A massive backlog has meant that many Irish people who worked in the UK could be waiting up to a year and a half to receive their British pension top-up.
More than 250,000 Irish people may be due to benefit from a significant pension boost, pushing their pension from the UK as high as €14,000 per year.
Experts have described the opportunity for workers to top up their pension as “insanely generous”.
However, due to a massive backlog, it could take over a year for Irish people who worked in the UK to get approval to top up their British pension.
Thousands of Irish people worked in Britain and paid the equivalent of our social insurance, giving them access to a pension.
From the age of 67, boosting a UK state pension can be worth up to €14,000 annually, but applicants from Ireland may have to wait almost a year and a half to get approval from the HMRC.
The British tax authority is overwhelmed, taking months to process applications. This has left many many people who applied for the top up worried as they have been waiting for a long time for a reply. The current wait time for a Letter of Approval is officially 69 weeks.
Thousands of other Irish people who worked in the UK are yet to apply for the top up, however there is still time to apply.
The deadline for applying for top up for as many as 18 past years and paying to avail of the scheme is 5th April 2025.
The payment deadline is 8 weeks after receiving a letter from the HMRC after 5th April. Former UK workers can get a full UK State Pension with no impact on their Irish state pension.
However, many former UK workers who return to Ireland then forget about their British pension entitlements.
