Some older people could be eligible for extra cash on top of their Pension
Pensioners could receive extra alongside their Pension(Image: Getty Images)
Older people in the UK born before a certain date could be eligible to get extra money at the same time as their State Pension. The Additional State Pension is available only to those who claim the basic State Pension, rather than the new State Pension.
This form of pension is provided to those who provided a qualifying amount of National Insurance contributions and were born before April 6, 1951 if a man or April 6, 1953 if a woman. How much extra you’ll get alongside your State Pension will depend on a number of factors.
This includes your earnings, how many years of National Insurance contributions you have, and whether your Pension was topped up between October 2015 and April 2017.
Who is eligible for the Additional State Pension
In order to be eligible for the Additional State Pension, you must have reached the State Pension age before April 6, 2016. If this is the case and you started claiming the basic State Pension, then you should automatically receive the Additional State Pension as long as you’re eligible for it in most circumstances.
Keep in mind that the Additional State Pension is made up of three different schemes, and you may have contributed to more than one. This can include the following three schemes:
State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) – Between 2002 and 2016 you would have contributed if you were employed or claiming certain benefitsState Second Pension – Between 1978 and 2002 you would have contributed if you were employedState Pension top-up – From October 12, 2015 to April 5, 2017 you would have contributed if you reached the State Pension age before April 6, 2016 and opted inWhen you will not get the Additional State Pension
The only time you won’t receive the Additional State Pension automatically, despite being eligible, is if you were contracted out of it. This likely will have happened if your employer ran a contracted-out pension scheme.
If you’re not sure if this applies to you, you will need to contact your pension provider to confirm this. Otherwise, you can check an old payslip which will provide further details of the type of pension you receive.
If you cannot do either of these things for whatever reason, you can use the Pension Tracing Service to find your pension provider’s details. Throughout the duration of a contracted-out scheme, you will not have made any contribution towards the Additional State Pension.
Furthermore, you would have paid lower National Insurance contributions while contracted out. This only applies if you did not pay the reduced rate of National Insurance, were under the State Pension age, or earned between £155 and £770 a week.
However, official guidance notes that the extra pension you get from a contracted-out scheme is generally either the same or more than the Additional State Pension.
Full details of the Additional State Pension can be found online here.