Opted out of SERPS?
Discussion
Just looked at my Pension forecast for as by this April I will have paid my full stamp.
Seems my weekly pay will be £17 down due to me opting out at some point.
Called a COPE payment.
Now I have to presume that I was young and dumb when this happened and it would be only 3 places that I worked full-time, for a short time nearly 40 years ago.
Non of those companies are still trading and I've tried the government pension finder site and have called up the providers mentioned with no luck.
Ok it's only £17 but when I'm trying to live on £200 a week, it'll be needed, plus if I live another 30 years, that's not to be sniffed at.
I'm thinking that there must be many in the same boat especially as two of the providers I spoke to say that they deal with many callers with the same problem.
The next 0800 Endowment Claims maybe?
I guess I'm wrong to expect this payment to happen automatically? After all, I have moved umpteen times since the 80s/90s.
So, anyone in the same boat? any suggestions?
Many thanks for any help.
Seems my weekly pay will be £17 down due to me opting out at some point.
Called a COPE payment.
Now I have to presume that I was young and dumb when this happened and it would be only 3 places that I worked full-time, for a short time nearly 40 years ago.
Non of those companies are still trading and I've tried the government pension finder site and have called up the providers mentioned with no luck.
Ok it's only £17 but when I'm trying to live on £200 a week, it'll be needed, plus if I live another 30 years, that's not to be sniffed at.
I'm thinking that there must be many in the same boat especially as two of the providers I spoke to say that they deal with many callers with the same problem.
The next 0800 Endowment Claims maybe?
I guess I'm wrong to expect this payment to happen automatically? After all, I have moved umpteen times since the 80s/90s.
So, anyone in the same boat? any suggestions?
Many thanks for any help.
Worth a read - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-p...
I have a similar COPE showing against my projected pension - this is because I contracted out, I had a payment every tax year going in to a different pension pot (not sure if this is always the case or whether it would have been in your main one) and I had a statement from (HMRC I think) saying how much had been paid in to my contracted out pension pot. I've since been able to merge these pension pots together.
I have a similar COPE showing against my projected pension - this is because I contracted out, I had a payment every tax year going in to a different pension pot (not sure if this is always the case or whether it would have been in your main one) and I had a statement from (HMRC I think) saying how much had been paid in to my contracted out pension pot. I've since been able to merge these pension pots together.
When you were contracted out of serps, you were paying less national insurance, so you've not lost anything.
You need to pay for the missing years ,or parts of them to get the full SP..
I'm 3 years short and retired early two years ago, will decide nearer SP age to see if it's worth buying the 3 years I need , if I'm in good health and looking like I'll last a good while I'll do it, if I'm on an oxygen tank, I won't bother.
You need to pay for the missing years ,or parts of them to get the full SP..
I'm 3 years short and retired early two years ago, will decide nearer SP age to see if it's worth buying the 3 years I need , if I'm in good health and looking like I'll last a good while I'll do it, if I'm on an oxygen tank, I won't bother.
There must be a corresponding pension pot somewhere with your name on it where these employer payments went to get the lower NI. Quick google suggests these are traceable by NI number but I've no direct experience.
I was contracted out briefly also wayyyy back. I ignored the paltry yearly statements and derisory forecasts and never contributed a penny and over the decades it grew somehow to some tens of K which I transferred into a SIPP (which I do now add to).
I was contracted out briefly also wayyyy back. I ignored the paltry yearly statements and derisory forecasts and never contributed a penny and over the decades it grew somehow to some tens of K which I transferred into a SIPP (which I do now add to).
croyde said:
So, anyone in the same boat? any suggestions?
Many thanks for any help.
Yes. You just have to pay the NI shortfall to get a full state pension.Many thanks for any help.
The hard part, as we are all discovering, is in paying it.
In an ideal world the HMRC website would say 'You are £853.86 short' and have a 'Pay now' button next to it. But that would be no fun when you can keep half the population waiting on a phone for six months...
PistonHead007 said:
If you've accrued the full £203.85pw then the COPE is in addition to that and represented somewhere in your private pensions. You're one of the lucky ones.
The younger generations will have no extra COPE, just the maximum flat rate.
No, it says the max I can expect is £185. I need to find whoever owes me the £17 to bring it up to full pension.The younger generations will have no extra COPE, just the maximum flat rate.
I have found one who took the odd payment off my invoices when self employed. Total pot £35 but it's all gone in charges.
Blooming cheek, I could have had a decent Indian or Chinese takeaway.
Ah, thought it was £200. Thanks for putting me straight.
Anyhow after a whole day sitting under my electric blanket and even acting old on the phone
I've tracked down the missing SERPS.
It was being paid into my very small private pension and that bit could be worth £34 a week, so double the government estimate.
Retirement in Barbados here I come
Anyhow after a whole day sitting under my electric blanket and even acting old on the phone
I've tracked down the missing SERPS.
It was being paid into my very small private pension and that bit could be worth £34 a week, so double the government estimate.
Retirement in Barbados here I come
richardxjr said:
There must be a corresponding pension pot somewhere with your name on it where these employer payments went to get the lower NI. Quick google suggests these are traceable by NI number but I've no direct experience.
I was contracted out briefly also wayyyy back. I ignored the paltry yearly statements and derisory forecasts and never contributed a penny and over the decades it grew somehow to some tens of K which I transferred into a SIPP (which I do now add to).
100% this. There's every chance your missing pension will be worth a fair chunk of money. I was contracted out from 1987 to 2012, but I knew the money was diverted into a Norwich Union (latterly Aviva) Pension. I was contracted out briefly also wayyyy back. I ignored the paltry yearly statements and derisory forecasts and never contributed a penny and over the decades it grew somehow to some tens of K which I transferred into a SIPP (which I do now add to).
The downside is that whilst I will still get full state pension when I retire, I miss out on around £36/month COPE that I would have got had I not contracted out.
The upside is that when I retired in 2021 at age 58, one of the reasons I was able to get out early was due to my Aviva contracted out pension that I could add to my other pensions and place in a SIPP. The Aviva pension was worth £120K
TwigtheWonderkid said:
100% this. There's every chance your missing pension will be worth a fair chunk of money. I was contracted out from 1987 to 2012, but I knew the money was diverted into a Norwich Union (latterly Aviva) Pension.
The downside is that whilst I will still get full state pension when I retire, I miss out on around £36/month COPE that I would have got had I not contracted out.
The upside is that when I retired in 2021 at age 58, one of the reasons I was able to get out early was due to my Aviva contracted out pension that I could add to my other pensions and place in a SIPP. The Aviva pension was worth £120K
COPE is the private bit - are you thinking of SERPs?The downside is that whilst I will still get full state pension when I retire, I miss out on around £36/month COPE that I would have got had I not contracted out.
The upside is that when I retired in 2021 at age 58, one of the reasons I was able to get out early was due to my Aviva contracted out pension that I could add to my other pensions and place in a SIPP. The Aviva pension was worth £120K
Not sure about this but I don’t think you’d get it anyway - as I understand it after 2016 you get the new state pension.
As another poster said, old pensions can be a surprise. Not life changing but I just started being paid a pension from my first job that I started 45 yrs ago and did for just 4 yrs. I can’t quite believe that it’s £5K/yr. Its value was even more of a surprise- over £100K towards my LTA.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
100% this. There's every chance your missing pension will be worth a fair chunk of money. I was contracted out from 1987 to 2012, but I knew the money was diverted into a Norwich Union (latterly Aviva) Pension.
The downside is that whilst I will still get full state pension when I retire, I miss out on around £36/month COPE that I would have got had I not contracted out.
The upside is that when I retired in 2021 at age 58, one of the reasons I was able to get out early was due to my Aviva contracted out pension that I could add to my other pensions and place in a SIPP. The Aviva pension was worth £120K
Not quite the same but I opted out when I set a personal pension up in 1995 - which I paid £20 into and then cancelled the DD as the company I worked for went bustThe downside is that whilst I will still get full state pension when I retire, I miss out on around £36/month COPE that I would have got had I not contracted out.
The upside is that when I retired in 2021 at age 58, one of the reasons I was able to get out early was due to my Aviva contracted out pension that I could add to my other pensions and place in a SIPP. The Aviva pension was worth £120K
I combined all of my pensions about 3 years ago, and after doing so got a letter from Aviva about my pension - threw me completely as I had already transferred them all
Turned out it was the personal pension from 1995, which they'd linked to me by my NI number. The gov had been paying into it until 2012 and with growth I had £25k that I had no idea about!
croyde said:
Ah, thought it was £200. Thanks for putting me straight.
Anyhow after a whole day sitting under my electric blanket and even acting old on the phone
I've tracked down the missing SERPS.
It was being paid into my very small private pension and that bit could be worth £34 a week, so double the government estimate.
Retirement in Barbados here I come
Electric blanket ?Anyhow after a whole day sitting under my electric blanket and even acting old on the phone
I've tracked down the missing SERPS.
It was being paid into my very small private pension and that bit could be worth £34 a week, so double the government estimate.
Retirement in Barbados here I come
pure luxury, did you have it plugged in
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