The Basic State Pension
The State Pension is a government-sponsored pension.
Your National Insurance Contributions (NICs) go towards building up a basic state pension.
The state pension age is currently 65 for men and between 60 and 65 for women depending on when you were born. This is set to go up to 66 for both men and women retiring from 2020 and is likely to continue to rise in line with life expectancies.
The current maximum state pension is £102.15 a week, but it can be topped up with pension credit to £137.35 if you are single or £209.70 if you have a partner.
New proposals for a simplified state pension would abolish pension credit in favour of a flat-rate basic state pension of £140 per week, with inflation expected to push this up to £155 by 2015 or 2016. The new flat-rate state pension won’t apply to current pensioners and those reaching state pension age before it is introduced.
In order to qualify for a basic state pension, you have to have made 30 years’ worth of National Insurance Contributions. The state pension profiler will tell you what you’re entitled to and if it looks like you’re not going to get a full state pension, you can top up your National Insurance Contributions.
People who have paid less than the minimum NICs level lose out, but under rules introduced in April 2010 parents and carers can build up qualifying years through credits towards their NICs record.
The earliest you can get the basic state pension is when you reach state pension age. Then you have to make a claim to start receiving payments. You should be sent a state pension information booklet with all the relevant forms around four months beforehand. If you haven’t received it you can download the state pension claim form or ring the claim line on 0800 731 7898.
Once the paperwork is complete, you will receive your state pension direct to your bank account, building society or Post Office account every four weeks.
You can choose to defer your state pension and claim it later. This means you will receive either extra money or a one-off taxable lump sum payment when you do claim it.
