BR1 Pension Form – Fill Out and Use This PDF

About your State Pension

Your State Pension is based on the National Insurance (NI) contributions you have paid, or have been treated as paying, or been credited with, during your working life. There may be different parts in your State Pension, for example basic State Pension and additional State Pension.

We can tell you how much State Pension you will get. Call us on 0800 731 7898.

If you are not entitled to the full rate of basic State Pension you may be able to increase the amount you get by paying voluntary NI contributions for past years.

New rules for paying additional voluntary contributions from 6 April 2009

Customers may be able to improve their basic State Pension by paying up to an additional six years of voluntary National Insurance contributions for tax years from 6 April 1975 if:

-they reach State Pension age between 6 April 2008 and 5 April 2015

-already have 20 qualifying years (including full years of Home Responsibilities Protection).

Customers who reached State Pension age between 6 April 2008 and 5 April 2010 must have at least one paid, or treated as paid, qualifying year.

Payment for the additional years must be made within six years of the date you reach State Pension age. They can be paid in addition to any voluntary National Insurance contributions you may be able to pay under the usual time limits.

Additional voluntary National Insurance contributions cannot be paid for any tax year the whole of which is covered by a married woman’s or widow’s reduced rate election.

If you do not already have the 20 qualifying years needed to pay additional voluntary National Insurance contributions you may be able to get them by paying some voluntary National Insurance contributions under the usual time limits.

If you want to know if you can increase your basic State Pension in this way, get in touch with us. You can ask us about this at any time, even if you do not want to claim your State Pension yet.

To find out more about the rates of basic State Pension

●call us on 0800 731 7898

●visit www.gov.uk/state-pension

●ask for a leaflet about social security benefit rates from Jobcentre Plus.

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Improving your State Pension

If you are married or a civil partner

Sometimes you won’t get State Pension based on your own National Insurance contributions, or your basic State Pension will be less than the full rate. But you may be able to get basic State Pension based on your husband’s, wife’s or civil partner’s National Insurance contributions if you are

●a woman married to a man, and your husband has reached State Pension age, or

●a married man, and your wife

–was born on or after 6 April 1950 and

–has reached State Pension age, or

●a woman married to a woman, a man married to a man or a civil partner, and your husband, wife or civil partner

–was born on or after 6 April 1950 and

–has reached State Pension age.

The earliest a man married to a man or a male civil partner will be able to get a basic State Pension based on his husband’s or civil partner's National Insurance record is

6 April 2015, as this is the date a man born on 6 April 1950 reaches State Pension age.

If you are a married woman and your spouse legally changes gender from male to female during your marriage, you may be able to have your basic State Pension improved by using her contributions even if she was born before 6 April 1950. This is the same treatment as if she had not legally changed her gender.

If you are divorced

You may be able to get an increase of basic State Pension by using your ex-husband or wife's National Insurance contributions.

If your civil partnership has been dissolved

You may be able to improve your basic State Pension by using your ex-civil partner's National Insurance contributions.

If you have been widowed

You may be able to improve your basic State Pension by using your late husband or wife's National Insurance contributions. But you will not be able to improve your basic State Pension by using the National Insurance contributions of your late husband or wife if

●you were under State Pension age when your husband or wife died, and

●you remarry or form a civil partnership before you reach State Pension age.

If you were widowed on or after 9 April 2001 and get a bereavement benefit like Bereavement Allowance or Widowed Parent's Allowance, you will stop getting that benefit when you reach State Pension age. You will then normally be entitled to State Pension instead.

If you were widowed before 9 April 2001 and get a widow's benefit like Widow's Pension or Widowed Mother's Allowance, you can

●claim State Pension from State Pension age, or

●keep getting your Widow's Pension until you are 65, or

●keep getting your Widowed Mother's Allowance for as long as you are entitled to it, or

●give up your widow's benefit to earn extra State Pension.

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Improving your State Pension continued

If you are more than thirty days away from reaching your State Pension age, you can get a State Pension statement to help you decide what to do. It will tell you if you will get more money by claiming State Pension instead of your widow's benefit.

If you are a surviving civil partner

You may be able to improve your basic State Pension by using your late civil partner's National Insurance contributions. But you will not be able to improve your basic State Pension by using the National Insurance contributions of your late civil partner if

●you were under State Pension age when your civil partner died, and

●you form a new civil partnership or marry before you reach State Pension age.

If you are entitled to Widowed Parent’s Allowance or Bereavement Allowance because of the death of your civil partner, you will stop getting those benefits when you reach State Pension age. You will then normally be entitled to State Pension instead.

Getting an estimate of your State Pension

A State Pension statement will tell you how much you may get when you claim your State Pension. Your State Pension Statement will be based on your own National Insurance Contributions.

If you would like a statement call the Future Pension Centre straight away. You will not be able to get a statement once you are within thirty days of you State Pension age.

Call them on 0845 3000 168. Lines are open from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. They are closed on public holidays. You will be charged at a local rate if you call from a BT landline. Charges for calls from mobile phones and cable networks may be different.

If English is not your first language we can provide an interpreter for you. If you have speech or hearing difficulties, you can contact them using a textphone on 0845 300 0169. Or you can use Text Relay by dialling 18001 0845 3000 168.

All the information you give them is confidential. They may record some calls to monitor their standard of service and for training purposes.

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Tracing a lost occupational or personal pension

If you have changed jobs a number of times during your working life, it is easy to lose contact with an old employer and their pension scheme. The Pension Tracing Service may be able to help you if you are not sure of all the details but you

●think you may have an old occupational or personal pension, or

●think you may be a beneficiary of an old pension scheme, or

●you are acting on behalf of someone else.

Tracing all your pension benefits now will help you make decisions in the future about saving for your retirement. And it will help make sure that you get all the pension benefits that you are entitled to when you retire.

You can trace a pension by:

●calling us on 0845 600 2537. We will do the trace over the phone or send you an application form. Opening hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm.

●visiting www.gov.uk/state-pension

●writing to:

The Pension Tracing Service The Pension Service 9

Mail Handling Site A Wolverhampton WV98 1LU.

We need to know at least the name of your previous employer or pension scheme.

If you have speech or hearing difficulties you can contact us using a textphone on 0845 3000 169.

Or you can use Text Relay by dialling 18001 0845 600 2537.

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