NHS Superannuation

[skylark]

Has anyone has problems contacting the NHS Superannuation department and trying to obtain an estimate so they can retire?

I have tried this week.

I found their website, and they wanted me to verify who I am, through one of two agencies. No problem, the process is similar to renewing a passport, and the Post Office site they link to is helpful.

But after literally spending two days putting this application together, with all the document scanning and work history, they have refused me access to it.

The reason?

In order to apply for your Superannuation you have to have "ten years checkable UK credit history".

I still have 3 UK bank accounts and a mortgage.

That's not enough.

 

So what about people who literally have not had any credit history in the last 10 years? People who have paid off their mortgage, only use a debit card and don't own a car? That would be me, even if I was in the UK, I would still not have that 10  year history.

Does anyone have experience of dealing with this situation?

I cannot contact the Superann except through the verification agency, who will not register me without the credit history.

Help me out here people!!

[skylark, BSN, RN]

The pension forecast is what I'm after, as I don't want to retire just yet.

Its now called an NHS Total Reward Statement.

Please let me know how you get on, it sounds as if your situation is similar, so you  will likely find all the same roadblocks!

[DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN]

Do you have any old letters from them? 

I have checked old communications from them and in the last letter I ever had from them they quote my SD Number, so I should be OK. 

Despite that, rather than going the internet route I am going to write an old fashioned snail mail to the address in Lancashire. Even if they are no longer there I would hope that having been a government department, mail is being forwarded. If I get any sort of response (or not) I will post here. 

If this helps you the address I have is:

NHS Pensions, PO Box 2269, Bolton, Lancashire, BL6 9JS.

Good luck!

 

 

 

 

 

[skylark, BSN, RN]

Result!

After a somewhat detailed email dialogue, they have agreed I am for real, and will email me my pension forecast.

But an FYI for those of us overseas, who can't complete the UK credit check component of the verification process, here is an email that actually works, you get real people and real answers!

[email protected]

 

 

[GrumpyRN, NP]

Well done skylark, if the NHS bureaucracy says you exist then you definitely exist.??

At least now when you do decide to claim your pension you should not have to worry too much.

 

[DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN]

Well done Skylark. We'll all be rich on our Super now (not!)

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

4 hours ago, skylark said:

Result!

After a somewhat detailed email dialogue, they have agreed I am for real, and will email me my pension forecast.

But an FYI for those of us overseas, who can't complete the UK credit check component of the verification process, here is an email that actually works, you get real people and real answers!

[email protected]

 

 

I can give them my work history and national insurance number. Do I need anything else like NMC PIN number?

[skylark, BSN, RN]

You know, they never asked for either my NI or my NMC pin.

And I would not have been comfortable sharing them in an email.

 

Once I made contact with their customer services REAL people through the email address above, they just asked me for my NHS work history and addresses. 

 

Be sure to keep that email address available for when you decide to contact them, its a far better way than going through all that validation. It took me two days and then got rejected, basically because I'm overseas.

I will leave this conversation here for reference for all of us!

[DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN]

An update for anybody still having problems with the wonderful technological advances of the internet. This postal address WORKS:

NHS Pensions, PO Box 2269, Bolton, Lancashire, BL6 9JS.

I wrote an old fashioned snail mail and within 3 weeks I got a very comprehensive, very useful reply from a real human being with a name. Oh the nostalgia!! 

[DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN]

Apologies reviving a very old thread but some of my friends didn't know the following information, so I'm going to share it here for anybody who's left the NHS.

Anybody who ever paid into the NHS Superannuation scheme can claim their NHS pension from their 60th birthday so long as they are no longer working in the British NHS. It doesn't matter if you are still working and receiving a salary (working overseas or working in the UK in a non-NHS capacity). Claim your lump sum and start getting your pension. First pay out on your 60th birthday.

I found the process remarkably easy and  the people at NHS Pensions very helpful. 

What can I say - pays the wine bill!