Pensions and DWPD CON

[jimny1]

Has anyone else been conned by the DWPD and HMRC over buying extra years to increase your state pension ?
It happened to me
I was sent a forecast by DWPD saying i could buy back 7 missing years at a cost of more than £4,000
I did this after scraping together the money before the cut off date, which has been miraculously extended now and waited for the increase in my pension
2 months later i got a letter from the UK , it took a month to arrive here , telling me they had made a mistake and i could not claim any missing years , partly due to being contracted out during some years
When i contacted HMRC they said they had allowed the first 4 years but not the last 3 because i was retired during those years , contradicting the pensions letter
When i asked when i would get my money back for those last three years they said it can take up to 30 weeks !!!!!
I told them that was ridiculous, and after being passed from pillar to post one person took all the additional details and said they would TRY to get my money fast tracked back due to it not being my fault, which i dont believe will happen
I found a recent article about this happening to a woman in the UK, and she was basically told the same , and they said it was an ISOLATED mistake
When i checked more websites i found it had happened to many people
They are taking peoples money under false pretences here, keeping it for more than 6 months , gaining the interest that we are losing , it is nothing but a scam and the government are allowing it
I hope someone petitions for a class action against these robbers but i doubt it, these are two departments protected under the robbing governments wing !!!
I have posted this on another forum also as i would be interested to hear if anyone else has had this happen to them TIA

[Carl]

Not heard that one jimny1, and thanks for highlighting it.

I remember reading about this buying the missed years a few months back - possibly a Martin Lewis article. I may be well off on this, but assuming I did not misread what was presented at the time.

What I could not get my head around is that the UK Government stated by buying those years you were guaranteed to receive the minimum state pension at retirement, yet if you had not made sufficient contributions to receive the minimum state pension you would be entitled to pension credits (UK residents) because of the shortfall.

In my mind I had people working out whether it was better to pay for the missed years, or not part with any money and receive the below minimum state pension plus pension credits at retirement.

I may be well off the mark on my understanding, so I apologise in advance if I have got it totally wrong.

[jimny1]

I first saw this on the Martin Lewis money show and later in the news online, it inspired me to go for it
The scheme should be a no brainer Carl, if the DWPD get your forecast right !
After three years you would have paid off the money spent on the missing years and after that the extra pension is profit until you die
I was hoping for the full pension after paying back the missing seven years, they only allowed me four , so i am about £70 per month down on what i expected, and missing a few thousand pounds the HMRC have their hands on now
I have read some people have paid for their missing years and are getting the full pension, but what is worrying is how many are not, it is definitely not just isolated cases as they say in the news

[Vino]

On the other hand, I overpaid my National insurance,
(35 years) to get the full pension.
So I asked for a refund, and got it .

[jimny1]

On the other hand, I overpaid my National insurance,
(35 years) to get the full pension.
So I asked for a refund, and got it .

I paid 42 years but they were saying i was still short of some years as i was 'opted out' for a number of years
I dont trust the DWPD after what happened , for all i know they got my pension wrong,they already gave me a wrong forecast they dont know what they are doing in my opinion , if i was in the UK i would see a lawyer, but here it would cost too much to pursue them

[Vino]

Screenshot_2023-08-12-07-18-12-045_com.android.chrome.jpg (536.3 KiB) Viewed 1633 times

[Lincoln45]

Its not the DWP at fault, its HMRC. The DWP rely on the information supplied by HMRC.
I would suggest that any one who has not retired, signs up to get a pension forecast through the government gateway, and check to see if they have any missing years, or years not fully paid.

I would add that I'm far from a great lover of the DWP, having had so much wrong info from them over the years

[freddo]

On the other hand, I overpaid my National insurance,
(35 years) to get the full pension.
So I asked for a refund, and got it .

I paid 42 years but they were saying i was still short of some years as i was 'opted out' for a number of years
I dont trust the DWPD after what happened , for all i know they got my pension wrong,they already gave me a wrong forecast they dont know what they are doing in my opinion , if i was in the UK i would see a lawyer, but here it would cost too much to pursue them

Why not get Steve Webb to take up your complaint ex pensions Minister allways on msn.co.uk front page

[jimny1]

On the other hand, I overpaid my National insurance,
(35 years) to get the full pension.
So I asked for a refund, and got it .

I paid 42 years but they were saying i was still short of some years as i was 'opted out' for a number of years
I dont trust the DWPD after what happened , for all i know they got my pension wrong,they already gave me a wrong forecast they dont know what they are doing in my opinion , if i was in the UK i would see a lawyer, but here it would cost too much to pursue them

Why not get Steve Webb to take up your complaint ex pensions Minister allways on msn.co.uk front page

Thanks Fred , thats a good idea, i have done nothing wrong and relied on the DWPD to get my forecast correct, now the HMRC are holding money i paid them in good faith and i should be refunded immediately not have to wait up to more than 7 months !!
It absolutely stinks, i escaped the chaos there years ago but i am still being impacted by their overall incompetence , can the UK ever get anything right ???

[Carl]

I first saw this on the Martin Lewis money show and later in the news online, it inspired me to go for it
The scheme should be a no brainer Carl, if the DWPD get your forecast right !
After three years you would have paid off the money spent on the missing years and after that the extra pension is profit until you die
I was hoping for the full pension after paying back the missing seven years, they only allowed me four , so i am about £70 per month down on what i expected, and missing a few thousand pounds the HMRC have their hands on now
I have read some people have paid for their missing years and are getting the full pension, but what is worrying is how many are not, it is definitely not just isolated cases as they say in the news

Thank you for that jimny1. I need to take a better look at it because I have clearly not fully understood the ins and outs of paying for the missed years.