Online state pension top-ups FINALLY launch after This is Money campaign to end delays and missing payments

Pension savers can now top up their state pensions without picking up the phone, after the Government finally launched a long-promised online service following a campaign by This is Money.

The online portal will allow people to both check if buying top-ups will boost their state pension and to make payments.

The scandal of missing state pension top-up payments was revealed by This is Money last year, with some savers reporting huge payments they made had gone missing for up to a year.

Others reported long delays, as huge demand for state pension top-ups seemed to have overwhelmed the service, which is run jointly by DWP and HMRC.

Pay delays: The state pension top-up system has caused headaches for Britons trying to increase their retirement benefits by making voluntary National Insurance contributions

Topping up your state pension involves buying more National Insurance (NI) credits, which has in the past been a difficult process.

Anyone trying to buy more NI had to make two phone calls, often with long wait times.  

First they needed to call the Future Pension Centre at DWP to find out which years they could top up, the cost and what it meant for their pension.

Then they had to call HMRC, get an 18-digit number and wait for DWP to process the payments and update their state pension or state pension forecast. 

Now HMRC and DWP have launched a fully online system to help Britons make voluntary NI contributions.

This can be done on the Government’s Check Your State Pension website or through the HMRC app.

Steve Webb, a partner at LCP and former pensions minister, said: ‘It is very good news if people will be able to top up their NI record online. 

‘Until now people have had to battle through on two different phone lines – one to check with DWP which years they can top up and then one to HMRC to get a reference number to make a payment. 

‘It must be a step in the right direction to be able to do all of this without hanging on a telephone.’

But Webb warned that there was still a threat of delays to state pension top-ups unless DWP improved how it handles its side of the process.

Webb said: ‘Simply getting your NI record updated by HMRC is only half of the story. 

‘It then needs DWP to reassess your state pension entitlement based on your improved contribution record. 

‘There are already too many cases where people wait months or longer to get their pension figure revised. 

‘It is vital that the Government puts in place new capacity at DWP to process all of these changes, otherwise they will simply have created a new bottleneck in the system.’

Minister for pensions Paul Maynard, said: ‘The state pension is the foundation of income in retirement, which is why we have introduced this new online tool to help simplify boosting it for those who are able to. 

‘I would encourage everyone to check their state pension forecast and to take a look at how they could improve their state pension award with only a few simple clicks.’

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk