Overview
- The New State Pension pays up to £921 every four weeks to about 4.1 million people, while the Basic State Pension pays up to £705.80 per pay period to roughly 8.8 million retirees.
- Pension Credit typically takes about 50 working days to process and acts as a passport to extra help such as Council Tax reductions, housing support, NHS discounts and free TV licences for over-75s.
- State Pension entitlement depends on National Insurance history, requiring at least 10 qualifying years for any payment and around 35 years for the full New State Pension, with different outcomes for those previously contracted out.
- Scotland is introducing Pension Age Disability Payment to replace Attendance Allowance, with claims open in Argyll and Bute, Highland, Aberdeen City, Orkney and Shetland.
- MoneyHelper and GOV.UK provide eligibility checkers and step-by-step claiming tools, with advice bodies urging family or friends to help older people who are not online access all available benefits.