State Pension higher than I thought

[VanessaShanessaJenkins99]

I am hoping someone can shed some light on my dads state pension situation- he is 66 in January and will be retiring - i helped him apply for his state pension online and he has received a letter telling him what he will be getting - at the end of January it will £936 and then every 4 weeks it will be £974 - it doesn't say anything else on the letter other than that - we thought the state pension was 221 per week paid every 4 weeks? I dont want him to be receiving this amount and then it turns out its wrong and him have a massive bill to repay 🤔

Sounds right to me. If he goes onto the yougov site it will clarify what he will receive

Ill have to do that- my mum and father in law both get 880 every 4 weeks but my dad is nearly a hundred pound a month more ?

My understanding is that there are two rates of state pension. The higher rate is paid to those who receive it later than 60/65 as they would ll have it for fewer years.

My mum only retired in may this year and father in law literally 2 weeks ago and theirs is 880 per 4 weeks

Is he retiring later than his pension age? This might explain it if so

Could it partly be a tax refund?

My mum gets a higher rate think it was to do with an earnings related part that is now defunct

£221 is the usual max but there could be SERPS or many other factors affecting the amount.

Everyone has a personalised amount of SP based on their own contribution record. Log on to gov.uk to find out your own information Never rely on what anyone else has!

It's my understanding that the 221 is the Basic State Pension but that some people may be entitled to more if they were not contracted out of SERPS. Perhaps that applies to your dad.

GreyAreas · Today 13:35

My mum gets a higher rate think it was to do with an earnings related part that is now defunct

This.

Definitely check the gov.uk site and read carefully the section on his pension and on his NI record.

It will, as others have said, be because he paid into a secondary state pension scheme at some point.

@VanessaShanessaJenkins99 I get full pension at 884. no idea why he is getting more!

Thanks everyone- it seems it isnt a one size fits all like i thought - i will have a look at the government website and see if i can see whats gone on :)

Loads of reasons….my mum gets £1100 every 4 weeks….she gets some of my dads contributions

Not true, if you've been contracted out they reduce the 221. Just paid over £5k to have ours uplifted as we're both contracted out (had no bloody choice!)

Does the award letter provide a breakdown of how the weekly amount is made up.

I think that if you were paying into SERPS and its predecessor/successor schemes you can get more than the standard £221.20. There will be provisions to ensure that you are no worse off in the new post 2016 scheme than you would have been under the pre 2016 one.

Im trying to set up a government gateway to see what that says :)

He should be doing that, not you. Everyone can go on the govt website to check their entitlement - you need to enter your details including NI number. But surely there's no reason for you to be doing that on his behalf.

https://www.gov.uk/additional-state-pension

There are huge variations in what amounts people get. I came across one man a few weeks ago who was getting £350 a week state pension which included lots of SERPS additions. I thin serps can still be added to new state pension too which would explain why your dad's is higher.

@FictionalCharacter not everyone is computer literate and I'm sure he's grateful for the support.

Why does it matter that he's being helped?

Serps and SP2 were phased out in 2016. Everyone should now get the same top rate, unless you contracted out, then you will get less not more.

Depends on how many years contributions have been made and your age.

Trust me he wouldnt even know how to turn a computer on - 🙈 - im sure we will get to the bottom of it :)