A pensioner who has worked for 50 years claimed he will not be eligible for the full new state pension even though he made National Insurance contributions for five decades.
Keith Pitt, 69, from Devon, said he has not been able to claim the full new state pension despite working since the age of 16.
Mr Pitt will get £974 a year less than the full pension this new tax year.
Before this month’s triple lock rate increase, Pitt received £749.12 every four weeks from the state pension.
Now, he will get £812.79 every four weeks which is significantly less than the full new state pension rate of £884.80.
And to add to his woes, Mr Pitt gets no other pension-related benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
He told GB News: “I worked for 50 years paying National Insurance from the age of 16. Never unemployed or claiming benefits.
“Having looked at my National Insurance record on the Government’s website there are no short falls or any missing payments.”
The 69-year-old pensioner said he opted out of the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) which was introduced in 1978 as a top-up to the basic state pension.
The amount a person could receive was determined by their contributions during their working years, with eligibility for those who were employees making Class 1 National Insurance Contributions.
Self-employed individuals were never able to benefit from SERPS, which was replaced by the second state pension in April 2002.
Before 2016, workers had the option to opt out of SERPS, a choice many were advised to make.
If someone opted out, some of their National Insurance contributions were either lower than those who didn’t opt out or were directed into another private pension.
Despite these 10 years being taken into account, Mr Pitt still believed he met the requirements for receiving the full state pension entitlement due to having contributed to National Insurance for 35 years.
Mr Pitt slammed the decision by the DWP to award him less than the full amount, calling it blatantly “unfair”.
“It has impacted me. Before, I was entitled to the state pension. This seems like a policy decision that has left people like me working all their life in a negative situation,” he explained
“It seems very unfair that someone never working in their life would receive a full pension. I know somebody who opted out just before me who got the full pension.
“Somebody I worked with, who again opted out, had a lower pension. In 2021, he rang the pensions department and came back with a full pension.
“The thing that’s unfair, even if you take the 10 years off, I’ve still got 40 years of National Insurance [contributions].”
Express.co.uk has contacted DWP for a comment.
