nbrome

Hello, I'm trying to link up my few years of UK work (10 years) to my few years here in Italy (probably about the same). When I went to the CAF office they told me I need to bring in all details of when and where I worked in the UK and for whom.
What if I don't remember it all? (I don't). Does anyone know where and how I can get a printout of my work history in the UK?
I've sent queries three times to the International Pension Centre in the UK and each time the mail server failed. I've also tried a direct email to them, using a link I found on the net but that failed too. I know I could telephone, but it's still not 8am in the UK and I have to go out!
Does anyone have experience of doing this? I must say I thought INPS had to do all this checking direct with the UK.
Grateful for any comments.

Geordieborn

There is no quick way of doing this unless you already have access as you need security details to log on to the uk.gov site to get the likes of a pension forecast. This forecast on-line also gives access to what employment it is based upon i.e. what they have as you work history where national insurance (NI) was paid. Yes, making a clain to INPS, telling them you worked in the UK, then they should get in touch with the UK on your behalf.

ononno

It should be an automatic exchange of information and link up between DWP and INPS. Each will blame the other for any mistakes or delays.
You should have a NI number somewhere, possibly on your last payslip or P45.
Use this number on any with DWP, preferably by phone speaking to an actual human being. You will in my experience find them very helpful.
However, you should also try and visit in person your nearest INPS office, to ensure that your file and info from DWP is not 'lost' or pushed to the bottom of some enormous pile, if there are lots of expats in your area.
Wishing you the best of luck and a successful outcome with it all.
' o nonno

Geordieborn

Certainly if you are of pension age and make a claim to the UK and fill in the bit on the form where you worked abroad, they will get in touch with INPS.

Serrano

This does all tend to get a bit complicated. You would do well to gen up on as much as possible yourself,; that way you're likely to understand the system better than the people who are paid to administer it and can (delicately) guide them in the right direction when necessary.

My understanding of this all is that you would qualify for both a UK and an Italian pension - at different ages almost certainly, applying different rules, etc. What is common to both countries (for now) is the appllication of EU legislation, particularly relevant the totalisation of years. Obviously after Brexit, who knows, except that you can be sure the regime will not be more favourable than at present - thus you are dead right trying to get the ball rolling now.

The number of years' contributions in each country will be fundamental, so this is the first thing you should try to establish. In Italy INPS will have this information, and in my limited experience (one case, mine) easy to access online (and correct). For the UK you need to obtain a statement of your NI record. You can apply online here. I don't believe you need to be registered to do this. However, in my case (and I belive this is normal) contributions pre 1975 are given simply as a gross total. Details of employers etc aren't given, as they aren't relevant.

Once you have these two sets of information, things can start to move forward. Note though, that for Italian pensions you normally have to have a minimum of 20 years of contributions (across all EU countries) so it looks like it is borderline whether you will qualify here. In the UK the figure (assuming we are talking about the New State Pension) is 10 years (again, across all EU countries).

In order to avoid the necessity of describing a plethora of possibilities in our answers, it would help enormously if you would be prepared to tell us your gender and age.

modicasa

I wrote to the DWP in Newcastle and they sent me by return a list of my qualifying years. Linking up to italy is not possible as far as I can gather. Youwill get a Uk pension and an Italian pension. As far as I can understand, as I am in the same boat, you cant add all your qualifying years together as a Euroepan and get a single (decent) pension.

Geordieborn

Serrano is correct in saying you will not get information on which employer, but DWP (HMRC) DO know who any qualifying year is in respect of. So you just need to know when you were employed and if you paid NI. If need be the UK can then tell you who you have NI i.r.o. You can get what could be said is an EU pension, but basically I've never seen any such UK involved pension where your UK NI alone has the minimum qualifying years. But for example someone who has less than the minimum to get any pension (I've not bothered to look to see if Serrano 10 UK years is still the case), any other EU contributions can be used to satisfy this condition.In this case they would calculate a theoretical pension using any combined contributions e.g. UK & Italy, then they would proportionally reduce this by their number of contributions over the combined EU total e.g. 9 UK years and 11 Italian, for the UK calculation would be 9/20 times whatever rate 20 years is in the UK. Some of the pensions calculated were very small, but for those that could get other benefits having a pension it might have been worth it i.e. winter fuel allowance etc.As Serrano has said it can be complex, but if you fill the UK claim for in and say you worked in Italy it should be passed to the right area to ensure the above factors.

Yes you can get a forecast by filling in a form and sending it off, but as I indicated you can also do this on-line, but you need access sent to you, so neither is quick to do. I have used the on-line forecast many a time in recent years and it does tell you exactly which years are qualifying.
Just found this EU link that might better than my scrawl...

Thairetired2016

We could not link up German and British pension. And Germans always complained about Brits never replying to anything. Guess it is no different for Italian and British pension but to apply in both countries and to get 2 pensions.

calman014

Visit www.gov.co.uk and setup your own account.
If you have your old NI number available you should be able to see what your entitlements are.
Believe it or not the UK is way ahead of most EU countries with providing this info ONLINE.

