5. BASIC STATE PENSION AND PENSION CREDIT

Once you reach the State Pension age (currently 65 for men and rising from 60 to 65 for women), you may be able to claim a range of benefits to help you financially.

Under the Pensions Act 2011, women’s State Pension age will increase more quickly to 65 between April 2016 and November 2018. From December 2018 the State Pension age for both men and women will start to increase to reach 66 in October 2020.

These changes affect you if you are:

• a woman born on or after 6 April 1953; or

• a man born on or after 6 December 1953.

Under current legislation, State Pension age is planned to increase to:

• 66 between November 2018 and October 2020;

• 67 between 2034 and 2036 (however, the government has now announced that the increase to 67 will take place between 2026 and 2028. This change to the timetable is not yet law and will require the approval of Parliament); and

• 68 between 2044 and 2046.

The main pension benefits are:

• Basic Pension;

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

• Graduated Pension.

You should also receive Winter Fuel Payment, and extra help (depending on your income) may be available from Pension Credit , Housing Benefit, Local Housing Allowance and Council Tax Benefit (see Chapter 7).

Your right to claim certain benefits changes once you reach the state retirement age. For example, you cannot claim Disability Living Allowance (now Personal Independence Payment) but can claim Attendance Allowance. You cannot claim Statutory Sick Pay or Employment and Support Allowance after the state pension age, but this might be paid for up to a year if you became sick before reaching the state pension age.