Money letters

Double deferral blow

Sir,

Deferring a pension can bring a more serious loss than that of the Christmas bonus, cited by Eileen Hutchinson (“No small matter”, Money Letters, January 26) in response to Helen Pridham’s article (“It pays to play the waiting game”, Times Money, January 19).

Many who claim Category A state pensions are entitled to an additional pension (up to £52.30 a week) for a dependent spouse. But buried in the 100-page State Pension Deferral guide is the revelation that the latter cannot be deferred nor taken on its own without the basic pension.

So the additional pension would be lost for the duration of any deferral.

Yours faithfully,
DAVID HUTTON,
High Wycombe,
Buckinghamshire

Credit where it’s due

Sir,

Rebecca O’Connor states (“There’s no excuse not to save”, Times Money, January 19) that a man pays national insurance contributions (NICs) for 44 years and a woman for 39 years to be eligible for a full state pension. No mention is made of credited NICs. Additionally, the Pension Act 2007 states that those reaching state pension age on or after April 6, 2010, will require only 30 qualifying years for a full basic pension – paid and credited NICs will count, as at present.