To my joy, I have discovered I am almost an OAP. Thought I had to wait another year till I am 67 but nope, I should be eligible this year, at 66. How do O go about getting it though? I have ESA and housing benefit at the moment, so a state pension will actually be a payrise (and won't have the sodding DWP breathing down my neck). A friend of mine, in similar circumstances, didn't know they were eligible and had to chase a back-payment as there didn't appear to be any automatic liaison between DWP and tOAP (I think he had help from Citizen's Advice). I think I have made enough NI contributions to get the state minimum. I am also quite anxious that ESA/UC (I have a mnix of both of them) will simply stop as soon as I am 66 and it will take weeks or months of being really skint.
old age pension - how do I get it?
- Thread starter campanula
- Start date
surreybrowncap
“Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand"
Start here....
This will help you get an idea of what you're entitled to:
www.gov.uk
Check your State Pension forecast
Find out how much State Pension you could get (your forecast), when you could get it and how you could increase it
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
it will be worth telling the housing / council tax benefit people about it as a 'change of circumstances' rather than assuming that the various bits of the DWP will just tell them - they might, but if there's a gap between the ESA people telling them you've been signed off and you making a new claim based on pension, you may not get backdating for the bit between the two.
if you're getting ESA now, may be worth exploring if your health condition / disability or whatever (i'm not asking for detail) would qualify you for attendance allowance once you turn pension age.
and if you'll be on a low income (again, i'm not asking for detail) then may be worth looking in to pension credit (it replaced the old 'supplementary pension' / income support for pensioners) - I don't know quite how this works, especially if you have a partner living with you, but if you're getting HB for your household, then you might qualify.
broadly, i'd say if in doubt, claim. age concern have more on pensions and benefits for older people.
and you apply via your local transport authority for your bus pass - assuming you're in england, this entitles you to free off peak bus travel (i.e. not before 0930 or after 2300 on mon - fri, but any time at weekends) anywhere in England (some councils give discretionary extras, like travel before 0930, or on things like metro / tram / underground etc, but usually only for their local residents, e.g. i think only Nottingham/shire residents get travel on the Nottingham trams.) I'm a bit fuzzy on the rules, but think you need to re-apply as a senior even if you have a pass on disability grounds now.
Scotland, wales and NI have similar, again each valid only within that country - think there are some exceptions for journeys across the borders but i'm not sure.
Senior railcard (trains) or coachcard (national express equivalent) are separate things and need to be bought up front then you get a discount.
if you're getting ESA now, may be worth exploring if your health condition / disability or whatever (i'm not asking for detail) would qualify you for attendance allowance once you turn pension age.
and if you'll be on a low income (again, i'm not asking for detail) then may be worth looking in to pension credit (it replaced the old 'supplementary pension' / income support for pensioners) - I don't know quite how this works, especially if you have a partner living with you, but if you're getting HB for your household, then you might qualify.
broadly, i'd say if in doubt, claim. age concern have more on pensions and benefits for older people.
and you apply via your local transport authority for your bus pass - assuming you're in england, this entitles you to free off peak bus travel (i.e. not before 0930 or after 2300 on mon - fri, but any time at weekends) anywhere in England (some councils give discretionary extras, like travel before 0930, or on things like metro / tram / underground etc, but usually only for their local residents, e.g. i think only Nottingham/shire residents get travel on the Nottingham trams.) I'm a bit fuzzy on the rules, but think you need to re-apply as a senior even if you have a pass on disability grounds now.
Scotland, wales and NI have similar, again each valid only within that country - think there are some exceptions for journeys across the borders but i'm not sure.
Senior railcard (trains) or coachcard (national express equivalent) are separate things and need to be bought up front then you get a discount.
Lurdan
old wave
Contact them as soon as possible to check you can in fact contact them. I had a lot of difficulty with the DWP's old ID verification system to get a statement of my estimated pension, because despite having lived in the same place for over twenty five years, and had tax/NI returns sent off with my address on (it was me that did this), they didn't have my current address 
They had a very annoying automated telephone answering system which required you to say what you were inquiring about at each step. I remember I got through this, after more than one attempt, by saying 'details' very loudly to more or less everything. This got me to a human (or what passes for one in the DWP) who gave me the right direct number. When the Pension Forecast arrived they'd managed to get my surname wrong
So you can imagine how delighted I was to read last year that the DWP now use an entirely different ID verification scheme. Just looked online and can't make head nor tail of what the new system entails/requires. Worth finding out now IMO.
They had a very annoying automated telephone answering system which required you to say what you were inquiring about at each step. I remember I got through this, after more than one attempt, by saying 'details' very loudly to more or less everything. This got me to a human (or what passes for one in the DWP) who gave me the right direct number. When the Pension Forecast arrived they'd managed to get my surname wrong
So you can imagine how delighted I was to read last year that the DWP now use an entirely different ID verification scheme. Just looked online and can't make head nor tail of what the new system entails/requires. Worth finding out now IMO.
