What to do, in order
You are coming up to State Pension age
The State Pension does not arrive on its own, and the thing most often missed is worth several thousand a year to people who assume they have too much to qualify.
Do these first
Not because they are the most important, but because they run out. Everything further down the page will still be there next week.
Claim your State Pension: it is not automatic
You get an invitation letter about two months before, but if it does not come you still have to claim. You can claim up to four months ahead.
Check your National Insurance record before you claim
You usually need 35 qualifying years for the full new State Pension. Gaps can sometimes be filled by paying voluntary contributions, and a small payment can be worth many times its cost over a retirement.
Voluntary contributions can normally only cover the last six tax years.
Then, when you have a moment
Check Pension Credit even if you think you are not poor enough
It tops your income up to a guaranteed level, and there are higher amounts for carers, for people with disabilities and for housing costs. Hundreds of thousands of eligible people never claim it.
Consider Attendance Allowance
For people over State Pension age who need help with personal care or supervision. Not means-tested, not taxed, and it does not matter what you own. In Scotland it is Pension Age Disability Payment.
Claim the free things you are now entitled to
A bus pass, and a free TV licence at 75 if you get Pension Credit. Free prescriptions come at 60 across the UK.
What people are not usually told
- Pension Credit is the gateway benefit: even £1 a week of it can unlock Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, a free TV licence at 75, help with dental and glasses, and the Warm Home Discount.
- Attendance Allowance is not about income or savings. People with their own home and a decent pension qualify all the time and never apply.
- Deferring your State Pension increases it permanently, which can be worth doing if you are still working and would pay tax on it now.
Now check the rest of it
The full check runs through more than fifty benefits, discounts and grants against what has changed. It takes about three minutes, it stays in your browser, and nothing is sent to us or to anybody else.
Only the DWP, HMRC, your council or the NHS can decide what you get. This tells you what to ask for.