State pension alert as Britons may get ‘less than full amount’ due to pre-2016 rules | Personal Finance | Finance
State pension payments hinge on National Insurance contributions a person usually makes throughout their working lifetime. Britons are usually told they will need to have 10 qualifying years on their National Insurance record to get any new state pension sum at all. However, there are specific rules for the full state pension sum to bear in mind.
The Government website states: “You’ll need 35 qualifying years to get the new full state pension if you do not have a National Insurance record before April 6, 2016.”
In this sense, the rules concerning the state pension for those who were in work before 2016 are important.
This is even more so, given the fact the Government states certain individuals may get “less than the new full state pension”.
A person’s National Insurance record before April 6, 2016 is used to calculate their “starting amount” – part of their state pension.
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But if the line has the letter A, then a person was not contracted out.
Those who believe they might have been affected can also check with their pension provider.
The Government states people are more likely to have been contracted out if they worked in the public sector, for example:
- The NHS
- Fire services
- Teaching
- Police forces
- The armed forces
- Local councils
- The civil service.
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