I’ve tried for 19 YEARS to get an error in my NHS pension put proper

I joined the NHS Pensions scheme in March 1987 as a student nurse. I remained in the pension scheme for every subsequent job I had with the NHS.

The only time I was out of the scheme was a brief period of a year or two as a GP practice nurse when GP practices were not part of the scheme.

I had subsequent jobs in management positions all with the NHS until December 2016 when I left the UK to live in Ireland and my NHS pension contributions stopped.

In 2005, I uncovered an error with my pension, when I found that an NHS job that I did for a year (2001-2002) was in NHS Pensions’ words ‘not closed down’ by the HR or payroll department in the trust I worked in.

They described it as an administrative error and requested the finance department rectify this. Despite their requests and my requests this was never done. This has resulted in me losing a year’s contributions.

In recent years I have on numerous occasions tried to rectify this issue. I have contacted NHS Pensions and resurrected the request, sent paperwork, copies of the emails, and letters from NHS Pensions acknowledging the problem, but they always have a reason why it can’t be sorted.

They say it’s too far back, and records weren’t electronic (although my payslips were always printed not handwritten from them).

I don’t have payslips going back to 2001. I only seem to have payslips going back to 2006. I doubt most people have payslips from 23 years ago.

I was told by NHS Pensions to make a subject access request to HMRC which I did in September 2023, provided all the information they requested and eventually received a response to say they could not provide the information requested.

After this I was told by the NHS Pensions person I spoke to the only thing left to do was to complain to NHS Pensions. I did this on 1 November 2023 and I still haven’t had a response.

I am now 56 in a few weeks. I am eligible to and want to access my NHS pension so I can leave my current position in a stressful role in the Irish healthcare system for a part-time role outside of health as my mental health is suffering.

I have been planning this for the past 18 months but cannot move forward whilst this is outstanding. I am currently on long-term sick leave, unable to work, and this situation is really not helping.

Do you have any advice on how I might be able to resolve this issue? It would seem without a 23-year-old payslip I don’t have a leg to stand on despite having what I feel is a wealth of other evidence which has been submitted so many times and explained so many times.

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Steve Webb replies: It is quite shocking that you have faced such a battle to get your NHS employment records corrected so that you can receive the correct pension.

Unfortunately, your experiences are far from unique.

Issues around gaps in employment histories primarily affect salary-related or ‘defined benefit’ pensions where the amount you get is based on your length of service and how much you earned.

As you have discovered, if a period of employment is simply missing, then your pension will be too low as a result.

What is clear from your experiences is that none of this is your fault. Indeed, I’m highly impressed that you first spotted the error back in 2005 and also by the extensive paperwork which you have retained.

Normally, this would be enough to resolve the problem.

In your case the issue seems to be that the NHS Pension scheme does not have accurate employment records because of a failure by one of the NHS trusts that you worked for.

The pension scheme has to rely on employers for membership information and – as you have discovered – trying to get things sorted out years after the event can be especially difficult.

This is especially true in an organisation like the NHS where trusts can be merged, renamed or abolished and where historical records may be difficult to obtain.

The good news is that HM Revenue and Customs do hold information which can help to resolve matters in a case like this.

If you need to demonstrate simply that you worked for an organisation between certain dates then you can apply online to HMRC.

Where we are talking about recent employment (within the last five years) this should be shown via your online tax account.

But for older employment histories you can apply via this form: Get proof of employment history.

Although the form refers to things like proving employment history for purposes of claiming compensation, HMRC has told me that it is fine to use this form to confirm pension details.

For anyone who needs more detailed information from HMRC such as how much you earned each year and what pension scheme you were part of, you can submit a ‘Subject Access Request’.

When you tried this yourself there was an issue with validating your address (perhaps because you now live outside the UK), but in general people can use this form: Make a subject access request to HMRC.

As well as employment history, this will provide official confirmation of your earnings each year (which can be useful in pension disputes) and whether you were a member of a ‘contracted out’ pension scheme.

After I got in touch with HMRC on your behalf they were able to confirm to you the start and end dates of your employment for the period in question and the name of your employer, and you have been able to pass this on to the NHS Pension Scheme.

I was pleased to hear that you have now had a letter back from NHS Pensions confirming that the period from 2001-02 has been added to your pension history.

Your experiences are a reminder to everyone to check that their pension scheme has accurate information about their work history.

Problems like this are particularly likely in huge pension schemes like those for public sector workers with millions of workers spanning thousands of employers.

They may also be more likely to arise in cases where you work for multiple employers (for example, different schools or different hospitals) but all within the same pension scheme.

As ever, trying to sort these things out while the organisations involved still have records is likely to be the easiest option, but – as your experiences show – sometimes you have to persevere in order to get things put right.

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