20Bees
Well-Known Member
I had a letter from the DWP in February inviting me to apply online for my State Pension - I’ll be 66 in five weeks, so the letter came four months before my birthday. Apply on www.gov.uk/get-state-pension and use the unique invitation code that was on the letter. If you can’t do it online you can call 0800 731 7898 to get a claim form posted.
It’s expected to be paid 4-weekly but if you want it paid weekly you can ring them and eventually speak to someone to request that. The payment day is determined by the last bit of your National Insurance number. The first payment will be pro-rata from your 66th birthday up to the first 4-weekly payment. I found this link handy:
www.radiotimesmoney.com
I’m currently working part-time and get Working Tax Credit and Council Tax Support. A letter has arrived today from the council recalculating my payments for this year.
They have been told by the DWP that I have applied for State Pension and they have assumed I’ll get it in addition to my present wages plus WTC, so they’ll have to adjust it again if I retire completely, or cut my shifts down below 16 hours, and lose the WTC. Their calculations are really hard to follow but they’ve always been helpful when I’ve phoned. The arithmetic makes my head hurt.
Counting the weeks then, campanula?
It’s expected to be paid 4-weekly but if you want it paid weekly you can ring them and eventually speak to someone to request that. The payment day is determined by the last bit of your National Insurance number. The first payment will be pro-rata from your 66th birthday up to the first 4-weekly payment. I found this link handy:
State pensions can be paid every seven days, says Paul Lewis
The Government hides this option when people apply, as the application form simply says: “State pension is usually paid every four weeks.”
www.radiotimesmoney.com
I’m currently working part-time and get Working Tax Credit and Council Tax Support. A letter has arrived today from the council recalculating my payments for this year.
They have been told by the DWP that I have applied for State Pension and they have assumed I’ll get it in addition to my present wages plus WTC, so they’ll have to adjust it again if I retire completely, or cut my shifts down below 16 hours, and lose the WTC. Their calculations are really hard to follow but they’ve always been helpful when I’ve phoned. The arithmetic makes my head hurt.
Counting the weeks then, campanula?
I bloody well am, bees. Not till October though...but just in time to avoid freezing this winter.Good to know about weekly payments too. Monthly is all well and good when it is a decent whack but I prefer my impoverished periods to be more frequent but bearable. A day without money is no problem but a week!
20Bees
Well-Known Member
I guess you should expect an invitation by way of a letter sometime in June, if my experience is how it normally works.
After nearly 20 years in a weekly paid job it took me a fair while to adjust to monthly pay - I get paid on the 25th, or earlier if that falls on a weekend or BH Monday, and I don’t have any monthly bills due until the 1st, so it’s easy enough to sort. WTC is weekly on a Wednesday and I’ve been glad of it. State Pension is 4-weekly though, not monthly, so one month a year there would be two payments - this year it would be August. On the 4 week cycle they’d pay me on 5 July for the couple of weeks after my birthday, and then on 2 August and onwards every 4 weeks, so actually from the end of August it would be paid just in time for bills going out on 1 September. It’s barmy, when almost no bills are due at 4 week intervals. I think it can be paid every 13 weeks too, by request, but that wouldn’t suit me at all.
After nearly 20 years in a weekly paid job it took me a fair while to adjust to monthly pay - I get paid on the 25th, or earlier if that falls on a weekend or BH Monday, and I don’t have any monthly bills due until the 1st, so it’s easy enough to sort. WTC is weekly on a Wednesday and I’ve been glad of it. State Pension is 4-weekly though, not monthly, so one month a year there would be two payments - this year it would be August. On the 4 week cycle they’d pay me on 5 July for the couple of weeks after my birthday, and then on 2 August and onwards every 4 weeks, so actually from the end of August it would be paid just in time for bills going out on 1 September. It’s barmy, when almost no bills are due at 4 week intervals. I think it can be paid every 13 weeks too, by request, but that wouldn’t suit me at all.
editor
hiraethified
I've a fair way to go but I took a look anyway and it says that £185/week is the most I can get.This will help you get an idea of what you're entitled to:
Check your State Pension forecast
Find out how much State Pension you could get (your forecast), when you could get it and how you could increase it
Is that any good? I've no idea what to expect. I've certainly earned less in many, many weeks!
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
That’s the max, the new full standard state pension for those born after 1951-1953.
editor
hiraethified
I've got a few gaps where I haven't contributed enough (12 years it seems) so maybe I'll get less? I'll take a proper look tomorrow.
As platinumsage says, that's the max. I was a bit surprised when I did mine a few years ago that years when I was working part time counted.
Does it not say something like you've already accrued x years?
20Bees
Well-Known Member
It is guaranteed to increase every year, so by the time you’re able to claim it that amount will have increased (so might the age at which you become eligible for it). This year’s increase was lower than it could have been as the government decided in 2021 to renege on the ‘triple lock’. This considers three possible rates - inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index; average wage rises; or 2.5%, and applies the highest of those as the annual % increase to the State Pension, but with the expectation that wage increases could soar as furlough schemes ended, this year it has only increased by 3.1%. Inflation is through the roof now ans wages haven’t soared, but the triple lock will be used to work out the increase for 2023.
