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Original poster

Help with my mum's pension statement

29 replies

DingyHall2026 · 05/08/2026 18:09

I'm trying to help my mum understand if she is getting the full basic state pension for someone her age.

She was born in Feb 1950 shh is on the old pension.

She was a homemaker for a number of years and also worked for a number of years. I believe she has this all registered so hasn't got outstanding HRP due.

She was home 1978 until 1994

I don't have it at my fingertips but I think she worked 'enough' years after this to qualify fully.

What info do I need to give someone expert to understand if she's being full whack or not, and to further validate if she should be getting full?

I have her 2005 statement and can see
146.45 basic
7.67 pre 97
27.87 post 97
3.03 graduated retirement benefit
Total is 185.02

Help please!!

Many thanks

OP posts:
TeaFizzy · 05/08/2026 18:14

The current basic state pension is £184.90 per week. The other bits should be on top of that - without full details (which probably nobody other than DWP has!) there’s no way of checking if they’re correct or not.

Flowersandfauna · 05/08/2026 18:15

Assume that’s a week!
£740.08 every four weeks is nowhere near a full state pension 😞

TeaFizzy · 05/08/2026 18:17

Flowersandfauna · 05/08/2026 18:15

Assume that’s a week!
£740.08 every four weeks is nowhere near a full state pension 😞

It is a full basic state pension if you’re on the old system!

OP said she had the statement from 2005, so it will be more than she’s quoted here.

Original poster
DingyHall2026 · 05/08/2026 18:18

Gov gateway is tricky as she neither drives nor has a passport

184.90 is the current full, is this excluding the pre and post 97 and graduated bits? So if last year she got 146.45 i need to compare this with last year's equivalent of 184.90?

OP posts:
Original poster
DingyHall2026 · 05/08/2026 18:19

EDIT the numbers I gave are 2025, not 2005!!! So last year

OP posts:
TeaFizzy · 05/08/2026 18:20

If last year she got £146.45 that won’t be a full pension.

Did she ever pay married women’a stamp?

Original poster
DingyHall2026 · 05/08/2026 18:21

My basic thinking is someone will know what full basic for the old system should be currently, and whether that includes pre / post / grad, so whether her total sounds like full or not

If, as she believes, she has worked and homed enough years to be entitled to full then we will need to find a way to seek out proof and send it to DWP. However if she already has full then I won't bother

Some memory loss is setting in so it's hard to chase

OP posts:
TeaFizzy · 05/08/2026 18:23

The pre/post 97 and graduated pension should be on top of the full basic.

Last year’s full basic was £176.45

Witchywoo41 · 05/08/2026 18:26

How do you know she hasn’t got missing HRP? You can ring HMRC and request a statement of her account and ask if HRP is recorded on her account they will be able to help you

Original poster
DingyHall2026 · 05/08/2026 18:26

TeaFizzy · 05/08/2026 18:20

If last year she got £146.45 that won’t be a full pension.

Did she ever pay married women’a stamp?

I don't know but i don't believe so

She had DC1 and DC2 unmarried, then DC3 married. She and her husband were both unemployed for a number of years, but she was home with children for many of these, and then worked from approx 1994 to 2014

She also worked a bit before children, though I'm not sure how many hours / years

Really I want to know if this is way under full and how many years of contributions she'd have needed to pay to get full. Ie if this is worth pursuing.

OP posts:
Original poster
DingyHall2026 · 05/08/2026 18:27

Witchywoo41 · 05/08/2026 18:26

How do you know she hasn’t got missing HRP? You can ring HMRC and request a statement of her account and ask if HRP is recorded on her account they will be able to help you

We wrote to DWP and go a reply stating that HRP for the relevant years (1978-1994) was already on her record

OP posts:
Original poster
DingyHall2026 · 05/08/2026 18:29

TeaFizzy · 05/08/2026 18:23

The pre/post 97 and graduated pension should be on top of the full basic.

Last year’s full basic was £176.45

This is really helpful - if she's £30pw under full then we'd want to know why. Do my estimates of home 1978-1994 and working 1994-2014 sound like they'd be full pension or not to you?

OP posts:
aniloD · 05/08/2026 18:35

If that's all she is getting and has no private pension at all she's probably eligible for pension credit. It's always worth a claim

Original poster
DingyHall2026 · 05/08/2026 18:42

aniloD · 05/08/2026 18:35

If that's all she is getting and has no private pension at all she's probably eligible for pension credit. It's always worth a claim

Thanks for the reply but that's not the case. My question is wholly about whether she is getting the full state pension or not, and whether based on the years home and working she should be getting full.

