Pensions for people reaching State Pension Age before 6 April 2016


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For people who reached State Pension Age before 6 April 2016, including those who defer claiming their state pension:


• a man born before 6 April 1951; and


• a woman born before 6 April 1953.


The main benefits are:


• Basic State Pension;


• Additional State Pension — this used to be called the SERPS earnings-related pension before it was renamed the State Second Pension (S2P) in 2002; and


• Graduated Pension (the forerunner of SERPS if you were working between April 1961 and April 1975).


Basic State Pension


How much do you get?


From April 2011 the government introduced a guarantee (“triple lock”) that the Basic State Pension will rise by the highest of the following:


• earnings; or


• prices (using the Consumer Price Index — CPI); or


• 2.5%.


In 2016-17 the Basic State Pension increase is 2.9%. The standard rate of Basic State Pension for a man or woman with a full contributions record is £119.30 a week. A wife qualifying on her husband’s contributions is entitled to £71.50, making a couple’s pension £190.80 a week.


However, the NPC has warned that while the basic state pension is rising in line with earnings of 2.9%, the state second pension and millions of occupational pensions that are tied to the CPI (Consumer Price Index) are effectively frozen because inflation as measured by the CPI has been so low. The only increase that pensioners receive in April is £3.35 a week for those on a current full basic state pension, with many women getting around just £2. 


“This does very little to address the rising costs of living that millions of older people face and the diminishing real value of their pensions,” says the NPC. 


Who can get it?


Your Basic State Pension depends on the number of years you’ve paid National Insurance (NI) or got National Insurance Credits, for example, while unemployed or claiming certain benefits.


To qualify for a Basic State Pension at least one of the following must apply:


• you were working and paying NI;


• you were getting certain benefits, such as for unemployment, or sickness;


• you were a parent or carer and claiming certain benefits or credits;


• you have a spouse or civil partner whose NI contributions cover you;


• you were paying voluntary NI contributions.


To get the full Basic State Pension you currently need 30 years’ worth of contributions or credits. These are your qualifying years. If you have fewer than 30 years your pension will be less than £119.30 per week. 


You may be able to get NI credits if you are not paying NI, for example, when you are claiming benefits because you are ill or unemployed. Credits can help to fill gaps in your National Insurance record, to make sure you qualify for certain benefits including the State Pension. 


You may be credited with contributions during periods when you are receiving the following benefits: Jobseeker’s Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Employment and Support Allowance, Working Tax Credit, Maternity Allowance, Statutory Sick Pay, Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay, Carer’s Allowance Severe Disablement Allowance, Universal Credit. If you have been a parent or carer you can get NI credits which allow you to build entitlement to the State Pension. You may be eligible for NI credits if you are, for example:


• a parent with a dependent child under 12 years of age;


• an approved foster carer; or


• caring for at least 20 hours per week for one or more severely disabled people.


Increased Basic State Pensions for married women, married men and civil partners


If you’re not eligible for a Basic State Pension or not getting the full amount, you might be able to qualify or top up to £69.50 through your spouse’s or civil partner’s National Insurance contributions if:


• you have both reached State Pension Age;


• your spouse or civil partner qualifies for some Basic State Pension (even if they haven’t claimed it); 


• your wife or civil partner was born after 6 April 1950 (married men and civil partners only).


You do this through claiming your State Pension.


How to claim


You should receive a claim form from the Pension Service four months before you reach State Pension Age. If you have not received it three months before reaching SPA, you should contact the Pension Service claim line (0800 731 7898), or you may suffer a delay in receiving your pension. It is possible to be paid backdated entitlement going back 12 months. 


Topping up your state pension


Until 5 April 2017 a State Pension “top up” (the Class 3A voluntary contribution) is available to those reaching State Pension Age before 6 April 2016. They can top up their State Pension by up to £25 per week. An online calculator showing the contribution rates based on age and how much people wish to increase pension is available at: www.gov.uk/state-pension-topup.


Deferring your state pension


You can defer or postpone drawing your retirement pension for an indefinite period after reaching State Pension Age. This will increase the deferred pension by around 10.4% for every year you put off claiming. You can also get a lump-sum payment if you defer your pension for at least a year.


Over-80s pensions


An extra 25p a week (the Age Addition) is currently added to the Basic State Pension if you are 80 or over. If you are over 80 and not entitled to the Basic State Pension, or only to a proportion of the full rate (up to 60%), you can claim the non-contributory Category D pension for the over-80s. The pension is worth £71.50 a week. You can request a claim form from your local pension centre or benefits office. These pensions will no longer be available for those reaching State Pension Age after 6 April 2016.


Additional State Pension


You are not eligible for the Additional State Pension if you reach SPA on or after 6 April 2016. If you reached State Pension Age before 6 April 2016 and started claiming the Basic State Pension you will automatically get any Additional State Pension you are eligible for, there is no need to make a separate claim. 


The Additional State Pension is an extra amount of money you could get with your Basic State Pension. It is based on your National Insurance contributions. How much you get depends on your earnings and whether you have claimed certain benefits. There is no fixed amount like the Basic State Pension. 


You get the Additional State Pension automatically unless you have contracted out of it (see below). The Additional State Pension is paid with your Basic State Pension. It normally increases every year with inflation, but is frozen this year. The Additional State Pension is made up of two schemes (see below). You might have contributed to both of them, depending on how long you’ve been working. 


The main difference between the two schemes is that since 2002 you would also have contributed to the Additional State Pension if you were claiming certain benefits (see table below).


When you were working Scheme you contribute to When you contribute
2002 to 2016 Second State Pension Employed or claiming certain benefits
1978 to 2002 State Earnings-Related Employed
 Pension Scheme (SERPS) 


Before 6 April 2016 you could build up entitlement to Additional State Pension if you were:


• employed and earning over the lower earnings limit (£112 per week, £486 per month or £5,824 per year;


• looking after children under 12 years old and claiming Child Benefit;


• caring for a sick or disabled person for more than 20 hours a week and claiming Carer’s Credit;


• a registered foster carer and claiming Carer’s Credit;


• receiving certain other benefits due to illness or disability.


Contracting out of Additional State Pension


Employed people did not usually build up Additional State Pension for periods when they were in a pension scheme that opted out (“contracted out”) of Additional State Pension. From 6 April 2012 contracting out of the Additional State Pension was abolished for certain kinds of pension schemes:


• a personal or Stakeholder pension scheme; or


• a “money purchase” or “defined contribution” (DC) occupational pension scheme.


Members of a contracted out workplace pension did not contribute to the Additional State Pension and paid lower National Insurance Contributions. However, contracting out arrangements ended from 6 April 2016 with the introduction of the new State Pension (see above) . 


If you were already contracted out, your National Insurance contributions will increase to your standard rate after this date (www.gov.uk/national-insurance-rates-letters/contribution-rates).

Those previously affected by the abolition of contracting out for some pension scheme members from 2012 should have been automatically brought back into the Additional State Pension from that time and have been building up entitlement. More information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/additional-state-pension/contracting-out.


If you have not yet reached retirement age but wish to know how much you are likely to get from your state pension, the Pension Forecast Service can give you an estimate (www.gov.uk/check-state-pension).