State Pension

You usually have to claim your State Pension, it isn’t normally paid automatically, unless you are receiving certain benefits before you reach SPA. You can claim your State Pension even if you are still working. Normally, about four months before you reach SPA, you will be sent a letter from the Pension Service telling you what to do. If you haven’t got a letter three months before you reach SPA, and you want to claim your State Pension, there are three ways to do this:

• Claim your State Pension online, please visit: www.gov.uk/claim-state-pension-online 
• Telephone Monday to Friday, between 8am and 6pm: Telephone: 0800 731 7898 (or Textphone: 0800 731 7339) 
• Form: you can also claim by form, please see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-basic-state-pension for more information. 

You can defer taking your State Pension

 You don’t have to take your State Pension when you reach SPA. If you put off claiming it for at least 9 weeks, you may get extra money. Further information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/deferring-state-pension. You can also contact MoneyHelper on 0300 123 1047 for more information.

Your State Pension is normally paid every four weeks into your bank account.