Further to my query posted on the 6th April (Deceased husband/ surviving wife's pension arrangements), I have now seen the documents that my mother received and I am convinced that there must be some mistake. I wonder if anyone expert in this area could comment?
The Dept for Work & Pensions have provided my mother with the following calculation to illustrate her pension entitlement:
________________________________________________________________________ Basic pension: £84.25
Your own pre-1997 additional pension: £111.44 Inherited pre-1997 additional pension: £72.77 (50% of my deceased father's entitlement) Total additional pension: £184.21 (subject to contracted out deductions)
Maximum additional pension payable by law: £146.12
Your own contracted out deductions: 88.36 Inherited contracted out deductions: 48.78 Total contracted out deductions: 137.14
Total additional pension payable: £146.12 - £137.14 = £8.98
Graduated retirement benefit (1961-1975): £5.98
Total state pension = £84.25 + £8.98 + £5.98 = £99.21 __________________________________________________________________________
The problem with this calculation seems to be that the £146.12 cap on the maximum payable pension is being applied *before* removing contracted out deductions. This makes no sense, since the £146.12 cap relates to the amount payable from government, but contracted out deductions do not related to government managed funds.
To further illustrate how this method of calculating must be a mistake and that the result is unfair, try removing the inherited additional pension (and the corresponding contracted out deductions) from the equation. The result is a total state pension of £113.21.
So, the net result of a scheme that supposedly allows a widow or widower to benefit from their deceased partner's NI contributions in this case actually *reduces* the amount that is being paid. Anyway, I think my mother will take this to tribunal, so any confirmation (ideally, referenced evidence) that the method of calculation used by the Pension Service is incorrect would be much appreciated.
Best regards, Jim.