New online state pension top-ups service delayed: No launch date yet

State pension top-ups: Online service is delayed with no launch date as yet

A new online state pension top-up service is delayed, despite Government assurances it should be ready by the end of the financial year.

No start date has been given for the service, which will allow people to check if buying top-ups will boost their state pension and to make payments.

The system currently involves phoning both the Department for Work and Pensions and HMRC, which run the system between them.

This is Money has received a flood of complaints about long delays and missing state pension top-up payments over the past year.

The Government now says the online service will be introduced as soon as possible after the usual update to the National Insurance system at the start of the new tax year.

It has confirmed that this will not take until October, which is when people are allowed to apply for National Insurance grandparent credits because it is at that point that the previous year’s NI records have been loaded and finalised.

HMRC and the DWP say the launch will happen after the NI system update so customers can continuously access the service without interruption to availability.

They add that this will allow the service to take into account of the April state pension increase for 2024/25, to ensure users see the most up-to-date information on how much extra state pension they could receive by paying to fill gaps in their NI record.

However, for months they told us the new service ‘is expected to be ready later this financial year’, and the annual NI system update was known about, so it looks like something must have slipped.

The news will be a blow to savers, some of whom are likely to be delaying buying top-ups until an online service is available in the expectation that the purchase process will be simpler and easier.

Buying top-ups can give a generous boost to retirement income if you buy the correct years on your record – see below.

However, after payment for extra contributions is taken, HMRC still has to update National Insurance records, then the DWP recalculates state pension forecasts or payments.

It is unclear if these stages will be streamlined, or if enough staff will be in place to make sure the whole system does not ‘fall over’ under a new surge of top-up purchases.

Frustrated savers have complained of chaos and long delays since early 2023, when the system was overwhelmed ahead of a crunch deadline – ultimately forcing the Government to extend it twice, now to April 2025.

Former Pensions Minisiter Steve Webb says: ‘Having been repeatedly promised that this new service would go live by the end of the tax year, it is deeply disappointing that there is now to be a delay.

‘At present people still have to battle through two different Government phone lines to find out where they stand regarding state pension top-ups and then arranging to make the payment.

Webb, who is This is Money’s pensions columnist and a partner at LCP, adds: ‘An online service could be a big improvement, provided that HMRC and DWP staff have been put in place to deal with the potential flood of top-ups.

‘We now need a definite date when the service will go live so that people know when they will be spared the misery of being left hanging on government phone lines.’

The DWP and HMRC say the majority of people, including those living abroad wanting to make voluntary contributions for years they were in the UK, should be able to take advantage of the new online service once development and testing is complete.

At the end of January, a digital application process for top-ups covering periods spent living or working abroad was launched, meaning people no longer have to post a CF83 form.

A Government spokesperson said: ‘A new online service to allow most people to see if making voluntary contributions would increase their state pension, and make payments, will be launched soon. More information will be released in due course.

‘Over the last year, hundreds of thousands of people have contacted us about voluntary contributions, with the vast majority of payments resulting in records being updated within days.

‘Complex cases requiring specialist caseworkers can take longer to resolve – but we’re making good progress on reducing wait times.’

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk