"Lost" NHS pension

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I worked from 1979 to 1986 and paid into the nhs superannuation. I did not withdraw this money but now that I am 60 (this is the age I can draw my very small pension) the NHS pensions cannot find it and I presume I cannot be paid. I have given all the details I have including NI number to the pensions department but I have not retained any payslips.
Has anyone experienced this unfairness?

This might help:

www.google.com/amp/s/www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-7563643/amp/I-nurse-NHS-pension-records.html

If your tax office can prove you were contracted out back then, that should help your case. Best of luck, NHS Pensions are the most inept organisation I've ever come into contactact with.

*contact

A few colleagues have had issues when they worked for an NHS Trust that subsequently closed, but I think it got sorted in the end. Nightmare!

that's really odd. I had this exact same problem late last year and they convinced me that i'd not had a pension with them!

Having read this i'm now not so sure

Yes. I am in a similar situation, same time period. It seems that any records pre- computerisation have disappeared.
I need to try again to look into it. (I was diagnosed with a serious illness just before I retired, then my son died just after I retired. I am only just starting to get my head round it all).
I was buying back some additional years from around 2002, but I can't establish whether those payments have been accounted for. It is all a bit shambolic. My union membership finished when I retired. I was with the RCN and my local rep was as much use as a chocolate tea pot.

If your tax office can prove you were contracted out back then, that should help your case. Best of luck, NHS Pensions are the most inept organisation I've ever come into contactact with.

And HMRC are also pretty inept, especially when looking back a few decades as their paper records will be long gone and their computer systems don't talk to eachother. So could be quite a battle. I think you'll need "something" to prove your employment and NI/Pension payments. You may not have payslips, but don't you have you end of year P60 certificates? Always wise to keep P60s for ever.

Thanks, I thought I wouldn't be alone. Sorry to hear about the RCN. That was one of my bits of hope, that they would help me.

Think I’m about to experience this and not looking forward to the fight! I was in in the pension from 1988 - 2013. I’m coming up to the age of being able to draw it but no idea if I can track it down.

Missy, I think you will be fine, the problem is the historic nature of mine.

I might well be in the same position, OP. I only worked in the NHS for two years from 1986 to 1988 but I'm sure I paid into their scheme. I don't have any paper records, and haven't lived in the UK for 20 years, though I still have an NI number. I'm in my mid-50s. I should really start looking into this.

OP, I hope you manage to sort this out.

Thanks, Drama.

My advice would be to keep battling and don't give up. The records of being contracted out should still be in existence as contracting out impacts the amount of state pension you'd be eligible for.

I had a huge battle with NHS pensions and eventually won, don't give up yet!

Mine isn't NHS, but a teaching pension. I'm extremely lucky that I can log in to the teacher pension site and see all my employment history.
But then I've noticed the odd day here and there, and an entire 6 months that I KNOW I was working for but have down as either days 'out' or non pensionably service. I've emailed my staffing dept at County level but have had no reply yet.
It must be so much more difficult with changing trusts and records that can't be found.

Thanks to you as well, OP, for reminding me I need to check this out.

do you not get an annual statement from them? All the pensions I've got going back to 1980's send me a forecast every year. If you have never had anything it may be very hard to prove you've paid anything.

Have had a thought - if you apply for a copy of your NI statement or your state pension statement (sorry I can't remember which I got and we're away so can't check), the record shows if you were contracted out and the relevant years, which would help you.

No, I do not get an annual statement and never have. Neither has my husband who had to search for his old NHS pension but who found his eventually.

Thanks, Geoffrey. I will do that.

They won't provide an annual statement. I have asked several times.

Even my dh who is still in the NHS pension has to fight to get a statement!

My friend's husband died from cancer just before he retired from the nhs. It took 4 years before they would pay her any of his pension.
He diagnosed himself and tried very hard to get everything sorted in the 6 months he lived.

Sounds like something the press might be interested in. Contact guardian money? They seem good at giving people a kick up the arse

Thanks, greathat. Will do.

My friend's husband died from cancer just before he retired from the nhs. It took 4 years before they would pay her any of his pension.

That is appalling. Surely they should pay out as soon as the necessary documents have been provided?

I paid in for 1 year as a trainee 15+ years ago and then rejoined 2 years ago. I was advised it was all linked to your NI number, but now starting to worry...