Application process for Irish & UK State Pensions

E

euroDilbert

Registered User
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As I will be applying for both, I wondered if there is any difference between applying for both via Sligo or applying separately (and possibly earlier) for the UK one.

I am fairly certain I will be better off by having them treated separately, rather than using my UK credits in Ireland, if that makes any difference.
 
It's not an either or - both countries will work out the best way to use your contributions
 
For PRSI I'm probably in the 20-29 average band. For the UK I have paid extra Class 2 contributions, so may be entitled to an almost full pension.
Even without the extra UK contributions, I'm pretty sure I will be better off treating them separately.

However, I'm wondering is it better to just go ahead via Sligo and apply for both, or apply first to the UK and then Sligo. As I mentioned in a different post, my extra UK contributions haven't been credited yet, and may not be applied by the time I apply for my Irish pension.
I wondered would this complicate things - I can't get an up-to-date UK expected pension statement until they work their way through the system.
 
@euroDilbert
Will you be doing this in the near future? Or is it years away yet?
As someone in a similar situation, (63 this year), please let us know how it goes.
I think it always says to only apply where you're living, and they'll sort out the the rest. If that's the way it works, then that's what I'll have to do, but I'd rather be applying for them separately too!
 

Later this year.

If I had an accurate estimate for the UK pension, which included my voluntary contributions, then it probably wouldn't matter, as all would be clear.
I'm sure I can probably sort out the optimum eventually, just trying to simplify things now.
My current inclination is to apply separately anyway, as it's almost certain that two separate payments will work out better for me.

I know this would be sorted out eventually by the relevant countries - but just trying to clarify/simplify things now. My current experience related to pensions is that everything seems to take a pretty long time to sort out.
 
NoRegretsCoyote said:
Ah okay, I am still decades away.

Maybe I misunderstood "credited" - what I get is a statement of a receipt of payment about six weeks after I make one.
Click to expand...

You're probably making annual payments ?

I made a single payment covering 16 years (15 Class 2 and 1 Class 3). I phoned to confirm in December - but they told me then there was about a 34 week delay in applying/crediting the payments, though they also confirmed it had been successfully received .
There were also time limits listed for the payments - mainly expiring in 2023. So, I suspect the scope for doing this will be greatly limited in the future - I am lucky enough to benefit though (TBC !)
 
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