State Pension

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Factsheet 19

State Pension

April 2024

Inside this factsheet

This factsheet has information about the new State Pension for people

reaching State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016. It also has

information about the old State Pension for people who reached State

Pension age before 6 April 2016.

It explains how to claim your pension and what to do if you have a

change of circumstance.

The information in this factsheet is correct for the period April 2024 to

March 2025.

Benefit rates are reviewed annually and uprated in April but rules and

figures can sometimes change during the year.

The information in this factsheet is applicable to Great Britain.

Contact details for any of the organisations mentioned in this factsheet

can be found in the Useful organisations section.

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Contents 
What is State Pension?  4 
State Pension age  5 
Current rates  5 
1  State Pension forecast  5 
Calculating the amount  6 
1  If your starting amount is less than the full amount  6 
2  If your starting amount is more than the full amount  7 
3  No NI contributions/credits prior to 6 April 2016  7 
National Insurance (NI)  7 
How to claim State Pension  7 
1  Advance claims and backdating  8 
2  Putting off or deferring State Pension  9 
Decisions and payments  9 
1  If you disagree with a decision  9 
2  Payment  10 
Increasing or inheriting Pension from spouse or civil partner  10 
1  Additional State Pension and Graduated Retirement Benefit  10 
2  Inheriting a protected payment  11 
3  Inheriting a deferral payment  11 
4  Women who paid Reduced Rate contributions  11 
5  Divorce or dissolved civil partnership  12 
Change in your circumstances  12 
1  Going abroad or living there  12 
2  Going into hospital  12 
3  Going into a care home  13 
Other entitlements at retirement  13 
1  Stopping work before reaching State Pension age  13 
2  Working after State Pension age  13 

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10.3 Other benefits after State Pension age 14

11 Old State Pension 14

11.1 Basic State Pension 15

11.2 Additional State Pension 15

11.3 Other State Pension payments 16

11.4 National Insurance 17

11.5 Putting off or deferring State Pension 17

11.6 Increasing or inheriting from spouse or civil partner 18

11.7 Inheriting Additional State Pension 19

11.8 Inheriting a deferred State Pension 20

12 National insurance contributions and credits 21

12.1 Checking your NI record 21

12.2 NI contributions in work 21

12.3 NI credits 22

12.4 Voluntary NI contributions 24

Useful organisations 25

Age UK 27

Support our work 27

Glossary

AA – Attendance Allowance

ADP – Adult Disability Payment (Scotland)

AIP – Assessed Income Period

CA – Carer’s Allowance

CDP – Child Disability Payment (Scotland)

CSP – Scotland (Scotland)

CTR – Council Tax Reduction/Support

DLA – Disability Living Allowance

DWP – Department for Work and Pensions

EEA – European Economic Area

ESA – Employment and Support Allowance

HB – Housing Benefit

JSA – Jobseeker’s Allowance

PC – Pension Credit

PIP – Personal Independence Payment

UC – Universal Credit

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1 What is State Pension?

State Pension can be paid when you reach State Pension age, provided

you fulfil National Insurance contribution conditions and make a claim.

The amount you are entitled to is not affected by your income and capital

but it is taxable.

This factsheet focusses on the new State Pension which was introduced

on 6 April 2016 for people reaching State Pension age on or after that

date. This applies to:

⚫

men born on or after 6 April 1951

⚫

women born on or after 6 April 1953.

If you were born before these dates, you remain on the pre-2016 State

Pension schemes. Men born between 6 April 1945 and 5 April 1951 and

woman born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1953 come under the old

State Pension, see section 11. If you were born before these dates, you

come under another State Pension scheme. You should seek specialist

advice if you have specific queries, as the rules are more complex and

are not detailed in this factsheet.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for State

Pensions and other benefits. Older people deal mainly with the Pension

Service which is part of the DWP. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)

deal with National Insurance contributions.

The new State Pension full amount is £221.20 a week for 2024/25. The

amount received is usually based on National Insurance (NI)

contributions you paid during your working life or NI Credits (paid when

claiming certain benefits). To be paid the full amount, you must have paid

or been credited with 35 full years of NI contributions or credits. You may

get paid more or less than the full amount.

If you have between 10 and 34 years of NI contributions and credits, you

receive a proportionately lower amount. If you have less than 10 years

contributions, you are not entitled at all. For contributions made before 6

April 2016, transitional arrangements apply to take the pre-2016 record

into account. These can increase your State Pension to more than the

full amount. For information on what counts as NI contributions, see

section 5.

Note

There are exceptions to these rules if you are entitled to very little

State Pension based on your own NI contributions. This could be

because you paid married women’s or widow’s reduced-rate NI

contributions, or you are widowed, or your civil partner has died.

See section 8 for information about increasing or inheriting State

Pension from a spouse or civil partner.

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2 State Pension age

You can claim State Pension when you reach State Pension age.

Currently this is 66 for men and women. From 6 May 2026, State

Pension age will start increasing again and will reach 67 by 6 March

2028 (affecting anyone born between 6 April 1960 and 5 April 1977).

You can find out your own State Pension age and the date you reach it

by using the calculator at www.gov.uk/calculate-state-pension or by

phoning the Future Pension Centre on 0800 731 0175.

Government undertakes regular reviews of State Pension age, with the

next review due within two years of the next Parliament.

3 Current rates

The full weekly rate for new State Pension is:

New State Pension

£221.20

The full weekly rates for the old State Pension are:

Category A pension

£169.50

Category B pension based on late spouse’s or civil

partner’s National Insurance contributions

£169.50

Category B pension based on spouse’s or civil partner’s

National Insurance contributions

£101.55

Category D non-contributory pension

£101.55

3.1 State Pension forecast

To see your estimated entitlement, request a State Pension forecast.

This estimates how much your State Pension will be, based on your

current NI record. It includes:

⚫

the date you reach State Pension age

⚫

an estimate of State Pension based on your NI record to date

⚫

the number of qualifying years you currently have.

Action

Anyone over 18 can get an estimate from www.gov.uk/check-state-

pension or if you are over 50, you can request a paper forecast by

calling the Future Pension Centre on 0800 731 0175.

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If the estimate shows you have insufficient qualifying years to get a full

State Pension, ask if you can make up the shortfall before reaching State

Pension age.

If not, ask HMRC for a NI statement, check this and query any gaps.

Consider paying voluntary NI contributions to make up gaps (see section

12.4).

4 Calculating the amount

For NI contributions/credits from before 6 April 2016, your pre-2016

record is used to calculate a ‘starting amount’. This may be more or less

than the full weekly amount, depending on your NI record. Your starting

amount is the higher of the amount you would have received based on:

⚫

your own NI record under old State Pension rules (including basic and

additional pension elements), or

⚫

the new State Pension rules as if they were in place at the start of your

working life.

However, a deduction is made from both calculations if you were in a

contracted-out personal or workplace pension scheme prior to 2016, for

example, as a member of a public-sector pension. In this case, you paid

lower NI contributions because you paid into a contracted-out pension,

or some of your NI contributions were paid towards your private pension

instead of Additional State Pension.

4.1 If your starting amount is less than the full amount

You may be able to receive a higher rate of State Pension by adding

more qualifying years to your NI record until you reach the full amount or

you reach State Pension age, whichever is first. Each qualifying year on

your NI record adds 1/35

of the full amount (£6.32 a week) to your new

State Pension entitlement. See section 12 for how to increase your NI

record.

Remember

To receive any amount of State Pension, you must have at least 10

years NI contributions. There are exceptions – see section 8 about

increasing or inheriting Pension from a spouse or civil partner.

Example

Your starting amount from your pre-April 2016 NI record is £120.00

a week. You add five qualifying years to your NI record before

reaching State Pension age (each adding £6.32) equalling £31.60 a

week. You are paid £151.60 a week State Pension when you claim.

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4.2 If your starting amount is more than the full amount

If your starting amount is more than the full State Pension amount, the

extra amount is called your ‘protected payment’. This is paid on top of

your new State Pension when you claim and increases each year in line

with inflation. If you are already over the full new State Pension amount,

any qualifying years added to your NI record before reaching State

Pension age do not add anything to the amount of your State Pension.

4.3 No NI contributions/credits prior to 6 April 2016

Your State Pension is calculated entirely under new State Pension rules.

You must have at least 10 qualifying years on your NI record to get new

State Pension (there are exceptions – see section 8 about increasing or

inheriting Pension from a spouse or civil partner). Your new State

Pension is more likely to be calculated in this way if you were born after

the year 2000 or became a resident of the UK after 2015.

5 National Insurance (NI)

Your NI record can be made up of any combination of:

⚫

NI contributions paid while working as an employee or self-employed

⚫

NI contributions paid voluntarily

⚫

NI credits awarded while receiving certain benefits

⚫

NI credits and/or Home Responsibilities Protection awarded due to

caring responsibilities.

Section 1 details what you may be entitled to, based on the number of

years on your NI record.

For information about different types of NI contributions and making

voluntary payments, see section 12.

6 How to claim State Pension

You do not get State Pension automatically – you must claim it. You

should get a letter no later than two months before reaching State

Pension age, telling you what to do. You must provide your NI number

when you claim and may need to provide evidence of your date of birth.

If you have not received a letter, phone the claim line below and they can

discuss what you need to do. If you are within four months of reaching

your State Pension age, you should be able to make a claim.

If you already receive Pension Credit as part of a couple when you reach

State Pension age (i.e. you are the younger partner), you may not need

to claim State Pension as it is awarded automatically. The Pension

Service can advise if this applies.

You can claim in the following ways (see overleaf).

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Online

Go to www.gov.uk/get-state-pension to make your claim

There is an online helpdesk to help you through the process if you have

difficulty, or you can:

⚫

Telephone: 0800 169 0154

⚫

Textphone: 0800 169 0254

⚫

Welsh language: 0800 169 0253

⚫

Welsh language textphone: 0800 169 0203

Phone

Call the State Pension claim line to request a claim form on:

⚫

Telephone: 0800 731 7898

⚫

Textphone: 0800 731 7339

⚫

Welsh language: 0800 731 7936

⚫

Welsh language textphone: 0800 731 7013

Download the claim form

If you are claiming an old State Pension (men born before 6 April 1951 or

women born before 6 April 1953) you can download a copy of the claim

form at www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-basic-state-pension

6.1 Advance claims and backdating

You can claim your State Pension up to, but no more than, four months

in advance. It is a good idea to claim in advance as it may take a while

for your claim to be processed.

The maximum period of backdating is 12 months, but a claim cannot be

backdated to a date before you reached State Pension age. You are not

paid interest on any backdated lump sum. You do not need to show any

special reasons for backdating – you simply ask for the claim to be

backdated.

If you claim more than 12 months after you became entitled, you are

treated as having deferred claiming (see next section). If you decide to

ask for backdating having deferred your State Pension claim, you reduce

the amount of deferred State Pension you are entitled to. You may wish

to seek independent advice to check what your best option is.

Action

If you have lost your NI number, call the National Insurance helpline

on 0300 200 3500 or Textphone on 0300 200 3519.

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6.2 Putting off or deferring State Pension

When you reach State Pension age, you can put off or ‘defer’ claiming

State Pension, which means you may receive a higher rate of State

Pension later on. If you start receiving State Pension, it is possible to

change your mind and start to defer it, but this can only be done once.

You must defer for at least nine weeks. Your new State Pension

increases by one per cent for every nine weeks you defer or about 5.8

per cent for a full year. You can defer claiming for as long as you like.

This increased amount is paid on top of your new State Pension when

you start claiming and counts as taxable income. You cannot take the

extra amount as a lump sum payment and if you die before your spouse

or civil partner, they cannot inherit any of your increase.

This may not be right for everyone and whether you gain overall

depends on your specific circumstances.

In particular, if you or your partner claim certain benefits such as Pension

Credit, Universal Credit, or income-related Employment and Support

Allowance, you do not receive any increase for each whole week in

which you receive the other benefit. The unclaimed State Pension also

counts as notional income for these benefits.

7 Decisions and payments

Once your claim has been processed, the Pension Service send you a

decision notice including details of how much your State Pension will be,

how and when it will be paid, your duty to report relevant changes in your

circumstances, and your appeal rights.

7.1 If you disagree with a decision

If you think you have been awarded the wrong amount of State Pension

or disagree with a decision about your State Pension, you can ask for

the decision to be revised, called a ‘Mandatory Reconsideration’ (MR).

If you are still unhappy with the decision after MR, you can appeal to an

independent tribunal. There are time limits that apply, so it is important to

act quickly. See factsheet 74, Challenging welfare benefit decisions, for

more information.

Action

If you are thinking about deferring your State Pension, it is important

to consider the full implications, especially if you claim other

benefits. Seek advice from Age UK Advice if so.

In Wales, contact Age Cymru Advice and in Scotland, contact Age

Scotland.

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7.2 Payment

Most people have their State Pension paid directly into an account.

When you apply for your State Pension, you are given information about

the different types of bank or building society accounts you can use. Your

amount is usually paid four-weekly in arrears, although you can ask to be

paid weekly or fortnightly.

State Pension can be paid to an appointee who acts on your behalf if

you are not able to act for yourself.

If you cannot open or manage an account, it can be paid by a system

called the Payment Exception Service, which is collected from PayPoint

outlets located in local shops.

You can authorise someone else to collect your money from a bank,

building society or PayPoint outlet. If you are unsure about your payment

options, a local advice agency may be able to help.

Payment starts from the day you reach State Pension age, unless you

are in the old State Pension system, when it can be up to a week later.

8 Increasing or inheriting Pension from spouse

or civil partner

New State Pension is normally based on your own NI record only.

However, you may be able to inherit an extra payment from your spouse

or civil partner or qualify for a higher amount if you paid married women’s

or widow’s reduced rate NI contributions.

Note

You cannot inherit anything if you remarry or form a new civil

partnership before reaching State Pension age.

8.1 Additional State Pension and Graduated Retirement

Benefit

You can inherit part of a deceased spouse’s or civil partner’s Additional

State Pension and half their Graduated Retirement Benefit once you

start claiming your own State Pension if both the following apply:

⚫

your marriage or civil partnership began before 6 April 2016, and

⚫

you could have inherited these amounts in the old pre-2016 system,

and one of the following applies:

⚫

your partner reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, or

⚫

they died before 6 April 2016 but would have reached State Pension age

on or after that date.

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8.2 Inheriting a protected payment

You can inherit half of a partner’s protected payment once you start

claiming your own State Pension if your marriage or civil partnership

began before 6 April 2016 and both the following apply:

⚫

they reached, or would have reached, State Pension age on or after 6

April 2016, and

⚫

they died on or after 6 April 2016.

8.3 Inheriting a deferral payment

If a spouse or civil partner reached State Pension age before 6 April

2016 and they received extra State Pension due to deferral, you may

inherit some of their extra State Pension once you start claiming your

State Pension. Both of the following must apply:

⚫

you were married or in a civil partnership when your partner died, and

⚫

you did not remarry or form a new civil partnership before you reached

State Pension age.

8.4 Women who paid Reduced Rate contributions

Until April 1977, married women could choose to pay a reduced rate of

NI contributions (known as the ‘married women’s stamp’). Even after this

date, anyone already doing so could continue paying the reduced rate.

This right stopped immediately on divorce, or if you chose to revoke your

election and started paying the full rate. It also stopped automatically at

the end of two complete tax years during which you earned below the

level at which NI contributions must be paid, or you stopped working.

This affects entitlement based on your NI contributions, because the

reduced-rate NI contributions do not count towards qualification for State

Pension.

If you are a woman with little or no State Pension entitlement as a result,

the rules allow State Pension to be worked out differently. This depends

on your right to pay reduced-rate NI still applying at some point in the 35

years before the start of the tax year when you reach State Pension age.

If you meet this condition, you do not need the minimum 10 qualifying

years to get a State Pension. You may get a State Pension that is either:

⚫

the old pre-2016 lower rate basic State Pension of £101.55 a week (if

married or in a civil partnership and your partner has reached State

Pension age), or

⚫

the old pre-2016 rate of basic State Pension of £169.50 a week (if

widowed, divorced, or your civil partnership was dissolved).

Continues overleaf.

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You get any Additional State Pension and Graduated Retirement Benefit

built up before 6 April 2016 on top. This is paid when:

⚫

you or your spouse or civil partner reach State Pension age (whichever

is later), or

⚫

you reach State Pension age (if widowed or divorced), or

⚫

you are widowed, divorced or your civil partnership is dissolved after you

reach State Pension age.

You get this amount if it is more than you would be paid under new State

Pension rules based on your own NI record.

8.5 Divorce or dissolved civil partnership

A court can make a ‘pension sharing order’ if you get divorced or

dissolve your civil partnership.

You get an extra payment on top of your State Pension if your ex-partner

is ordered to share their Additional State Pension or protected payment

with you.

Your State Pension is reduced if you are ordered to share your Additional

State Pension or protected payment with your ex-partner.

9 Change in your circumstances

You must report all changes in your circumstances that might affect your

State Pension to the Pension Service. This includes the following:

9.1 Going abroad or living there

State Pension is payable without time limit if you go abroad. If you are

going abroad for some time, you can arrange for State Pension to be

paid in the country where you live. If you remain abroad, the annual

State Pension increase is only paid if you live in a European Economic

Area (EEA) country, Gibraltar, Switzerland, or a country with which the

UK has an arrangement.

Note

For more information about receiving your State Pension while living

abroad, contact the International Pension Centre.

9.2 Going into hospital

State Pension continues to be paid however long you are in hospital.

If you receive another benefit like Attendance Allowance (AA) and

payment is combined with your State Pension, then AA can be affected

by a hospital stay so you should tell the DWP.

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9.3 Going into a care home

State Pension is not affected if you go into a care home but it is taken

into account as income if the local authority help pay your fees.

10 Other entitlements at retirement

The age when you can claim State Pension may not be the same as the

age at which you retire from work. You may stop work before or continue

working after State Pension age, or you might want to retire gradually, for

example by reducing your hours rather than leaving work completely.

10.1 Stopping work before reaching State Pension age

You may be entitled to other benefits. See factsheet 56, Benefits for

people under State Pension age, for more information.

If you are not paying NI contributions, check if you have enough

contributions to be eligible for a full State Pension. Check if you can get

NI credits or pay voluntary contributions to increase your State Pension.

See section 3.1 for more information.

Occupational and personal pensions

You may qualify for an occupational or private pension before State

Pension age – check with your employer or scheme administrator. See

factsheet 91, Pension Freedom and benefits, for more information.

10.2 Working after State Pension age

If you work and get State Pension, the amount you receive is not

affected by your earnings or hours. State Pension is not reduced due to

earnings, but it counts as taxable income. Your tax code is adjusted to

take into account the amount of State Pension you get. See factsheet

12, Planning your retirement: money and tax, for more information.

If you work for an employer after State Pension age, you do not have to

pay NI contributions. Tell your employer who must continue to pay

contributions for you. If self-employed, you must continue paying Class 4

contributions until the end of the tax year in which you reach State

Pension age. For more information, see www.gov.uk/tax-national-

insurance-after-state-pension-age/stopping-paying-national-insurance

Note

In Scotland, this does not affect free personal and nursing care. For

information about paying for care in England, see factsheet 10,

Paying for permanent residential care. In Scotland, see the guide

Care homes: funding. In Wales, see Age Cymru factsheet 10w,

Paying for a permanent care home placement in Wales.

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Unemployment and sickness 
If you become sick or unemployed after State Pension age, you cannot 
usually claim a ‘working age’ benefit such as Universal Credit, unless 
your partner is under State Pension age. You may be able to get 
Statutory Sick Pay from your employer. You may be eligible for Pension 
Credit if you work and have a low income. See factsheet 48, Pension 
Credit, for more information. 
Occupational and personal pensions  
If you have a private pension pot, you may be able to access payments 
while you work – contact your pension scheme for more information or 
see factsheet 91, Pension Freedom and benefits. 
10.3  Other benefits after State Pension age 
You may be entitled to claim other benefits, such as Pension Credit, 
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction/Support. You may be entitled 
if you work, but this depends on income and capital.  
You may be entitled to Attendance Allowance which is not means-tested 
and helps with the extra costs of illness or disability.  
Some benefits ‘overlap’ with State Pension, including Carer’s Allowance 
(CA) or Carer’s Support Payment (CSP) in Scotland, for people caring 
for someone else. These benefits are not paid if your State Pension pays 
more than CA/CSP, although you retain an ‘underlying entitlement’ to 
them. If you claim Pension Credit, an underlying entitlement to CA/CSP 
means a carer’s addition is added to your Pension Credit award. 
If you receive a Widow’s or War Widow’s Pension when you reach State 
Pension age, you may be better off remaining on these rather than 
claiming State Pension. Contact the Pension Service if this applies. 
11  Old State Pension 
You come under old State Pension rules if you reached State Pension 
age before 6 April 2016. See section 3 for the rates of old State Pension.  
Some of these rules are the same as for new State Pension, including: 
⚫ 
State Pension forecast (section 3.1) 
⚫ 
How to claim your State Pension (section 6) 
⚫ 
Decisions and payments (section 7) 
⚫ 
Change in your circumstances (section 9) 
⚫ 
Other entitlements at retirement (section 10) 
Other aspects of the old State Pension work quite differently to the new 
State Pension rules so read this section carefully. See overleaf for more. 

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Your old State Pension can be made up of a combination of: 
⚫ 
Basic State Pension (section 11.1) 
⚫ 
Additional State Pension (section 11.2) 
⚫ 
Graduated Retirement Benefit (section 11.2) 
⚫ 
Other payments (section 11.3). 
11.1  Basic State Pension 
Category A Pension on your own NI contributions 
You get the full basic Category A State Pension (£169.50 a week) if you 
were paid or credited with 30 years of NI contributions. If you do not 
have enough qualifying years for a full Category A State Pension, you 
get a reduced amount. See section 11.4 for details of the NI contribution 
conditions. 
Category B Pension on spouse or civil partner’s NI contributions 
You may be entitled to an increase of State Pension based on the NI 
record of a current or former spouse or civil partner, or a deceased 
spouse or civil partner. See section 11.6 for more information. 
Category D non-contributory Pension 
This is a non-contributory State Pension for people aged 80 or over 
(although you must have reached State Pension age before 6 April 
2016). If you receive a low State Pension, Category D pension can top it 
up to £101.55 a week. This can also apply if you were previously not 
entitled to State Pension at all. 
To qualify, you must live in the UK on your 80
th
 birthday or the date of 
your claim if later and have lived in the UK for 10 years or more in any 
20-year period after your 60
th
 birthday. In some circumstances, you may 
be eligible if you lived in another EEA country. 
11.2  Additional State Pension 
If you get a Category A or B State Pension, you may get Additional State 
Pension (ASP). You can qualify for ASP even if you do not get any basic 
State Pension. The maximum amount of ASP is £218.39 a week. 
From 1978 to 2002, ASP was built up under the State Earnings-Related 
Pension Scheme (SERPS), and from April 2002, under the State Second 
Pension (S2P), based on earnings above the Lower Earnings Limit 
(LEL).  
LEL is the income threshold dictating when you are treated as paying NI 
contributions as an employee (see section 12.1). 

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State Second Pension

Employees with earnings above the limit were entitled to an extra

earnings-related payment. You can be treated as though your earnings

were equal to this if, throughout the year, you were:

⚫

entitled to Carer’s Allowance

⚫

entitled to long-term Incapacity Benefit (or would have been if you

satisfied contribution conditions)

⚫

paid Severe Disablement Allowance

⚫

paid contributory Employment and Support Allowance in some cases

⚫

awarded Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) (see section 12.3)

⚫

receiving credits as a carer or foster carer or receiving Child Benefit for a

child under the age of 12 (only since April 2010 – see section 12.3).

To qualify for a year of S2P prior to April 2010, you had to fulfil one

criteria for a whole tax year. For example, you could not qualify if you

provided care for part of a year and met the disability conditions for the

rest of the year, or paid NI contributions for part of the year and entitled

to HRP for the rest of it.

Contracting out of the Additional State Pension

When calculating ASP, a deduction is made if you were in a ‘contracted

out’ personal or workplace pension scheme (see section 12.2).

Graduated Retirement Benefit

This taxable pension scheme, sometimes called ‘Graduated Pension’,

existed from April 1961 to April 1975 and was based on graduated

contributions paid from earnings.

11.3 Other State Pension payments

Age addition

An extra 25p a week is paid on Category A and B pensions if you are

aged 80 or over.

Christmas bonus

If you receive State Pension and live in the UK during the qualifying

week (normally the first full week of December), you receive an

automatic Christmas bonus of £10. The bonus is tax-free and has no

effect on other benefits.

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11.4 National Insurance

The amount of old State Pension you are entitled to depends on your NI

contributions record. You can receive the full amount of a Category A

State Pension if you have 30 or more qualifying years.

If you have fewer than 30 qualifying years, you get a reduced pension

provided you have at least one qualifying year. Each qualifying year

entitles you to 1/30

of the full amount.

If you do not get the full amount, you may be able to increase your State

Pension by relying on a spouse or civil partner (see section 11.6) or by

paying voluntary NI contributions (see section 12.4). For more

information about NI contributions and credits, see section 12.

11.5 Putting off or deferring State Pension

If you chose to put off or defer claiming State Pension, you can get extra

State Pension or a lump sum at a later date when you do claim.

For every five weeks you defer, your weekly entitlement increases by

one per cent. This works out at about 10.4 per cent for each full year of

deferral, so deferring your State Pension claim for five years increases it

by just over half. There are no time limits for how long you can defer.

Alternatively, instead of a higher rate of State Pension, you can get a

taxable lump-sum payment plus State Pension paid at the normal weekly

rate.

The lump sum is calculated based on the amount of unpaid State

Pension and a compounded interest rate of two per cent above Bank of

England base rate.

You must defer State Pension for at least 12 consecutive months to have

the choice of a lump-sum payment.

Category B pensions

If entitled to a Category B State Pension or an increase to your State

Pension based on your spouse or civil partner’s contributions, you may

have chosen to claim this even if they deferred their own State Pension.

Instead, you may have chosen to defer your State Pension and so get

extra State Pension or a lump sum when you start to claim.

If your partner defers their State Pension and you claim a Category A

State Pension on your own contributions, or certain other benefits, you

do not usually get extra State Pension or a lump-sum payment for

deferring a Category B State Pension.

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11.6 Increasing or inheriting from spouse or civil partner

You can sometimes increase or inherit State Pension based on your

spouse or civil partner’s NI contribution record when you reach State

Pension age, known as a Category B State Pension. If you get a State

Pension this way, you can remarry, form a civil partnership, or live with a

partner without losing your entitlement.

Some rules are different for widowers and civil partners who reached

State Pension age before April 2010. Contact the Pension Service or a

local advice agency if this applies to you.

Women married to men

If you are a married woman not entitled to a basic State Pension based

on your own NI record, or it is less than £101.55 a week, you may be

able to get a Category B State Pension. This is based on your husband’s

NI record once he reaches State Pension age, sometimes called the

‘married woman’s pension’. If your husband does not have a full

contributions record, you receive a proportion of it.

If you already receive a Category A State Pension based on your own NI

contributions and your husband claims his State Pension, you are

normally paid any extra Category B State Pension you are entitled to, so

you do not need to make a new claim. You must claim if you do not get

State Pension when your husband reaches State Pension age. You must

claim if your husband defers claiming State Pension, whether you

receive State Pension or not.

Married men, women married to women and civil partners

If you are a married man, or a woman married to another woman or a

civil partner, and your spouse or civil partner was born before 6 April

1950, you are not able to claim State Pension based on your spouse’s or

civil partner’s NI contributions record.

If your spouse or your civil partner was born after 6 April 1950, has

reached State Pension age, and you reached State Pension age after 6

April 2010 (and are not entitled to basic State Pension of at least

£101.55 a week based on your own NI contributions record) you can

claim a Category B State Pension based on their NI contributions record.

If you qualify for a Category B State Pension as a spouse or civil partner,

the rules are in line with those for women married to men.

Note

The rate of £101.55 a week is called a ‘lower rate Category B State

Pension’ and applies if you are currently married or in a civil

partnership. If you are widowed, divorced, or your civil partnership

has been dissolved, see the sections below as you may be entitled

to a ‘basic rate Category B State Pension’ of up to £169.50 a week.

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If you are widowed or a surviving civil partner

If you did not remarry or form a civil partnership before reaching State

Pension age, you may be able to use their NI contributions to increase

your basic State Pension up to a maximum of £169.50 a week.

This applies if you had reached State Pension age when your partner

died. The amount depends on your own, and your late spouse’s or civil

partner’s, NI contributions record.

If you are divorced

If you are divorced but do not qualify for a full Category A State Pension,

you may be able to use your former spouse’s contributions to increase

the amount of basic State Pension to the maximum of £169.50 a week.

Your former spouse’s NI contributions record up to when your marriage

ended is substituted for your own, either from the start of your working

life up to your divorce, or just for the period of your marriage.

If you remarried or formed a civil partnership before State Pension age,

you cannot claim a State Pension on your former spouse’s NI

contributions record. However, if you did so after State Pension age, you

do not lose any State Pension based on your previous spouse’s NI

contributions record.

If your civil partnership has been dissolved

The term ‘dissolution’ is used if civil partners legally separate - it is the

equivalent of divorce for married couples. State Pension rules are the

same as those described for divorced people.

If you separate

If you separate from your husband, wife, or civil partner and you do not

qualify for a basic Category A State Pension, or you are entitled to less

than £101.55 a week, you may be able to claim a Category B State

Pension of up to £101.55 a week when your spouse or civil partner

reaches State Pension age.

11.7 Inheriting Additional State Pension

If your spouse or civil partner dies, you may be able to inherit some or all

of their Additional State Pension. The amount you inherit is added to any

Additional State Pension on your own contributions, up to the maximum

amount a single person could have built up.

In some circumstances, different rules apply for inheriting Additional

State Pension, depending on whether you are a woman whose husband

has died or a widowed man, a woman whose female spouse has died, or

a surviving civil partner. If this applies, seek specialist advice or contact

the Pension Service.

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If your spouse or civil partner died before you reached State

Pension age

The rules are the same for widows, widowers and surviving civil

partners. Providing you did not remarry or form a new civil partnership

before reaching State Pension age, you may be able to inherit Additional

State Pension.

If your spouse or civil partner dies after you reach State Pension

age

You may inherit Additional State Pension if both you and your late

spouse or civil partner were over State Pension age when they died. If

your spouse or civil partner dies when under State Pension age, you

cannot inherit Additional State Pension, unless you are a woman whose

husband has died, or you reached State Pension age on or after 6 April

2010.

11.8 Inheriting a deferred State Pension

If your wife or civil partner received extra State Pension when they died

because they deferred their State Pension, you may inherit some of their

extra State Pension. If they died while still deferring State Pension, you

can choose to receive either a one-off taxable lump-sum payment, or

extra weekly state pension if they deferred for at least 12 months.

If you are deferring your own State Pension, you receive any inherited

deferral payment when you start claiming your State Pension.

If you were widowed or your civil partner died before you reached State

Pension age, you can only inherit a deferral payment if you did not

remarry or form a new civil partnership before State Pension age.

Note

If you are a widower or surviving civil partner who reached State

Pension age before 6 April 2010, you must have been over State

Pension age when your spouse or civil partner died for these

provisions to apply to you.

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12 National insurance contributions and credits

This section explains the types of National Insurance contributions and

credits you can use towards new and old State Pension entitlement.

12.1 Checking your NI record

Check for gaps in your NI record by requesting a statement from HMRC.

You can do this online at www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record or

call the helpline on 0300 200 3500. Request a State Pension forecast for

an estimate of how much you will get when you claim. See section 3.1

for more information.

12.2 NI contributions in work

Employees between 16 years of age and State Pension age pay NI

contributions depending on the level of their earnings. If you are an

employee with earnings of £123 a week or more (the level of the Lower

Earnings Limit in 2024/25), you build up qualifying years that count

towards entitlement to State Pension.

You do not start to pay NI contributions until your earnings reach £242 a

week. If you earn between £123 and £242, you are treated as though

you pay NI contributions and build up qualifying years that count towards

entitlement to the State Pension and other contributory benefits.

When this factsheet refers to people who have ‘paid’ NI contributions,

this includes people with earnings between £123 and £242 a week who

do not actually pay NI but are treated as having paid NI contributions.

Employees pay Class 1 NI contributions as a percentage of earnings,

and these are collected with Income Tax. Employers also pay NI

contributions. If you have insufficient NI contributions for a full State

Pension but have not reached State Pension Age, you may be able to

increase your State Pension by working and paying NI contributions.

Contracting out

A deduction is made from your State Pension if you were in a ‘contracted

out’ personal or workplace pension scheme – for example, a member of

a public-sector pension. This means you paid lower rate NI contributions

into a contracted-out pension, or because some NI contributions were

paid into your private pension rather than going towards Additional State

Pension. It was not possible to contract out of the basic State Pension.

You could you only contract out of Additional State Pension if you earnt

more than the Lower Earnings Limit and paid standard-rate Class 1 NI

contributions. Check if you were contracted out by looking at old

payslips. If the NI contributions line has the letter D, E, L N or O next to

it, you were contracted out. You were not contracted out if it has a letter

A. If there is a different letter or you are unsure, check with your

employer or pension provider.

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You are more likely to have contracted out if you worked in public sector

organisations and professions such as the NHS, local councils and the

civil service, fire services, teachers, police forces and the armed forces.

Self-employed

You no longer need to pay Class 2 contributions when self-employed. If

your relevant profits are at or above the small profits limit, you continue

to have access to State Pension without paying Class 2 contributions. If

your relevant profits are below the small profits limit, you can choose to

make voluntary Class 2 contributions, see section 12.4.

Working abroad

NI contributions paid abroad may help you qualify for State Pension if

you worked in an EEA country, or one with a reciprocal agreement with

the UK.

12.3 NI credits

If you are under State Pension age, you can be entitled to a credit in

place of a NI contribution, if you:

⚫

receive Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit, Jobseeker’s Allowance or

Employment and Support Allowance

⚫

receive Income Support (IS) as a carer, CA or CSP, or would receive

CA/CSP if not for overlapping benefit rules

⚫

do not get CA, CSP or IS but provide care for at least 20 hours a week

for one or more people getting AA, Constant Attendance Allowance

(CAA), DLA middle or high rate care component, PIP daily living

component, ADP or CDP in Scotland, or whose need for care has been

certified by a health or social care professional (‘Carer's Credits’)

⚫

receive Child Benefit for a child aged under 12

⚫

are a grandparent or other adult family member providing childcare for a

child aged under 12 or you are an approved foster carer

⚫

are married to, or in a civil partnership with, a member of the armed

forces and you accompanied them on a posting outside the UK. This is

available to women born on or after 6 April 1953 or men born on or after

6 April 1951 for tax years from 1975/76. The credits are available to

widows, widowers, divorcees and former civil partners provided they

were married or in a civil partnership with the member of the armed

forces at the time of the accompanied posting.

Note

Contracting out was abolished from 6 April 2016 and everyone now

automatically pays standard National Insurance.

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You need to apply to get Carer's Credits, credits as a foster parent or

grandparent. Except for grandparent’s credits, you should apply for these

credits before the end of the tax year following the one in which you are

entitled to them. Late applications may be accepted if there is a good

reason for not applying earlier.

Grandparent’s credits must be applied for after the end of the tax year

following the one in which you are entitled to the credits. You need to

apply for credits for military spouses and civil partners but there are no

time limits for applying. Different credits and paid contributions can be

combined to make a full qualifying year. See www.gov.uk/national-

insurance-credits for more.

Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP)

From 1978 to April 2010, HRP protected the NI contribution record of

people caring for a child or a sick or disabled person. You were entitled

to HRP if you met any of the following conditions, or in some situations a

combination of them, for a whole tax year between April 1978 and 2010:

⚫

received Child Benefit for a child under 16 years of age

⚫

received Income Support and did not need to register for work because

you cared for a sick or disabled person

⚫

regularly spent at least 35 hours a week caring for someone getting AA,

CAA, or DLA middle or high rate care component. You must have been

caring for 48 weeks in any tax year, rising to 52 weeks after 6 April 1994

⚫

you were a registered foster parent.

If you got Carer’s Allowance, you would have received NI credits so

would not need HRP. Whether you have done any work is irrelevant. You

get HRP if you qualify and have not paid or been credited with enough NI

contributions for the tax year to count as a qualifying year.

HRP should be given automatically if you qualified because you were

getting Child Benefit or Income Support as a carer. You must apply for

HRP if you qualified because you looked after someone getting AA,

Constant AA, or DLA, or were a foster parent, or qualified under one

condition for part of a tax year and under another for the rest of the year.

Apply for HRP on form CF411 which you can get from your local

Jobcentre Plus office, by phoning HMRC, or downloading from

www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-insurance-application-

form-for-home-responsibilities-protection-cf411

Action

Apply for Carer’s Credits using form CC1 which you can get online

from www.gov.uk/government/publications/carers-credit-application-

form. Use form CF411A from HMRC for foster parent credits.

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12.4 Voluntary NI contributions

If you are not paying NI contributions and are not entitled to credits or

HRP, you can pay Class 2 or 3 voluntary contributions to protect your

State Pension. You cannot pay voluntary contributions for any year in

which you were only liable to pay reduced rate married woman’s

contributions.

There are time limits for paying voluntary contributions. They must

normally be paid by the end of the sixth tax year after the one in which

they were due. For example, you have until 5 April 2024 to make up for

gaps in your record for the period since the tax year of 2017/18.

However, if you are under the new State Pension system i.e. you

reached State Pension age after 6 April 2016, you have until 5 April 2025

to pay voluntary Class 2 or Class 3 NI contributions for the years from

April 2006 to April 2017. These can affect your starting amount with

respect to the old State Pension entitlement, see section 4.

If you were self-employed but earning below a certain amount, payment

of Class 2 NI contributions was voluntary. You can choose to pay these

retrospectively (within the same time limits as Class 3 above). If you

would be eligible to pay Class 2 contributions, these are cheaper than

Class 3 and if you are paying these in working age, Class 2 also count

towards claims for other contributory benefits.

Sometimes, a small amount of Class 2 or 3 payments can make a big

difference. For example, a few extra weeks NICs may enable a whole

year to count or may take you above the minimum threshold to get any

State Pension. However, at other times, it may make very little difference

to your State Pension entitlement so seek advice.

Action

If your NI contributions are not enough for a full State Pension,

decide whether to make additional voluntary contributions by

weighing up their cost against the potential gains in entitlement.

There may be potential losses in means-tested benefits like Pension

Credit to consider.

Age UK factsheet 19  April 2024 
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Useful organisations 
Citizens Advice 
England or Wales go to www.citizensadvice.org.uk  
Northern Ireland go to www.citizensadvice.co.uk  
Scotland go to www.cas.org.uk  
In England telephone 0800 144 8848 
In Wales telephone 0800 702 2020 
In Scotland telephone 0800 028 1456 
National network of advice centres offering free, confidential, 
independent advice, face to face or by telephone.  
Disability Service Centre 
www.gov.uk/disability-benefits-helpline 
Provides advice or information about claims for Disability Living 
Allowance, Personal Independence Payment or Attendance Allowance. 
•  Attendance Allowance (AA) 
Telephone 0800 731 0122 
•  Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 
If you were born on or before 8 April 1948 
Telephone 0800 731 0122 
If you were born after 8 April 1948 
Telephone 0800 121 4600 
•  Personal Independence Payment helpline 
Telephone 0800 121 4433 
Future Pension Centre 
Telephone 0800 731 0175 
Gov.uk 
www.gov.uk 
Official government website with information about pensions planning, 
State Pension, and workplace, personal and stakeholder pensions.    
HM Revenue and Customs 
www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs 
Contact HMRC for more information about taxes and National Insurance 
contributions. The National Insurance contributions office is listed below.  
HM Revenue and Customs Tax Credits Office 
www.gov.uk/topic/benefits-credits/tax-credits 
Telephone 0345 300 3900 

Age UK factsheet 19  April 2024 
State Pension  Page 26 of 28 
International Pension Centre 
www.gov.uk/international-pension-centre  
Telephone +44 (0) 191 218 7777 
MoneyHelper 
www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement 
0800 011 3797 
Offers information and guidance on different types of pensions. They can 
help you if you want to complain about a workplace or private pension. 
National Insurance Contributions Office 
www.gov.uk/national-insurance  
Telephone 0300 200 3500 
Pensions Ombudsman 
www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk 
Telephone 0800 917 4487 
Free, statutory service investigating complaints about how pension 
schemes are run. 
Pension Service (The) 
www.gov.uk/contact-pension-service  
Telephone 0800 731 0469 
State Pension claim line 0800 731 7898 
Future Pension Centre 0800 731 0175 
Details of State Pensions including forecasts and how to claim. 
Pension Tracing Service 
www.gov.uk/find-lost-pension 
Telephone 0800 731 0193 
Free DWP service that can help to trace an old pension scheme if the 
details are unclear or have been lost. 
   

Age UK factsheet 19  April 2024 
State Pension  Page 27 of 28 
Age UK 
Age UK provides advice and information for people in later life through 
our Age UK Advice line, publications and online. Call Age UK Advice to 
find out whether there is a local Age UK near you, and to order free 
copies of our information guides and factsheets. 
Age UK Advice 
www.ageuk.org.uk  
0800 169 65 65 
Lines are open seven days a week from 8.00am to 7.00pm 
In Wales contact 
Age Cymru Advice 
www.agecymru.org.uk  
0300 303 4498 
In Northern Ireland contact 
Age NI 
www.ageni.org  
0808 808 7575 
In Scotland contact  
Age Scotland 
www.agescotland.org.uk  
0800 124 4222  
Support our work 
We rely on donations from our supporters to provide our guides and 
factsheets for free. If you would like to help us continue to provide vital 
services, support, information and advice, please make a donation today 
by visiting www.ageuk.org.uk/donate or by calling 0800 169 87 87. 
   

Age UK factsheet 19 April 2024

State Pension Page 28 of 28

Our publications are available in large print and

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Next update April 2025

The evidence sources used to create this factsheet are available on

request. Contact [email protected]

This factsheet has been prepared by Age UK and contains general advice only, which

we hope will be of use to you. Nothing in this factsheet should be construed as

the giving of specific advice and it should not be relied on as a basis for any decision

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