Well here I am a couple of months away from pension age and expecting to just start collecting it ..........

Wrong

Dear sir it has come to our attention that you will soon become of pensionable age

To claim your pension

You will need to provide us with the following information

Your current address (they sent it to there)

Your last 2 addresses,

All sorts of information about my wife ( not seen or heard from her for 16 years)

There followed a huge list of other crap I need to look up to fill in the form (on line)

"sir are you registered with the government gateway?" if not you will need to register.

I paid into the damn thing for 43 years (current requirement is only 35)

Now I have to CLAIM it

Wonder if there is a section on favored toilet paper colour if so I will answer "pink" to match the bog wall paint.
[\Rant over]

I'm with you Hob, turned 65 in July and still not dug out all the cr*p they want. I haven't seem my marriage certificate since we bought this house 25 years ago.

And if you want a peaceful life, do not mention retirement age to the ladies, Lulu goes up in smoke at the very mention of what they have done to her and many others.

I think its just designed to be a huge disincentive to claim.

Charlie

And don't forget to fill in the form and make a claim for the Winter Fuel Payment which doesn't get paid automatically. https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment

Quote: Deeps wrote in post #3

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And don't forget to fill in the form and make a claim for the Winter Fuel Payment which doesn't get paid automatically. https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment

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I can't get a bus pass until I'm 63.5 us youngsters the youth of today etc etc


Mind you my pension will be £149.44 a week, that on top of my military pension and 2 others means I'll be taxed heavily

My pension age keeps going up, it is 67 at the moment, and because I have a private pension it is very common for the employer to opt out of SERPS so I will not get a full state pension either..

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30777166

Me too, I've been living on my private pension and my savings for the last 6 1\2 years.

Lucky you,ain't got one

Well, my pension arrived late as I was born the wrong end of the month, I was then informed that it was a benefit and not an entitlement!!! despite paying for 45 years, also lost our winter allowance as we live in France but it still gets bl**dy cold

I fully retired at 55 no part time or volunteering! Best thing I've ever done, I'm not well off, but we live comfortably, have savings and latterly an inheritance, no mortgage, I have always bought and paid cash for everything we have, no hp here (mortgage only, and finished that off in 14 years) everything else, cars etc, bought and paid for. If we xan't afford it we don't have it, we save up. I only have 2 direct debits. I'm not lucky I just take care of what we have. You don't need a lot of money when your retired you just have to use what you have wisely

I qualify for my bus pass on the 08/11/2016 but you can apply 28 days before! So today I took the necessary paperwork (proof of id, address etc) to the main library in Gloucester, all done in less than 5 minutes and it should arrive in about 10 days.

The helpful lady also told me aboutbthe "old age pension application" her words "you can fill,out a ream of paperwork OR phone them and answer a few questions" in her instance dob, nhs number, previous address she was then told how much they were going to pay her, that was last week. That's what I'll be doing when I'm OLD!!!😲😨

If in doubt COMPLAIN!!!!!!!!!!! I did and got the following letter,,,,,,

With reference to our telephone conversation yesterday.
Let me begin by assuring you that the Pension Service is committed to providing a high level of service to all customers and we take complaints seriously. It is clear that you have not received the standard of service you have a right to expect and I would like to offer my sincere apologies for the distress and inconvenience caused by this.
As I explained to you yesterday, special payments are generally not large sums of money, they are awarded to recognise, acknowledge and apologise for the effect on our customer of what we have done wrong rather than compensate. I can tell you that I have considered all the relevant information in your case and I have awarded a consolatory payment of £60.00. This payment should be credited within the next 2-3 weeks.
If you are dissatisfied with the way your complaint has been dealt with and you want to take the matter further, you can escalate your case to the Chief Operating Officer. You should do this within six months of the date of this e mail. If you would like to do this, please contact me and I will ensure your case is passed on to his team to look at.

My bus pass arrived today! First class speedy efficeint service, no need to say anymore, except I am now officially an old person

Quote: Bryn wrote in post #9

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...... lost our winter allowance as we live in France....

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