[QUOTE=marton;2227887] That's what I thought. They coordinate the application but you get the pensions individually. I don't think they give you a combined total as that's not their remit.

It can't be that hard to work out anyway I would have thought as long as you can do basic addition.

I know the UK is every 28 days but it was easier to just use a fixed date in my example.

Off topic question for mods. Why are all the quotes screwed up in this thread? It seems to be happening in every post and I can't believe that we're all getting it wrong.

Pixie B - you can send off for a statement (as described in one of my posts above), then decide if you want to pay class 3 contributions (all that is available to you if you are not working in Switzerland, class 2 if you are working) based on whether you want to reach the minimum number of years for a full UK state pension. This would entitle you to approx 500 gbp a month.

The UK pension will shortly be 150 GBP a week.

But only for "new" pensioners; existing ones do not get a pay rise.

Just heard that from April 2016, the minimum contributing years for the UK state pension will go up to 10 - details here:

https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/overview

But see also here - working time in Switzerland may be counted towards that. Note: these years count towards the minimum 10 to qualify - but your UK contributions are used to determine how much you will get - see the example in the link

Should be pointed out though that it does say you can claim both state pensions so Where you pay both, i.e. Swiss mandatory and the optional uk class 3 at the same time your still going to be able to get both pensions on retirement.

This is very good to know - worth noting though it will only apply to those who are working here, so not the spouses.

So, in summary, I only need to pay 10 years' NI instead of 30 now, to get the full UK pension?

Sadly not. You get nothing if you pay less than 10 years, and you need 35 qualifying years to get the full state pension.

For anything between 10 and 35 years, you get a percentage of the full pension. If you have less than 10 years because you have worked abroad, your years abroad can bring you up to the minimum of 10 years, but you will still only get a percentage based on your UK years. The link posted by @jaudi explains this in more detail.

"The amount you get can be higher or lower depending on your National Insurance record."

So no, 10 years is not enough.

I don't think that is correct. The amount of pension you will recieve is based on the years of UK contributions.

Example
You have 7 qualifying years from the UK on your National Insurance record when you reach State Pension age.
You worked in an EEA country for 16 years and paid contributions to that country’s state pension.
You will meet the minimum qualifying years to get the new State Pension because of the time you worked overseas. Your new State Pension amount will only be based on the 7 years of National Insurance contributions you made in the UK.

30 years surely not 35?

Its about to change to 35 years..........Was 40, dropped to 30, going to 35.

basturds
I've got 33 in the bag

Intervals can mean that you will not have enough years of national insurance contributions (sometimes called 'qualifying year') to get a full state pension. If you are eligible, you may be able to pay voluntary contributions to fill any difference.
https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-nationa...-contributions
https://www.dnsassociates.co.uk/nati...s-and-overview

Updating the thread with recent links:

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

Also, an interesting article from moneysavingexpert:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/sa...contributions/

for anyone aged 45 - 75.

As noted earlier, don't forget about the interaction with the Swiss system.

While we're updating. Made payments for my wife and mine pensions - we both have 14 years of gap. Called to allocate to the missing years, and discovered they've no record of the payment for my gaps. But for my wife - using the same details with different reference number - no problem.

Now waiting for them to find my contribution!

My daughter made a voluntary contribution in December for 2 missing years - on checking it the contributions were debited from her bank account but not showing on her NI record. On checking this week they were still absent so on contacting them and quoting the long number they were found and immediately credited - asking why it had taken 8 months they had no answer...

Always so important to check that they have been credited

I'll have to add this to the long list of things to do. Probably at the bottom. My NI contributions should be over 10 years, I think, but I won't make 30+ in the UK. I've no intention of going back.

If my working years abroad can be used in a sense though, that would be good. I'd even be happy with just getting a %age of what I paid in, as every little helps and I am "entitled".