Paragraph 4
At any time during the contribution period the person may, subject to paragraph 2, by giving written notice to the Secretary of State elect to shorten it or, if he has already made one or more such elections, to shorten it further.
An election under this paragraph—
has effect only if the Secretary of State notifies the person in writing that it has been accepted, and
on acceptance, has effect as from the first day of the month following the date of its acceptance by the Secretary of State (“the effective date”).
From the effective date Table 1 in paragraph 3 applies with the substitution—
for the person’s age at the date of the principal election, of his age at the date when notice of the election under this paragraph was given,
for the number of years in the contribution period, of the number of years after the effective date in the shortened period, and
for the number of years in the past period, there shall be substituted that number multiplied by
where—
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C is the number of years in the past period,
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D is the number of years in the contribution period up to the effective date, and
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E is the number of years in the contribution period.