Have I got a Pension?

[NovemberR]

Sorry for odd wording - but I worked for the NHS between 1987 and 1990 and I'm fairly sure I paid into an NHS pension, because it was just taken out automatically.

I've never had any paperwork on this - and I don't live in the same place. How would I go about tracking this down? Presumably it's just linked to my NI number - does anyone know?

And do I then take it out and put it somewhere else? I can't imagine it's worth anything, but if I paid something then I'd like it back.

Can anyone help?

I would expect it is linked to your NI number.
I would contact NHSBA and inform them of your current contact details and ask which scheme you were enrolled in and it's current value and expected payout on retirement.

www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/change-your-personal-details

Thank you very much! I expect it's tuppence ha'penny...but it's my tuppence ha'penny and I'll need every penny if I'm to ever retire 😊

I think you’ll be very pleasantly surprised at just how much 3 years of pre-1995 rules NHS pension is. I’m not saying you’ll be a millionaire, but compared to what you would have put in to get this guaranteed, annually increasing lifetime payout, you’ll be amazed.

Oh! Is it worth leaving it in there, do you think? I was vaguely assuming I'd probably got something like £1,000, maybe and wondering if I could cash it in.

I was thinking I maybe paid something like £30 a month for 3 years, but I've honestly got no real idea. I know I was on £6,000 per annum when I left!

Unlikely to qualify for a refund but you could read this document if you think you might qualify: www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/2017-03/Members%20Refunds%20Factsheet%20V5%2002.2017.pdf

My guess is you cannot cash it in so just leave it. As Cocomarine writes, you may be surprised at how much pension it provides when you reach retirement age.

Probably be about £50- 75 a month and a few thousand lump sum.

Thanks very much, everyone. I'm feeling quite cheery! I'll try and check it out next week.

Brief update!

I checked out the link @nannynick kindly gave, phoned up and spoke to a nice lady who clicked about on a computer and told me that yes, they had details on me and it certainly looked like I might have a pension with them. She's sent me an email, and told me I need to wait 10 days for it to get set up (?) but that I should then be able to log in and see what my pension statement is.

That's great.

That's great news. 10 days to give online access, wonder if they have to enter details to the computer via punched cards! Ah well at least the process is underway and you should soon have online access.

I'll come back to you folks and let you know if I get some happy news!

Check out pensionwise before you make any decisions.

It might not be much but if that's a DB pension it will be guaranteed income for life.

OP if its NHS that long ago it’s probably DB so definitely don’t cash it in / transfer it!