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Pension Rights

 

After 6 years of active campaigning, a case won at the European Court of Human Rights, and another at the European Court of Justice, the DWP announces that Transsexual people who were aged 60 before the Act came into force on 4 April 2005 and who had transitioned to living permanently in their new gender role before this time, can now apply for equal treatment rights for social security purposes, including of course their pension. Details follow below:

Transsexual People get Equal State Pension rights

Monday, 14 November 2011, taken from an email from The Pensions Service, [words in (brackets) were not in the original email].

For More about...

State Pension

National Insurance

Transsexual people, born between 24/12/1919 and  03/04/1945 can now apply for equal treatment rights for social security purposes. This could mean getting the State Pension paid early, or having some National Insurance contributions refunded.

Equal treatment rights for social security

The Gender Recognition Act 2004 gave transsexual people the right to be treated as their preferred gender.

(New rules mean that )Transsexual people who were aged 60 before the Act came into force on 4 April 2005 can now apply for equal treatment rights for social security purposes.

(editor: The rule is not really new, but the decision to finally take account of the law is new. The case law which supported this right to equal treatment originated in the decision P v S and Cornwall County Council (1996)1 and  was confirmed in Richards v UK  (2006)2 both at the European Court of Justice,  and was supported in the cases of Grant v. United Kingdom (2003)3 at the European Court of Human Rights.

(Acknowledgement of this case law by the Pensions Services) means you may be able to:

  • ·        claim State Pension from an earlier date
  • ·        have National Insurance contributions or periods from your 60th birthday refunded

Who Qualifies for Equal Treatment Rights?

To qualify for equal treatment rights for periods before the Gender Recognition Act 2004 came into force, you must:

  • ·        have been born between the 24th December 1919 to 3rd April 1945
  • ·        provide evidence of relevant gender reassignment surgery before 4 April 2005

.. you (must) have a full Gender Recognition Certificate, …  before you can still apply.

Apply(ing) for the (New) Equal Treatment Rights

To apply for equal treatment rights you need to request an EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FORM.

This is so the Pension Service can re-calculate your State Pension entitlement and tell you if you may be entitled to a National Insurance contributions refund.

You can ask for a form by telephone, letter or email:

Telephone:  0191 218 7622 , or +44 191 218 7622 if dialling from overseas

The phone line is open from 8.30 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Thursday, and 8.30 am to 4.30 pm on Friday (UK time).

Email: npc.grteam@thepensionservice.gsi.gov.uk

Mail: GR Team (in confidence), The Pension Service, National Pension Centre, TA013, Tyne View Park, Benton, Tyne and Wear, NE98 1BA, UK

_________________

1. P v S and Cornwall County Council, 1995, European Court of Justice, Case C-13/94 [acc19/08/11 at http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/eu/cases/EUECJ/1996/C1394.html]

2. Grant v. United Kingdom, 2003, ECHR, Case 32570/03 [acc 12/11/11 at http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/EUECJ/2006/C42304.html]

3. Richards v UK, 2006, ECJ  Case 423/04 [acc. 12/11/11 at http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/eu/cases/ECHR/2006/548.html