20Bees
Well-Known Member
You can see your history of National Insurance contributions, you just have to have paid them for a certain number of years and your State Pension forecast is on the assumption that you will continue to pay NI contributions until your retirement age. It doesn’t mean working full time for all those years, NI contributions are credited if you’re claiming JSA, for example, and in some other circumstances:
www.gov.uk
National Insurance credits
Who can get National Insurance credits and how to apply or when to pay voluntary National Insurance contributions.
Sasaferrato
Super Refuser!
Mine just arrived, I didn't have to claim it. Maybe working for HMRC had something to do with that though.
pseudonarcissus
fluttering and dancing
35 is full house in terms of years…so if you started work at 20…12 years not counted…35 years gets you to age 67, so I’m guessing you have the chance be pretty close to the maximum. It is possible to make up contributions for the last (5?) years.
editor
hiraethified
Ah cheers. I was on the dole for years when I was younger and I've been on low income for ages now but it seems it's all added up to enough for when (if!) I hit OAP age!
scifisam
feck! arse! girls! drink!
Being on the dole counts too. If you ever claimed child benefit in your name (for your child, obvs - not nec relevant to you, just saying in general) then that also counts.
WouldBe
Dislicksick
I can't check my entitlement on that as I can't get a government gateway ID.This will help you get an idea of what you're entitled to:
Check your State Pension forecast
Find out how much State Pension you could get (your forecast), when you could get it and how you could increase it
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
former colleague retired just after the england wide concessionary pass came in (and after he had sorted out the complicated sums for reimbursing bus operators in our patch of local authority for it)
he celebrated both by travelling as close as possible round the efge of england with his new pass. think it took two and a bit weeks
Elpenor
Dancing as fast as I can
I’m a spring chicken but for some reason my counted year for state pension include 16-18 when I was doing A levels at school.
Remember that it's possible to buy a full qualifying year of state pension if you aren’t going to be at 35 years for "just" £824ish of voluntary Class 3 NI contributions (for up to the previous 3 years if not earned).
Remember that it's possible to buy a full qualifying year of state pension if you aren’t going to be at 35 years for "just" £824ish of voluntary Class 3 NI contributions (for up to the previous 3 years if not earned).
Lurdan
old wave
£185.15 is the maximum standard state pension this year.
However unless you contracted out of them, prior to 2016 there were secondary state pension schemes (called 'State Earnings Related Pension' SERPS between 1978 and 2002, and "State Second Pension" S2P between 2002 and 2016). These paid out an additional amount on top of the basic state pension. The amount paid depended on the level of your National Insurance contributions although this was changed a bit under S2P.
The schemes ended in 2016 so you can no longer contribute to them. But for people who reach state pension age after 2016 any entitlement they had built up under these schemes will still be paid in the form of a 'protected payment'. My current pension is the £185.15 plus a 'protected payment' of £54.87 totalling £240 odd a week.
(Pensions for people who reached pension age before 2016 are still calculated in the way that applied up till then).
The Which page about this is as clear as anything I've seen. The calculations are very complicated so good luck trying to check what they come up with.
Although these schemes ended you will have observed that National Insurance contributions haven't been reduced. Over time by definition the entitlement people can have built up and thus the amounts of any 'protected payment' will reduce to nothing. Younger people will be getting significantly less bang for their bucks.
However unless you contracted out of them, prior to 2016 there were secondary state pension schemes (called 'State Earnings Related Pension' SERPS between 1978 and 2002, and "State Second Pension" S2P between 2002 and 2016). These paid out an additional amount on top of the basic state pension. The amount paid depended on the level of your National Insurance contributions although this was changed a bit under S2P.
The schemes ended in 2016 so you can no longer contribute to them. But for people who reach state pension age after 2016 any entitlement they had built up under these schemes will still be paid in the form of a 'protected payment'. My current pension is the £185.15 plus a 'protected payment' of £54.87 totalling £240 odd a week.
(Pensions for people who reached pension age before 2016 are still calculated in the way that applied up till then).
The Which page about this is as clear as anything I've seen. The calculations are very complicated so good luck trying to check what they come up with.
Although these schemes ended you will have observed that National Insurance contributions haven't been reduced. Over time by definition the entitlement people can have built up and thus the amounts of any 'protected payment' will reduce to nothing. Younger people will be getting significantly less bang for their bucks.
Last edited:
If you scroll down a bit on that page, it gives other ways of doing it without needing a government gateway ID, assuming you're more than 30 days away from state retirement age.I can't check my entitlement on that as I can't get a government gateway ID.
scifisam
feck! arse! girls! drink!
NI starts at age 16 and ends at state pension age. I paid NI from 16-18 because it kicks in at a very low wage, and I expect lot of us older people paid it without even realising it, so that adds an extra two years.
Elpenor
Dancing as fast as I can
I know it does
- I certainly wasn’t earning above the Lower Earnings Limit then with my Saturday job in a garden centre. What I was referring to - for my situation at least - is outlined here
Why did I get a state pension credit in school, but none while in uni?
The four years when I was in full time education from 1976 to 1980 have not been counted and it is too late to buy these back. The year prior to that when I was in the sixth form has actually been counted.
www.thisismoney.co.uk
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