YMF

Just received a UK state pension forecast and it says that if you have paid any social security contributions in the country you are now living in then you must claim your pension through the SS institution in that country.

Just wondering if anyone has done this in spain and if it is as problematic as most official things are here?

Yvonne

jjh

No I haven't but am finding it hard enough to claim my state pension at the moment because they haven't sent out my form and I'm 60 in May. The form they want me to fill in, which I have downloaded off the internet because of their ineptitude, is 16 pages long, with all the information they should have.

Good luck with your querey and wish me luck with mine.

JJ

Mitzyboy

You have to personally apply for your state pension 6 months before the due date, or at least thats what we were told to do anyway ... same with the health forum for claiming pensioners rights here in Spain

jdr

You`ve been told a fib. ,-))

Check it out HERE you can also get an estimate of what you will get, but need to fill in a form and get ID ref on the screen and a pin number sent to your address before they will tell you. lol

First bit tells you when you should receive your bumff.

Mitzyboy

Well I've been told a fib by the Dept of Work & Pensions then.
They told us to apply both for the pension and the E121 56 months before retirement date, to allow time for the process to go through. I already got forcasts sent to me for us both before we left, simply by writing to them and asking for it.

Fred James

I checked this with DWP recently.

They send the pension "package" out about 3 months before you reach pension age. You send back the pension application and the E121 will then be sent automatically if you are now living in Spain..

Mitzyboy

Yes it says so on the site now I think. Not sure if you have to apply for an additional E121 manually for your spouse or if there is probably provision for that on the application forms maybe

Rosemary

I had to telephone the pension department last Sept/Oct because I had not received the package. I was told that they had sent the package out in June/July so lost somewhere in the post, they had the Spanish address because I had notified them before moving over. Because I was 60 in December the young lady suggested that I complete the forms on line which I did, very long process but easy to do. About a week later a request was received for my marriage certificate and my divorce certificate from my previous marriage. Although the actual payments were delayed by a couple of weeks there were no problems.

On the form that I completed on line I asked for the E121 and also stated that my spouse needed to be included this all came through successfully. No complaints at all with the pension department.

Rosemary

jdr

You need two copies for you and two for your spouse, you take them into your health centre with Euro health card and passport.
They stamp the E121`s, keep a copy of each and give you back a copy of each.

As told by the lady at our health centre on Monday-

YMF

What I was asking about though was claiming through spain when you have paid social security into the spanish system.
If claiming through the UK is fraught with problems then I dread to think what it will be like through spain.

jdr

Maybe the title should of been "Claiming my Spanish pension"
I don`t know anyone that has done this, but it shouldn`t be too difficult.

There was a letter in the Surinenglish about if you had a shortfall you could pay it in the Spanish system rather than the UK and was a lot cheaper.

CarolandTony

When we move over in May, Carol will already be receiving her pension, but I will only be 60, so not yet ready for mine. If we were married I know that I could be included on Carol's E121. We understand that it is possible to do this as partners, but have not had official confirmation of this. Has anyone on here been down this route ? Any info would be appreciated. Also, how soon before we move do we need to apply for E121 ? Thanking you all in advance. We have found this site to be extrememly usefull. Thank goodness we found it.
Tony.

jenna m

I will be claiming both the Irish and British contributory old age pensions - it will be calculated on a Pro Rata basis (100% Irish pension and then a much smaller British one) based on the total number of contributions I have made over the years, but Ireland will do the initial calculation as I now live there - there should be some information on the Newcastle website.

petew

Yvonne I asked exactly the same question a few months ago (on behalf of my wife who is 60 and paying into the spanish social security. Nobody on the forum knew anything about it at that time. I asked the Dept of Work and Pensions for advice but they were not much help. I found the appropriate spanish form on the internet,( will try to remember where) and it's a horror! (e.g it asks for dates of everywhere you have ever worked!) She's not in a hurry to claim it so we haven't taken it any further just yet - good luck.

Rosemary

You have to fill in all of the places you worked with dates etc on the UK form too.

Rosemary