I know, but all my years reading this forum I got the impression that they do, as part of the process, as you had worked and have credits in a Bilateral agreement country. The fact that my husband got his decision within 2 weeks with 30 years Irish credits, 4 years work in UK (but has built credit to 23 yrs) means they probably don't.
State Pension approval delay
- Thread starter Starbuck
- Start date
Don't panic, it will be sorted, anything you post to them keep proof of postage. My advice to to phone them up again next week, you should time it to be a good time for day for you and the civil servant, * hopefully you'll get a different one. I find them very helpful if you get talking to the right person. Be clear before you call to have all details to hand and be clear on your questions. Everything will be backdated if any payment is late.
*not Monday morning, not tea break time, not Friday afternoon, never lunch time, and most certainly not end of school days. Thursday is the best day ...........
Robovac rider
Frequent Poster
- Messages
- 356
It's normal to get your pension reward letter a few weeks before your birthday.
Your pension will be calculated using the blend of Yearly Average and Total Contributions calculation method. This is more complicated than the simple total contributions only calculation.
Do you have a copy of your Prsi contributions record?
You should carefully check this to see if any contributions are missing. A few extra contributions can result in a sizeable increase in the YA / TC pension.
Are you receiving Prsi contributions up to your 66th birthday?
If not check this thread
Key Post - PRSI and planning retirement
This Key Post is in the form of a FAQ where I don't know many of the answers. I will update the post as I get answers. 1. PRSI payable on reaching state pension age Answer: 0 (Class M) 1a. Does this relate to the start of the tax year in which you become 66? Or to after your birthday? Answer...
www.askaboutmoney.com
Getting your pension in 2026 might result in a higher calculation. Your December birthday could be a bonus.
But if you are a few contributions short of the next higher averaging band it could be advantageous to defer until 1st January 2027.
More information here
Last edited:
Not a State Pension Approval delay, but another curious delay.
This morning (13 October), Mrs. Alienated received a letter from DSP informing her that she had been awarded a Contributory State Pension.
The letter was dated 18th September. We wonder on whose desk was that letter sitting for the past three weeks, and why!
The calculated pension amount appears wrong, so she will be appealing, which she has 60 days to do, starting from the date on the letter, rather than the date when it was received. This means that if the previous appeal deadline of 21 days was still in force, then that deadline would have expired before she even received the letter.
This morning (13 October), Mrs. Alienated received a letter from DSP informing her that she had been awarded a Contributory State Pension.
The letter was dated 18th September. We wonder on whose desk was that letter sitting for the past three weeks, and why!
The calculated pension amount appears wrong, so she will be appealing, which she has 60 days to do, starting from the date on the letter, rather than the date when it was received. This means that if the previous appeal deadline of 21 days was still in force, then that deadline would have expired before she even received the letter.
@Alienated its frustrating and directs my thoughts towards the poor reviews of that department some have reported on this forum. However, I did apply for my husbands pension through the online portal back in April, he got a calculation in 2 weeks, it was a tad off but he appealed and got a new calculation a few weeks later. His pension arrived in his bank account a few weeks ago. It can work seamlessly.
I am going to sit tight until November, if the dashboard still says " in progress", I will drop them a registered letter.
I am going to sit tight until November, if the dashboard still says " in progress", I will drop them a registered letter.
And another contribution to the proud tradition of top-notch customer service from the guys and gals in the Department of Delayed Replies.
The bottom heading of the letter that I received last week helpfully provided the following contact details:
Lo-Call number (for RoI only), International phone number, and an e-mail address.
So I sent a query to the email address provided, and guess what came back!
Impressive or what?
The bottom heading of the letter that I received last week helpfully provided the following contact details:
Lo-Call number (for RoI only), International phone number, and an e-mail address.
So I sent a query to the email address provided, and guess what came back!
Impressive or what?
The address, according to gov.ie list is
statepensions@welfare.ie
The MBX prefix in the link above suggests that the mail address linked to it is an internal mailbox only and not for external mail.
statepensions@welfare.ie
The MBX prefix in the link above suggests that the mail address linked to it is an internal mailbox only and not for external mail.
Yes; that's where I (re)sent my email to.
My point is that the Department of Social Protection's own headed notepaper - as sent to external customers - includes an email address that doesn't work. And some overpaid DSP jobsworth (or perhaps it was a "Customer Services Project Team") is responsible for putting that dud email address on the said headed paper!
I've received email from DSP/SW using "MBX-" prefixed email addresses. E.g. MBX-CustomerService/CustomerService@welfare.ie.
I sent a test email to state.con@welfare.ie and didn't get any bounce/error.So I sent a query to the email address provided, and guess what came back!
Impressive or what?
That email address is also mentioned in other places, e.g.:
Patience my friend, you probably will!
The version of the Application Form that you linked to is dated March 2024. Perhaps that email address was active then, but was subsequently. made inactive.
When an email address is inactive the bounced error email is generally instantaneous. I still haven't received one.
Edit: still no bounce/error email overnight.
Last edited: