Methodology & Data Sources

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How figures are sourced

Source content from DWP, HMRC, MoneyHelper, and the FCA is loaded into our database via documented import scripts, then summarised and explained in plain language. Source numbers (State Pension weekly rates, NI qualifying-year thresholds, Annual Allowance, tax-free lump sum cap, auto-enrolment minimums) are never altered between source and display, they are quoted directly from the originating statutory instrument, rate-uprating order, or HMRC guidance publication, and each value is date-stamped against the source's effective-from date.

Sources

  • DWP, State Pension. The gov.uk State Pension service publishes the current full New State Pension weekly rate, the basic State Pension rate, and the qualifying NI thresholds. Annual upratings under the triple-lock formula are set in a Statutory Instrument laid before Parliament in early spring with effect from the start of the following tax year.
  • HMRC, pension tax. HMRC's private-pension tax guidance and the Pensions Tax Manual set the Annual Allowance, the taper threshold and floor, the Money Purchase Annual Allowance, and the tax-free lump sum cap. Where a Spring or Autumn Budget changes any of these, the new figures take effect from a date stated in the Budget, PlainPension applies the new figure from the effective-from date and continues showing the prior figure for historic tax years.
  • MoneyHelper. The MoneyHelper service operated by the Money and Pensions Service publishes free, government-backed guidance on pension types, decisions, and consumer rights. PlainPension uses MoneyHelper guidance as the definitive plain-language interpretation of rules that DWP and HMRC publish in technical form.
  • FCA, pension provider regulation. The FCA Register identifies UK firms regulated to operate SIPPs, personal pensions, and stakeholder pensions. PlainPension's provider data is sourced from the FCA Register and the Pensions Regulator's master-trust authorisation list.
  • HMRC NI contributions. The voluntary NI contributions rates (Class 2 and Class 3 weekly rates and qualifying-year thresholds) are published on gov.uk and laid annually in the corresponding rate-uprating Statutory Instrument.

Update schedule

  • State Pension rates: refreshed within 30 days of the annual rate-uprating order taking effect (early April each year).
  • Annual Allowance and taper: refreshed within 14 days of any Spring / Autumn Budget change taking effect.
  • NI Class 2 / Class 3 rates: refreshed at each April uprating.
  • State Pension Age timetable: refreshed whenever Parliament legislates a change.
  • Provider register: pulled monthly from the FCA Register.

Limitations

PlainPension calculator outputs are projections based on the inputs and assumptions a user enters. We do not predict future investment returns, future legislation, or future State Pension uprating. Where investment-return assumptions feed a calculator (workplace DC or SIPP projections), the default assumption is taken from a long-horizon UK total-return index, real (inflation-adjusted), with the source and period cited inline next to the calculator output.

PlainPension does not provide regulated financial advice. Pension decisions, particularly Defined Benefit transfers, drawdown sequencing, annuity purchase, and lump-sum recycling, are highly personal and often irreversible. We direct readers to free MoneyHelper guidance and to FCA-regulated advisers for material decisions.

Corrections

If you spot a rate, threshold, or rule that does not match the current statutory source, email hello@plainpension.co.uk with the source link and we aim to respond within 72 hours. Subject-data correction requests (for any directory-style listings we publish) follow the published privacy and corrections policy.

Verification chain and update timing

Every page on PlainPension carries a date-stamped marker showing when the underlying figures were last checked against the originating statutory source. Each rate, allowance threshold, and statutory minimum is traced to the official DWP, HMRC, MoneyHelper, or FCA publication it comes from; where a guidance publication and the underlying statutory instrument disagree, the statutory instrument takes precedence and the guidance reference is footnoted accordingly. See the corrections process for exactly what happens when a reported figure turns out to be wrong. Where statutory rates change (typically following a Budget statement or rate-uprating order), affected pages are rebuilt directly from the updated source figure, normally within fourteen days of the change taking effect, and re-stamped with the new date, no figure is retyped by hand. See the data changelog for a dated record of past figure corrections. PlainPension does not accept compensation from any pension provider, asset manager, or financial adviser whose products or rules it covers.

Data licensing and reuse

The statutory rates, thresholds, and rules referenced on PlainPension originate from public DWP, HMRC, MoneyHelper, and FCA publications and remain governed by those bodies' own terms. Our compiled comparison tables, calculator logic, and structured-data markup, PlainPension's own synthesis and presentation of those source figures, are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0): you may copy, redistribute, and adapt them for any purpose, including commercially, provided you credit PlainPension and link back to the page you cite (see the "Cite this page" block on data pages for a ready-made citation). A CSV download is available on primary comparison tables; there is no packaged API product beyond the on-page structured data at this time, this note is a readiness record, not a product announcement. As stated above and on our about page, PlainPension runs on AdSense today and accepts no affiliate revenue; if that ever changes, any affiliate placement would need to meet the same trust bar as the editorial content: clearly labelled as sponsored, never blended with the DWP/HMRC-sourced figures above it, and never placed adjacent to specific-provider purchase advice.