 67.

Conclusion is (in my case anyway) if you were contracted out of the second state pension, it might not be the best objective to simply pay 35 years of NICs. When you have reached that contribution level, request a new pension forecast from the DWP to double check you are on the maximum pension entitlement.
 
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That's correct. There's plenty of people who were contracted out of S2P, and before that SERPS, who can end up with well over 40 years of contributions, and yet still be short of reaching the current figure of £203.

Likewise, for those , like me, who were never contracted out, that figure can be reached with 31 years of contributions.

People who were contracted out, paid a lower rate of National Insurance.

S2P replaced SERPS in 2002. Neither now exist, since the New state pension was introduced in 2016. This is a much simpler system, where you need a straightforward 35 years to achieve full New state pension. Note, that figure of 35 years only applies to people who STARTED paying National Insurance since 2016.

Anyone with employment history from before 2016, is on a hybrid system of the old, and New state pension. This can be quite complicated, so it's important to check your own personal forecast if at all possible.
 
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