I think gov says if you have 30 years of contributions then you get full, which I think she easily has, so something seems to be missing.

This makes me conclude that it is worth writing to DWP to ask for the Nat Ins record. Very interested to hear if anyone agrees or disagrees with this.

Also noting she finished working in 2014 when she was aged 64. I'm not sure if she delayed claiming her pension as she was one of the last people who could claim at 60.

If only she had a passport! She's happy to get one, but she has lost her last one which expired a few years ago and I'm not sure how to apply for another with neither old passport to hand nor driving licence. She's making it complex for me!

OP posts:
TeaFizzy · 05/08/2026 18:49

DingyHall2026 · 05/08/2026 18:29

This is really helpful - if she's £30pw under full then we'd want to know why. Do my estimates of home 1978-1994 and working 1994-2014 sound like they'd be full pension or not to you?

Show quote history

Could be a little bit under full depending on the actual dates and exactly which years she got HRP for - also depends on what her record before 1978 was. She should have at least 26 years from those dates.

Definitely worth querying her NI record in case something has been missed.

If she did delay taking her pension she should either have had a lump sum when she started taking it or an increased amount now.

P00hsticks · 05/08/2026 19:25

Also noting she finished working in 2014 when she was aged 64. I'm not sure if she delayed claiming her pension as she was one of the last people who could claim at 60.

Exactly when did she reach State Pension Age ?
Prior to 6th April 2010 I think women needed 39 NI years to qualify for a full state pension (men needed 44). There were changes brought in then that reduced the number of years needed for both men and women to 30 (althouh a few years later it was increased to 35), but the SPA started to increase for women at the same time. .

Paquitavariation · 05/08/2026 19:25

Because she was born before April 1950 she will need more years to qualify for the full amount. Details are here Details When it says before 1950 it means the start of the tax year in 1950. Age UK also have quite a lot of info about pensions on their website.

The basic State Pension

How to claim the basic State Pension and how it's calculated - for men born before 6 April 1951 and women born before 6 April 1953.

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension/how-much-you-get

Jopo12 · 05/08/2026 20:28

There is a Facebook group set up just to help people understand their state pensions. The admins are ex HMRC staff and similar. They excellent and more importantly CORRECT advice.

It's called State Pensions. UK
You will find it if you search FB.

Original poster
DingyHall2026 · 05/08/2026 20:52

All really helpful, many thanks!

She's got it into her head she should get the same as her partner who is 10 years younger than her, it's enough of a battle making her rember she's on the old pension and he's on the new. The number of years worked being 39 is news to me, I'll look into that, thanks.

Sadly she has advised plenty of her friends about the extra voluntary contributions to top the pension up if short on NI, so I'd assumed she'd looked into and if necessary done the same herself, but the key window when she needes to do this was around when she was being widowed and she let this slip, then it was too late. Oh well.

Luckily she does have a couple of small extra bits of pension, plus she lives a fairly cheap life by choice, so she isn't on the breadline.

OP posts:
j741 · 05/08/2026 20:55

Jopo12 · 05/08/2026 20:28

There is a Facebook group set up just to help people understand their state pensions. The admins are ex HMRC staff and similar. They excellent and more importantly CORRECT advice.

It's called State Pensions. UK
You will find it if you search FB.

Agree that this group is excellent. It’s taught me that it’s very rare for someone to be being paid the wrong amount. If you post her most recent annual award letter with her details redacted they will be able to answer your questions.

Kirschcherries · 06/08/2026 22:24

@DingyHall2026 I know this might be a sensitive question but has she ever been married? If so was she widowed?

Under the old pension rules she might be eligible to inherit a deceased spouse’s NI contributions for missing years.

LetsVisit123446 · 08/08/2026 19:40

Has your DM applied for Pension Credit ?

This gives other benefits too

Free TV license
Winter fuel allowance

orangehandles · 08/08/2026 19:44

DingyHall2026 · 05/08/2026 18:21

My basic thinking is someone will know what full basic for the old system should be currently, and whether that includes pre / post / grad, so whether her total sounds like full or not

If, as she believes, she has worked and homed enough years to be entitled to full then we will need to find a way to seek out proof and send it to DWP. However if she already has full then I won't bother

Some memory loss is setting in so it's hard to chase

Perhaps it might be time to start thinking about putting a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, should her faculties decline. It would be much easier to get this sorted out now.

Can't help with the pension entitlement, sorry.

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