State pensioners born in these years urged to get extra £5,496 | Personal Finance | Finance

State pensioners born in these years are being urged to get an extra £5496.40 a year if they earn less than a certain amount.

Pension benefits are a complex web of eligibility criteria, pension levels and differing DWP schemes for different groups of people depending on when they were born, when they retired, what their National Insurance record is, and how much they earn now. That’s why five different retired pensioners can all be receiving entirely different amounts from the DWP each week and each year.

But for those aged over 80 – so born in 1945 or any years preceding 1945 like 1944, 1943, 1942 and so on, there is something called the Over 80 pension aimed specifically at boosting pension payouts for those on low incomes over that age. According to the government, to be eligible to claim an Over 80 pension, you must either get a basic state pension of less than £105.70 per week, or no basic state pension at all.

If so, you’ll receive £105.70 per week in 2025 to 2026, which adds up to £5,496.40 across a full year.

Currently, the basic state pension pays a maximum of £176.45 but this is a maximum, not a minimum. You need to have a full National Insurance record of about 35 years in order to qualify for the full amount in the basic state pension. Those with gaps in their record – or no records at all – will get less than that amount, or possibly nothing at all.

The government’s Gov.uk explains: “What you get depends on how much basic State Pension you get, if any.

If you do not get the basic State Pension or you get less than £105.70 a week, you could get the difference paid up to this amount.

“For example, you’re 80 years old and you get £43 a week basic State Pension, your basic State Pension may be topped up by £62.70 to £105.70 a week.”

But you need to meet certain eligibility requirements to get it. The government says: “You cannot get the over 80 pension if you reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016.

“You can claim the over 80 pension if all of the following apply:

• you’re 80 or over

• you do not get basic State Pension or your basic State Pension is less than £105.70 a week in 2025 to 2026

• you were resident in the UK for at least 10 years out of 20 (this does not have to be 10 years in a row) – this 20 year period must include the day before you turned 80 or any day after

• you were ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK, the Isle of Man or Gibraltar on your 80th birthday or the date you made the claim for this pension, if later”

To claim, you need to call the Pension Service on 0800 731 7898.