Frequently Asked Questions

Your State Pension age depends on your date of birth:

• Born before 6 April 1960: Age 66
• Born 6 April 1960 to 5 April 1961: Age 66 to 67 (gradual increase)
• Born on or after 6 April 1961: Age 67

Use our State Pension Age Calculator to find your exact date.

You need 35 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions to get the full new State Pension, which is £230.25 per week (£11,973 per year) for 2025/26.

You need a minimum of 10 qualifying years to get any State Pension. With 10-34 years, you'll get a proportional amount.

Yes, you may still qualify through National Insurance credits. You can receive credits for:

• Caring for children (Child Benefit claims)
• Caring for someone who is ill or disabled
• Unemployment while seeking work
• Claiming certain benefits like Universal Credit
• Illness or disability

Learn more about National Insurance credits.

No, you must claim your State Pension. You'll receive an invitation letter about 2 months before you reach State Pension age. You can then claim online, by phone, or by post.

Your State Pension will not be paid automatically if you don't claim it.

State Pension is usually paid every 4 weeks into your bank, building society, or Post Office card account. The standard payment day is Monday, but you can choose a different day.

Payments are made in arrears (after the 4-week period has passed).

Yes, State Pension counts as taxable income. However, it's paid to you without any tax being deducted.

You'll pay tax on your State Pension if your total income (including State Pension and any other income) exceeds the Personal Allowance (£12,570 for 2025/26).

Tax is usually collected through PAYE if you have other income, or you may need to complete a Self Assessment tax return.

A qualifying year is a tax year in which you've either:

• Paid enough National Insurance contributions through employment or self-employment
• Received National Insurance credits (for caring, unemployment, etc.)
• Made voluntary National Insurance contributions to fill gaps

For employees, you typically need to earn above the Lower Earnings Limit (£6,396 for 2025/26) to get a qualifying year.

Yes, you can make voluntary National Insurance contributions to fill gaps. This may be worthwhile if it increases your State Pension.

Key points:

• You can usually fill gaps from the last 6 years
• There's an extended deadline of 5 April 2025 to fill gaps from April 2006 to April 2017
• Class 3 voluntary contributions cost £17.75 per week (£923 per year) for 2025/26
• Always check if filling gaps will actually increase your pension before paying

Read our guide on filling gaps or use our voluntary contributions calculator.

Contracting out was a scheme that ended in April 2016. If you were in a contracted-out workplace pension, you and your employer paid lower National Insurance contributions in exchange for that pension scheme providing benefits instead of the additional State Pension.

If you have contracted-out periods, your State Pension may be reduced even if you have 35 qualifying years. This is called a "contracted-out deduction."

Check your State Pension forecast to see how contracting out affects your entitlement.

Yes, you can defer (delay) claiming your State Pension to increase the amount you receive.

For the new State Pension, your weekly amount increases by 1% for every 9 weeks you defer (approximately 5.8% for every year). There's no lump sum option.

Use our deferral calculator to see how much you could gain.

Yes, State Pension increases every year in April under the "triple lock" policy. The increase is the highest of:

• Inflation (measured by CPI in September)
• Average earnings growth
• 2.5%

For 2025/26, State Pension increased by 4.1% based on earnings growth.

Yes, you can usually claim your State Pension if you live abroad. However:

• Uprating (annual increases): Only applies if you live in the EEA, Switzerland, or countries with specific agreements (e.g., USA, Jamaica)
• Frozen pensions: If you live in countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, or most other countries, your pension won't increase annually

Read our guide on State Pension and living abroad.

For the new State Pension (from April 2016), marriage doesn't directly affect your entitlement—it's based solely on your own National Insurance record.

However, if your spouse or civil partner dies, you may be able to inherit an extra payment if they had a protected payment or deferred State Pension.

Different rules apply to the old State Pension for those who reached State Pension age before April 2016.

For the new State Pension, divorce doesn't automatically affect your entitlement. However, you may be able to use your ex-spouse's National Insurance record to fill gaps in certain circumstances.

State Pension can be considered during divorce settlements as part of pension sharing orders.

Read our guide on State Pension and relationships.

You can check your State Pension forecast online at gov.uk/check-state-pension.

You'll need your Government Gateway user ID and password (or you can create an account). The forecast shows:

• How much you could get
• When you can claim it
• How to increase it (if possible)
• Your National Insurance record

Read our step-by-step guide to checking your forecast.