Hi,

There are two numbers given on the site to contact Inland Revenue for a pension forecast.  I found the numbers given as alternatives to be useless as they say they cannot help but today I was given another number which is 0191 218 3600.

Numbers that dont work are 0191 213 5000 and 0191  218 7777

Just about to ring them now and see if I have any luck!

I`ve just rung the number 0191 218 3600.  The lady said she would deal with my request as a `one off`.  I explained it is expensive to ring 0845 particularly when there is an anticipated wait for these services but I get the impression they are trying to dsicourage it.  I managted to get what a wanted- a pension forecase- so one less headache.

You can actually do  a pension forecast on line. Very easy to do and the answer comes up after a few seconds of completing  the form.

You do however have to register first and get a pin number in the post. Once you have got this number you can do it as many times as you want. I used to do mine every year this way until that kind Mr Osborne started to pay me my pension!!

See here

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Pensionsandretirementplanning/StatePension/StatePensionforecast/DG_10014008?CID=furl-Pensionforecast

Please can you post the published 08 numbers for this service?

Found the following information for Northern Ireland here

http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/index/contacts/contacts-az.htm/pension-service-state-pension



Pension Service - State Pension

Contact details for the Pension Service for State Pension claims and enquiries
Pension Service - State Pension
Point of contact      Pension Service
Address      PO Box 1121
Belfast
BT1 9GA
Telephone number      

Claim Line
0808 100 2658

Enquiries
0845 601 8821
Text phone      0808 100 2198 (freephone)
Fax      028 9054 9267
Phone lines open      From 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday

sherbert wrote on Mar 9^th, 2011 at 4:31pm:

Found the following information here http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/index/contacts/contacts-az.htm/pension-service-state-pension Pension Service - State Pension Contact details for the Pension Service for State Pension claims and enquiries Pension Service - State Pension Point of contact      Pension Service Address      PO Box 1121 Belfast BT1 9GA Telephone number       Claim Line 0808 100 2658 Enquiries 0845 601 8821 Text phone      0808 100 2198 (freephone) Fax      028 9054 9267 Phone lines open      From 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday

Which is for Northern Ireland residents as it's on [url=www.nidirect.gov.uk[/url]]www.nidirect.gov.uk[/url]

sherbert wrote on Mar 9^th, 2011 at 4:31pm:

Found the following information for Northern Ireland here http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/index/contacts/contacts-az.htm/pension-service-state-pension Pension Service - State Pension Contact details for the Pension Service for State Pension claims and enquiries Pension Service - State Pension Point of contact      Pension Service Address      PO Box 1121 Belfast BT1 9GA Telephone number       Claim Line 0808 100 2658 Enquiries 0845 601 8821 Text phone      0808 100 2198 (freephone) Fax      028 9054 9267 Phone lines open      From 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday

and the rest of the UK here

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories/DG_180024



State Pension forecasting team (part of The Pension Service)

   *
     Contact point
     State Pension forecasting team
   *
     Address
     Future Pension Centre
     Tyneview Park
     Whitley Road
     Newcastle upon Tyne
     NE98 1BA
     United Kingdom
   *
     Phone number
     0845 3000 168
     If you live outside the UK
     +44 191 218 3600
   *
     Text phone
     0845 3000 169
   *
     Opening Hours
     Monday to Friday 8.00 am to 8.00 pm, Saturday 9.00 am to 1.00 pm (if you live in the UK)

     Monday to Friday 8.00 am to 5.00 pm (if you live outside the UK)

Just for clarification - the Pensions Service, which includes the Pensions Forecasting team is part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), not "Inland Revenue", which is now part of Her Majesties Revenue and Customs (HMRC), a "non-ministerial department".

Pensions are a reserved matter, dealt with for the UK as a whole. The same Forecasting team therefore covers Northern Ireland - see http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/index/contacts/contacts-az/state-pension-forecasting-team.htm.

Those who are some years away from retirement age may wish to view this link for relevant information - http://www.dwp.gov.uk/newsroom/ministers-speeches/2011/08-03-11.shtml. Given that no government may tie its successors, some see state pension forecasts as a worse scam than use of 0845 numbers!

You may well be right SCV, however when you need to get a pension forecast on line or do your tax return on line you need to register with the Government Gateway http://www.gateway.gov.uk/ and the  'pin number' they give you to enable you to do both these tasks

sherbert wrote on Mar 9^th, 2011 at 5:09pm:

You may well be right SCV, however when you need to get a pension forecast on line or do your tax return on line you need to register with the Government Gateway http://www.gateway.gov.uk/ and the  'pin number' they give you to enable you to do both these tasks

Indeed, Government Gateway and direct.gov work across departments and cover other central government bodies.

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Mar 9^th, 2011 at 6:41pm:

Indeed, Government Gateway and direct.gov work across departments and cover other central government bodies.

....and so does you National Insurance number

sherbert wrote on Mar 9^th, 2011 at 6:54pm:

....and so does you National Insurance number

This is presumably a reference to the age-old debate about where the dividing line between what is presently DWP and HMRC should fall.

The former Contributions Agency (part of DWP) was passed over to "Inland Revenue" (now part of HMRC), although DWP agencies still conduct part of the NI number application process and administer contribution-based benefits. The current hot debate is over "tax credits" which, as means-tested benefits, should perhaps be handled alongside the other DWP benefits agencies, rather than by HMRC, which is focused on collecting money rather than distributing it.

Had the Identity Register project gone ahead then it is likely that the NI number would have eventually ceased to occupy its current place as the primary personal identifying reference for some government agencies. Happily, we can leave the "Identity and Passport Service", an executive agency of the Home Office, out of the picture. Even though it retains its name, and 0300 numbers, it has lost its nominal primary function. We still have Passport numbers, NHS numbers, Driver numbers and many other references by which government agencies identify us.

For me, there is sadly little difference between DWP and HMRC. Although the former uses "free to caller" 0800 numbers for lengthy initial application calls, both have an exclusive 0845 numbering policy for enquiries. Attempts to undermine this do however continue (see this weighty attempt).