martin ohanlon
Registered User
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- 5
I am presently (past 15 years) on an A stamp. Before that i was on a D stamp for 20 years. It was continuous service. I'm 59 now, My employer said I must apply for Job seeker's allowance.
This seems incredible...respectable working people being forced to apply for the dole because of archaic pension payment methodology. Why doesn't the State just pay them their pension?!
While I am 15+ years off retirement these lingering issues are something I detest and want to see changed.
My sympathies to you allencat. It's bad enough to be retiring on grounds of ill health but to find that your employer is not willing to pay supplementary pension beggars belief! It's truly a scandal - so much for the promise that, upon retirement, class A contributors will be no worse off than their class D counterparts. How is a person even supposed to be able to survive on such a miniscule pension? I'll be very interested to hear how you get on in the meantime with this issue, as I'll be in a similar boat a good few years from now when I hit 60. It almost appears as though some PS employers are willing to stump up the supplementary pension with no issues while others are almost pretending that no such thing actually exists!! The very best of luck to you in the meantime allencat and I hope it gets resolved for you asap.FYI - in 2 weeks time, I'll be retiring on ill-health grounds, 18 months before the actual retirement age (65). My service is calculated 13 years 8 months, and as I'm post-1995 and Class A, the pension is 2,850 pa and lump sum 18K. The issue of supplementary pension had been raised many times and each time it had been avoided by the HR and Peoplepoint. So ..... after badgering the Employee Assistance Service, Citizens Information (two locations), etc. plus information from this invaluable discussion board - "Ask About Money", I'll be heading on my first day of retirement for the local Intreo Office and see what happens. I'm perfectly aware that it's important to sign on for credits if I need to be eligible for SCP when I reach the age of 66.
FYI - in 2 weeks time, I'll be retiring on ill-health grounds, 18 months before the actual retirement age (65). My service is calculated 13 years 8 months, and as I'm post-1995 and Class A, the pension is 2,850 pa and lump sum 18K. The issue of supplementary pension had been raised many times and each time it had been avoided by the HR and Peoplepoint. So ..... after badgering the Employee Assistance Service, Citizens Information (two locations), etc. plus information from this invaluable discussion board - "Ask About Money", I'll be heading on my first day of retirement for the local Intreo Office and see what happens. I'm perfectly aware that it's important to sign on for credits if I need to be eligible for SCP when I reach the age of 66.
It almost appears as though some PS employers are willing to stump up the supplementary pension with no issues while others are almost pretending that no such thing actually exists!!
In this particular situation it seems it is not so much that the employer was not willing to pay the Supplementary as it was that they were not able to inform Allencat that, as he was retiring on ill-health grounds, he needed to apply for the appropriate Social Welfare payment. As this was going to cost the employer nothing, I would be inclined to attribute it to ignorance rather than meanness/frugality. In fairness, I suppose, some smaller employers may have built up little experience of Class A retirees in these circumstances. Not good though.
Japester Said :
so much for the promise that, upon retirement, class A contributors will be no worse off than their class D counterparts.
But how does Allencats Occupational Pension (small as it is) when combined with his projected Social Welfare Payment, compare to what a corresponding Class D person would have received in these circumstances ? Class D does not count towards Illness benefit or Invalidity Pension as far as I am aware.
Hi Japester - I go along with your figures above. In the scenario you present the Class A person is significantly worse off before age 60. And I am afraid that there is no good news on this one, ie. the Supplementary is not available before age 60. Early retirement would not be a realistic option without an additional source of income.(In the case of ill-health retirement different calculations would apply). The Class A retiree in your scenario would be in a position to apply for Jobseeker's Benefit at 50 but this would be exhausted after 9 months. They might be able,depending on circumstances, to continue to sign for credits afterwards though, to preserve full entitlement to COAP/State Pension.
Just for the sake of further comparison I had a look at what the total payments would amount to in your two hypothetical scenarios over a longer period of time (up to age 75 - much less than average life expectancy) :
Class A
To age 60 : 3744 *10 = 37440 + 7332 = 44772 (this includes Jobseeker's)
Age 60 - 67 : (3744+9000)*7 = 89208 (Assuming 67 remains COAP age)
Age 67 -75 : (3744+ 12131)* 8= 127000
TOTAL to Age 75 for A = 260980
Class D
Age 50 - 75 : 9360 * 25 = 234000
So it would seem that the Class A person would do considerably worse up to age 60 but would then gradually catch up with, and then pass out, the Class D. If they both survived a further 10 years (age 85) the difference would be considerably greater.
In the shorter term though it is tougher on A Class person in these circumstances hoping to retire on a pension alone at 50.
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