Pension forecast statements taking up nine months

Additional staff are set to be trained in a bid to reduce waiting times

Pension forecast statements have been taking up to nine months to produce due to "unprecedented demand", the Treasury Minister has said.

Alex Allinson said the spike in the number of requests was "mainly" due to an extension of a scheme that allows people to maximise their entitlement by filling in any gaps in their UK National Insurance (NI) record.

Mr Allinson said while the situation was "a concern", staff were "trying to respond as quickly as possible" and further training had been planned to reduce waiting times.

However, he said the delays would not affect claims or payments of the Manx State Pension, which was part of a separate process.

The minister told the House of Keys "increased publicity" about the UK extension and the historic links between the two NI systems had led to more people requesting their Isle of Man state retirement pension statement.

Staff turnover meant there was currently only one officer trained and authorised to process the pension forecasts within the team, which is part of the Income Tax Division.

Automated

Dr Allinson said a further full-time and part-time member of staff dealt with pension claims, which "take priority over pension forecasts to enable people to receive their pension on time".

He also said, of the pension forecasts requested, those who were due to retire and needed the statements to "plan their finances" would be prioritised over those planning to retire sometime in the future.

The training of additional staff would lead to a reduction in response times in future, and a new IT system that would automate calculations could be in place by September 2026 as part of Treasury’s NI transformation project, he added.