Every Tuesday, we get an expert to answer your financial problems or consumer disputes – you can WhatsApp us here or email [email protected]. Today’s is…
My husband was born on 28 June 1959 and began working in September 1975. We were married on 1 September 1979, and I was born on 28 February 1959. As our family grew, we decided that I would stay at home to raise our three children, as my husband was the primary earner.
Sadly, my husband was made redundant in June 2020 and passed away on 15 February 2023, before reaching his state pension age. Throughout his working life, he paid national insurance contributions for approximately 45 years.
I began receiving my state pension in February this year, but I was surprised to find that I am not receiving the full amount. I have been advised that I am not entitled to inherit any portion of my late husband’s pension or contributions, which I find difficult to understand.
Could you advise whether any part of my husband’s NI contributions – particularly any protected payments or entitlements – could be applied to increase my pension?
Yvonne Smith
Money live reporter Jess Sharp tackles this one…
Thanks for your email, Yvonne, and I am very sorry for your loss. Dealing with pensions can be an overwhelming task, especially when you’re not in a “typical” circumstance.
When the new state pension was introduced, the system was overhauled with the aim of getting people to build up their own pension benefit, based on the national insurance contributions they had made.
Get latest tips and deals in the Money blog
Anyone reaching state pension age on or after 6 April 2016 receives this version of the state pension.
Due to the changes, there’s now little wiggle room for people to inherit state pension contributions.
But I spoke to Charlene Young, senior pensions and saving expert at AJ Bell, who pointed out that because you were married before 6 April 2016, you can inherit up to 50% of any protected payment your husband was set to receive.
What is a protected payment?
There are rules to make sure people who built up most of their NI record before the changes get no less under the new regime than they would have under the old rules, Young explained.
“Put simply, the DWP will take the highest pension amount under the old versus the new system. Any extra amount someone is entitled above the new full, flat rate of £230.25 is called a protected amount,” she said.
Read more Money Problems:
I’m in a row with TK Maxx about a delivery – who is right?
My neighbour won’t pay back £1,000 I lent
Airport parking mistake cost me £885
My £1,200 Samsung TV broke in two years
Our assets are worth £1m – how much inheritance tax will we owe?
Young gave this example:
If your husband would have received a state pension of £12 above the standard, full flat rates, you could inherit 50% of this, equivalent to £6 a week, on top of your own state pension.
If your husband was ever “contracted out” in his working life, then it’s unlikely he would have built up a protected payment, and this would mean there is nothing to inherit from his state pension record.
But he might have had additional pension benefits (outside the state pension) thanks to contracting out. You should have been able to inherit any unused pension pot, or receive a spouse’s pension, depending on the type of workplace scheme he was in.
Check your credit record
You stopped working when you started your family, and Young noted that if you were claiming child benefit during that time, you would have still been able to build up your own state pension record.
This is thanks to Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP), the forerunner to the national insurance credit system.
“The DWP has made many errors when it comes to underpaying state pensions to women, including errors with HRP. This is because people claiming child benefit before 2000 didn’t have to include their NI number when applying for it, meaning records were not always full,” Young said.
She urged you to double-check your NI record for gaps between 1978 and 2010, particularly in those years you stayed at home to raise your children.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The quickest way is to do this online. If you have missing HRP, you could be entitled to a cash payment to correct things.
“The second step is then to press the DWP on whether your husband would have expected a protected payment had he reached state pension age, as you would be eligible to inherit 50% of that on top of your state pension,” she said.
This feature is not intended as financial advice – the aim is to give an overview of the things you should think about. Submit your dilemma or consumer dispute via:
