The Additional State Pension is only available to those who reached the state pension age before 6 April 2016 and are receiving the Old State Pension. The Additional State Pension is an extra amount of money paid on top of the basic Old State Pension.

The Old State Pension is designed to provide individuals of state pension age with a basic regular income and is based on National Insurance Contributions (NICs). To get the full basic State Pension, most people need to have 30 qualifying years of NICs.

Claimants will automatically get the Additional State Pension if they are eligible for it. Those who contracted out are not eligible for the Additional State Pension although the extra pension they get from a contracted-out pension scheme is usually the same as, or more than, the Additional State Pension they would have got if you didn’t contract out. The Additional State Pension is paid together with the basic State Pension.

The New State Pension is a regular payment from the government that can be claimed by people that reach the State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016. There is no Additional State Pension if you reach the State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016.

Planning note: 

Anyone that reached the State Pension age before 6 April 2016, will continue to receive the Old State Pension (and not the New State Pension).

Please note that the Old, Additional and New State Pensions are paid without deduction of tax direct to your bank. For 2017-18, if your total income, including any State Pension, exceeds £11,500 you may find that you have underpaid tax in the year. It is possible to estimate this underpayment in advance, which would give you an opportunity to save part of your pension to cover the bill. Please call if you would like our help to crunch the numbers for you.