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State pensioners across the UK over the age of 80, or who turn 80 this year, can get up £5,280 extra added to their pension pot from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The over 80 pension is available to retirees who get a basic State Pension of less than £101.55 per week, or have no State Pension at all.
You’ll get the basic State Pension if you are a man born before April 6, 1951, or a woman born before April 6, 1953, and the amount you get per week is based on your National Insurance record.
If you get the full amount you’ll receive £169.50 per week, which amounts to £8,814 per year. Men born between 1945 and 1951 usually need 30 qualifying years of National Insurance, or 44 qualifying years if you were born between 1945 and 1951.
By comparison, women born between 1950 and 1953 usually need 30 qualifying years, while those born before 1950 need 39.
Pensioners that have less than the full number of qualifying years will get a basic State Pension of less than £169.50 per week. So in the event that your pension payments are less than £101.55 per week and you’re aged 80 or over, you could claim the over 80 pension to boost your weekly earnings.
The amount you’ll get is dependent on how much basic State Pension you get – if any at all – but if you’re getting less than £101.55 weekly, you could get the difference paid up to this amount.
An 80 year old who gets £43 per week basic State Pension, for example, would get an extra £58.55 to top up their weekly amount to £101.55. Over the course of a year, it means you would add up to £5,280.60 extra to your pension pot.
The pension scheme is only available to those aged 80 or over and you cannot claim it if you reached State Pension age – which is currently 66 years old for both men and women – on or after April 6, 2016.
You must have been a UK resident for at least 10 years out of a 20 year period, which must include the day before you turned 80 or any day after, or you were ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK, the Isle of Man or Gibraltar on your 80th birthday, or the date you submitted your claim for the over 80 pension.
Unlike the basic and new State Pension schemes, your eligibility for the over 80 pension isn’t based on National Insurance contributions. Claimants should also note that the over 80 pension counts as taxable income, so if you’re claiming any other benefits these could be affected.
You can apply for the scheme by requesting a claim form from your local Jobcentre Plus, or by calling the Pension Service on 0800 731 7898. The earliest you can submit a claim is up to three months before your 80th birthday, or any time after.
