The additional State Pension is the earnings-linked extra in the old State Pension, built up under SERPS and then the State Second Pension before April 2016.
Anyone whose State Pension began before the new State Pension arrived in April 2016 may be getting some already, without having known its name. Later retirers see no separate payment, but it can still shape their amount. An FCA-authorised adviser can check which of these applies to you, alongside everything else you live on in retirement. Asking for a free phone call takes a minute in this page's enquiry form.
What is the additional State Pension in the UK?
Until 2016 the State Pension came in two layers. The basic State Pension was the flat-rate layer. The additional State Pension was an extra amount on top, and how much you built up depended on your earnings and National Insurance record rather than on a flat rate. GOV.UK describes it as "an extra amount of money you could get on top of your basic State Pension". It was known by different names at different times, because it was really three schemes in a row:
| Period | Scheme | You built it up if |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 to 2002 | State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) | You were employed |
| 2002 to 2016 | State Second Pension (S2P) | You were employed or claiming certain benefits |
| 12 October 2015 to 5 April 2017 | State Pension top up | You opted in, with State Pension age already reached before 6 April 2016 |
The table follows GOV.UK's own (Additional State Pension: eligibility). So SERPS and the State Second Pension are not rivals: one replaced the other, and both end up inside the same additional State Pension. The third row is a different kind of thing, a window in which people already at State Pension age could pay to add to their pension; for paying to fill gaps now, see topping up the State Pension with voluntary National Insurance.
Who built up additional State Pension, and who gets it?
Employees between 1978 and 2016 could build it up, though GOV.UK warns you may not get any for periods when you were contracted out. GOV.UK puts the cut-off by birth date: for men, birth before 6 April 1951, and for women, before 6 April 1953. On GOV.UK's eligibility page, a State Pension age falling on 6 April 2016 or later means the new State Pension instead, with no Additional State Pension.
For the State Second Pension years, GOV.UK lists what counted. At any time between 6 April 2002 and 5 April 2016 you contributed through National Insurance if you were:
- employed and earning at least the lower earnings limit
- looking after children under 12 and claiming Child Benefit
- caring for a sick or disabled person more than 20 hours a week and claiming Carer's Credit
- working as a registered foster carer and claiming Carer's Credit
- receiving certain other benefits due to illness or disability
That list is why carers and parents who were out of paid work in those years, claiming the credits or benefits named, may have built some up. If your own history is mixed, leave your number in the page's form and an adviser can ring you to sort out the pieces.
There is no fixed figure. GOV.UK says how much you get depends on how many years you paid National Insurance for, your earnings, whether you contracted out, and whether you topped up your basic State Pension. GOV.UK adds that even while you were in a contracted-out workplace scheme, and so not contributing, you could in some cases get the State Second Pension, for example if your earnings were low. For these reasons two neighbours of the same age can have very different amounts.
How is additional State Pension paid now?
The answer depends on your State Pension age date.
State Pension age before 6 April 2016. The Additional State Pension "is paid with your basic State Pension into your bank account". You do not claim it separately: GOV.UK says you will automatically get any you are eligible for when you claim your State Pension, and that the Pension Service will write to tell you how much you are getting. Tax follows the same path as the rest of your State Pension (see whether the State Pension is taxable).
State Pension age from 6 April 2016. There is no separate additional pension, but what you built up before that date is not thrown away. DWP's guide explains that if you have qualifying years on your record as at 5 April 2016, a "starting amount" is worked out for you, as the higher of two calculations: the amount you would have had under the previous system up to 6 April 2016, or what your record to that date would give under the new State Pension. It could be less than, more than or equal to the full new State Pension. The guide adds that it is possible to have a starting amount higher than the full new State Pension if you have some Additional State Pension; the difference is your "protected payment".
GOV.UK says a protected payment is paid on top of the full rate of the new State Pension and increases each year in line with the CPI. The new State Pension compared with the old sets out the wider differences, including how contracting out affects each.
Where does contracting out fit in?
GOV.UK says you could only contract out if your employer ran a contracted-out pension scheme, and suggests checking with them. If you were contracted out, part of your National Insurance went towards a workplace or private pension in place of building up additional State Pension. GOV.UK says all contracting out stopped on 5 April 2016, and that most people who were employed before April 2016 were contracted out at some point. The contracted-out State Pension deduction can lower your starting amount under the new State Pension, and what you were owed instead comes from your scheme or provider rather than from the State. The one thing to take from contracting out here is that a gap in your State amount may be filled by a pension you hold elsewhere, which is why it pays to look at both sides together.
How do I find out how much additional State Pension I have?
Start with whether you have claimed yet.
- Not yet claimed. GOV.UK's Check your State Pension forecast service tells you how much State Pension you could get and when. It can be used online or through the HMRC app, and you can instead complete the BR19 form or phone the Future Pension Centre, provided you will reach State Pension age in more than 30 days. Getting a pension forecast walks through it alongside your other pensions, and finding a lost SERPS pension explains what the forecast shows about the SERPS part.
- Already receiving it. Once your State Pension is in payment, the forecast tool is closed to you. GOV.UK says to contact the Pension Service, on 0800 731 0469, or in Northern Ireland the Northern Ireland Pension Centre. Your award letter from the Pension Service is the place to look first.
Then work out whether you were contracted out, because that changes what the State owes you. GOV.UK says you can check with an old payslip, or by calling your pension provider; the Pension Tracing Service might be able to find contact details for providers you have lost touch with. If you were, the money went to a workplace or private pension instead, and finding a lost or forgotten pension covers the search. If the contracted-out money is a pot you are wondering about taking, whether you can cash in a SERPS pension separates the two cases.
Letters from the State and from an old scheme can be hard to tell apart. Using the short form here, you can ask an adviser to go through the ones you hold, free, over the phone.
One practical point on the paperwork: keep the Pension Service's award letter with any statements from old employers' schemes. The letter shows what the State pays; the statements show what a scheme owes you. Together they show the full position.
Common questions on SERPS, S2P and the extra pension
Is SERPS the same as the State Second Pension?
No. SERPS ran first, from 1978, and the State Second Pension took over in 2002; GOV.UK counts both as parts of the Additional State Pension.
Can I still build up additional State Pension?
Not under the schemes in GOV.UK's table, whose periods end in 2016 and, for the top up, on 5 April 2017. Anyone whose State Pension age comes from 6 April 2016 builds towards the new State Pension instead.
I reached State Pension age after April 2016. Did my SERPS years count?
They can. Years on your record before 6 April 2016 went into your starting amount, and any part above the full new State Pension is paid as a protected payment, which GOV.UK says increases each year in line with the CPI.
Is the additional State Pension taxable?
GOV.UK lists it among the pensions you may pay tax on, alongside the basic and new State Pension. The State Pension tax guide sets out how that works.
What happens to additional State Pension when a husband, wife or civil partner dies?
Part of it can sometimes pass to a surviving spouse or civil partner, depending on dates and circumstances. See inheriting additional State Pension.
Why is my additional State Pension different from a friend's?
The Additional State Pension has no fixed amount, so differences in years of National Insurance, earnings and contracting out all show up, and so can whether you opted in to the top up that was open from October 2015 to April 2017.
Where to take the question next
Finding out what you are owed starts with the forecast service or the Pension Service. When State Pension, an old contracted-out scheme and perhaps a private pot all feature, an adviser from the FCA-authorised firm behind the enquiry form here can take in the lot over one phone call, without charge.