gov.uk state pension forecast: positive experience

[yorkshirelad1]

For various reasons, I needed a recent state pension forecast. I am 10 years short of pension age, so checking up on history etc.
I went to https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension , registered, and got the info (current forecast and contribution history) all in about 20 mins. Quite impressed. Sometimes things work......
NB: I registered using the "Government gateway", not "gov.uk verify" : I understand some people have had problems with gov.uk verify

I also rang the Future Pension Centre helpline a couple of times and the staff were very helpful and friendly. I did have to wait about 20 mins on hold each time, but I was prepared for that and doing other/related things whilst on hold.

Others may not have had such a pleasant experience. Mine was smooth, quick, provided all the information I wanted.

[airbus330]

Been using Gov Gateway for years and never had an issue, even when it change to 2FA. I remember that you had to write to the NI folk in Gateshead (think) and wait a good few weeks for a typed forecast, now near instantaneous. Who says the gov never gets IT right!

[yorkshirelad1]

For various reasons, I needed a recent state pension forecast. I am 10 years short of pension age, so checking up on history etc.
I went to https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension , registered, and got the info (current forecast and contribution history) all in about 20 mins. Quite impressed. Sometimes things work......
NB: I registered using the "Government gateway", not "gov.uk verify" : I understand some people have had problems with gov.uk verify

I also rang the Future Pension Centre helpline a couple of times and the staff were very helpful and friendly. I did have to wait about 20 mins on hold each time, but I was prepared for that and doing other/related things whilst on hold.

Others may not have had such a pleasant experience. Mine was smooth, quick, provided all the information I wanted.

This compares markedly with my GF's experience. She has tried to get in by both authentication methods (gov.uk verify and government gateway). She couldn't get the gov.uk verify method to work becuase the app wouldn't work on her phone to read a QR code, and the government gateway method asks all sorts of questions (presumably arising from credit reference agency data) about some phone contract she may/may not have taken out, some mail order credit facility she may/not have taken out, a current account she may/not have taken out in 0,1-3,3-5,5+ years most of which she can't exactly remember and failed the test. Further, it says something like "Please select 2 methods of identification from the following list" then only presents 2 methods (passport and credit ref agency): some choice. We are going to try again after the 24 hour time limit (having failed 3 times yeterday). We are banging our heads against a wall. We are going to try the phone line again, which mostly involves anything between 25 mins and 1 hour on hold. We have requested a paper forecast, but we are not expecting that back any time soon, and probably not before 2022.

[airbus330]

I set a gateway account up for my daughter last week to claim her work at home tax allowance. Used her NI Number, passport and UK photo driving license. No hitches. I wonder if doing it on a hand held device is at least part of the issue. I have a feeling that .gov websites are driven by very old tech, and possibly are easier to tame on a Windows PC.

[yorkshirelad1]

This compares markedly with my GF's experience. She has tried to get in by both authentication methods (gov.uk verify and government gateway). She couldn't get the gov.uk verify method to work becuase the app wouldn't work on her phone to read a QR code, and the government gateway method asks all sorts of questions (presumably arising from credit reference agency data) about some phone contract she may/may not have taken out, some mail order credit facility she may/not have taken out, a current account she may/not have taken out in 0,1-3,3-5,5+ years most of which she can't exactly remember and failed the test. Further, it says something like "Please select 2 methods of identification from the following list" then only presents 2 methods (passport and credit ref agency): some choice. We are going to try again after the 24 hour time limit (having failed 3 times yeterday). We are banging our heads against a wall. We are going to try the phone line again, which mostly involves anything between 25 mins and 1 hour on hold. We have requested a paper forecast, but we are not expecting that back any time soon, and probably not before 2022.

We finally got logged in to GF's pension forecast account (via govt gateway), and got all the data we wanted very quickly once logged in.
The whole process of guessing the confusing "credit reference agency" check questions was unhelpful to say the least (when did you last open a current account / when did you start a new phone contract / when did you take out a mail order company credit facility / when did you take out a hire purchase ) esp when one can change bank accounts and mobile phone contracts frequently and don't always keep accurate records or memories of what happened when. However, we managed to get the right answer to the questions on about the 7th attempt and it let us in. We would have welcomed another way of being able to validate her identity.

Slightly frustratingly, when we rang the pensions helpline (only 26 mins on hold) who were very helpful on pensions, when we asked about the pension forecast website, they said that they couldn't help with logging in problems as it wasn't anything to do with them and they didn't know who to ask for help ....