How to boost your state pension

Low-income earners or those with patchy employment records may be missing out on extra state pension payments.

The government pays all adults a weekly benefit once they reach state pension age, which is currently set at 66.

The state pension is one of the “most valuable benefits” you can access in your lifetime, said the Daily Telegraph.

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Those who qualify for the full state pension will receive more than £10,000 during this tax year, and the amount increases annually by the triple lock, which ensures the payments rise either to match inflation, wage growth, or by 2.5%, whichever is highest. This is to guarantee the state pension does not “lose value in real terms,” Unbiased explained.

There are ways to boost the benefit, especially if you are on a low income.

The government estimates that up to 850,000 people are failing to claim Pension Credit to which they may be entitled. The credit can boost your level of income once you reach state pension age.

Here is how Pension Credit and other techniques can increase your state pension.

Who can claim Pension Credit?

Pension Credit provides extra retirement income if you’re on a low income, explained MoneyHelper, but one in three people who are entitled to it don’t claim. “If you’re one of them, you could be missing out on over thousands of extra income a year.”

The benefit tops up a single pensioner’s income to a minimum of £201.05 per week, and a minimum of £306.85 for couples – or more if a person has a disability or caring responsibilities.

The government is running a Pension Credit awareness campaign to encourage people to use its online Pension Credit calculator to see if they are eligible and how much they could get. “Even a small Pension Credit award can open doors to other benefits – including help with housing costs, council tax, heating bills, as well as up to £600 in extra cost-of-living payments later this year too,” the government said.

How important are National Insurance contributions?

You usually need at least 10 years of National Insurance (NI) contributions to receive a minimum level of the state pension, and 35 years to get the maximum.

You can check your NI record on the government website to see how many years of contributions you currently have. If you don’t have enough for the full state pension, you may be able to top up by buying NI credits.

Those who qualify for NI credits are usually not making contributions because they are not in paid employment, explained Which?. This may be because they are taking time out to look after children, caring for a relative, or are unemployed or ill. People in these situations could be entitled to extra NI credits for free.

The government also lets people buy extra state pension credit. It costs £824 to add an extra year of voluntary NI contributions, which adds £275 a year to your state pension.

Currently, men born after 5 April 1951 and women born after 5 April 1953 can pay to plug gaps in their NI record between 6 April 2006 and 5 April 2016.

This was due to be limited to the previous six years from 5 April 2023 before the deadline was extended to the end of July, explained MoneyWeek, as Department for Work and Pensions phone lines “had become jammed with people seeking to top up their contributions”.

The deadline was moved again to 5 April 2025, providing a “good opportunity to improve how much you will receive in retirement”.

This could be a “no-brainer”, said MoneySavingExpert, if you are near state pension age and don’t have other ways of plugging the gaps.

Is it worth delaying your state pension?

Another way of boosting your state pension is by taking it later.

For every nine weeks you defer your state pension, explained the Daily Telegraph, you can receive an extra 1% back from the government in your payments. This works out at around 5.8% extra each year, added the newspaper.

It may be worth deferring it if you are still working, as any state pension income will be added to your overall taxable earnings. Deferring your state pension until you retire means you could pay less income tax.

But you also need to consider whether the increase in your payments by deferring your state pension could push you into a higher tax bracket when you start claiming it in the future, warned The Times Money Mentor.

If you have already given up work or you are struggling for cash and using private savings, the personal finance website said, “it will probably make more sense to take your full state pension at retirement age.”

Marc Shoffman is an award-winning freelance journalist, specialising in business, property and personal finance. He has a master’s degree in financial journalism from City University and has previously written for FTAdviser, ThisIsMoney, The Mail on Sunday and MoneyWeek.