If you are not such a computer nerd..get some help.

Under EU Law, the tax authority of your country of residence is responsible for managing any pension entitlement from elsewhere in the EU.

Linking German and UK Pensions is also no problem, but DOES require some research and writing to the correct office responsible for the UK pensioners.

EU Instructions:

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizen...d/index_en.htm


GERMANY:

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/national-contact-points/germany/index_en.htm

For UK pensions, the pensions office in WESTFALEN is the responsible office for UK I believe..

https://www.deutsche-rentenversicher...home_node.html

Good luck.

nbrome

I really am grateful for all your comments and suggestions and sorry I wasn't on here before as I was out.
I am female and on the 30th of this month will be 70 years old. And I'm still working! I work for a cooperative which runs a service at the Comune di Roma.
Why am I still working? Well, I like it and it's walking distance from my house. Keeps me young and in contact with others. Also, my husband is retired and never leaves the house so that's another good reason.
I've worked here for about 20 years, after the children were grown, but for half of those years I worked as a 'collaboratrice' and therefore without contributions. I wouldn't therefore have enough for a pension here. (But then neither would I be on my uppers as my husband has a decent pension). So I've decided to call it a day before I turn into a dinosaur.
I've done that online pension forecast at HMP. It tells me I have ten full years in the UK. However, only two of them are after 1975 and they only give me the amounts paid in and not where I worked (though I do know that one!). The others are before 1975. I think my paid-in years have increased with my age 'cos I don't really think I worked a full ten years. I was also born just before the cut-off for getting a percentage payment.
I wonder if I fill in that NI form Serrano linked, will that tell me all about where and when I worked and for whom? I do have my NI number.

jonwel

My experience: I'm 68 and receive something of a pension (not much!) from both ends.
When I was coming up to 65 the DWP wrote to me inviting me to apply. Actually I had started on my own initiative, by sending the DWP a list of places where I'd worked before moving to Italy, together with my NI number.. At the same time I contacted INPS (through the patronato, in my case the CGIL). Anyway, INPS calculated that I'd paid in for less than 20 years, while I had less than 10 years in the UK, But together they agreed that I'd paid in for more than 20 years overall, which entitled me to some sort of a pension, each authority paying its part. The DWP started paying when I reached 65, while INPS started when I was 66 and 9 months.
I'd certainly recommend going to a patronato (I think you have to, for a pension application, but ask about that). Maybe if you go to INPS first, they'll at least tell you what you can do directly and what you have to do through a patronato, and maybe give you a list of patronati..

Serrano

Sorry, I had quoted figures for men before.

You make no mention of your UK Pension - are you currently in receipt of this?

As for your Italian situation, you should be entitled to a pension, provided you have exceeded the 20 contribution years (adding together UK and Italian). UK says you have 10 full years, so you would need a minimum of another 10 full years here. I don't know what they would do about part years here or in the UK. It's dfficult to say with any certainty, but it could you could well be entitled to about €120 per month. Not a fortune, but you've paid for it, and definitely better than a kick in the teeth!

ETA: I'd definitely agree with the advice of others, go to INPS and explain. You might get someone unhelpful, in which case nothing lost. But when I went the manager, after some initial reluctance, really got her teeth into it and handwrote me a letter to the patronato telling them how to do it, and printed me off the norms that applied etc.

nbrome

Thanks again.
No, I don't get any UK pension right now. They never sent me any letter but some time in the past I enquired and they said I would not qualify for anything - that was about 5 years ago I think.
I do have an appointment at the patronato and they seem to know what they have to do. Only problem is they asked me to prepare that list of where I worked in the UK.
Two mysteries:
-Why do I now have 10 full years in the UK (according to the site) when I didn't work 10 years there? In the 9 years between leaving school and coming to Italy I was at university for 3 of them!
-And why doesn't the national insurance site tell me my work details as well as the amount paid in? On my INPS printout it tells me how much was paid in and by which employer and when. That's what I need for the UK!
Does that mean if I forget certain details they are lost forever in the mists of time?

Geordieborn

According to the age you have provided a woman with 10 qualifying years would be entitled to a UK retirement pension. This is the area on .gov.uk site that applies to you, I can’t understand why the department would say you are not entitled. One thing I would point out is that you need to make an official claim, doing so will then at least result in a clear reason for any rejection and most importantly the right to appeal. In this respect if you have submitted a claim to INPS for a pension then the date of that claim can also be used as a UK claim (and vice versa). It’s a long time since I worked in that area, but they used to issue what is known as an E202 (also known as a claim form). This might be important if there are any arrears to pay as I’m pretty sure there are time limits. If you notified the department of your changes of address, then a retirement claim form would have been automatically to the held address.Regards you work history in the UK I’m afraid that is your responsibility. The department may be able to tell you who the contributions you have were paid by for the years after 6th April 1975, but not before. In relation to the reason for 10 years where you think you may have not worked for that many. If you were in receipt of benefit in the UK for any full tax years, then you may have been covered by credits for some years. Sickness, unemployment and parental care (i.e. Chile Benefit) are the main benefit’s that come to mind.