Does everyone get a state pension?

[Dappy777]

If someone was

• Never registered as unfit to work (but never worked)
• Never a registered carer
• Never claimed any benefits
• Never paid any National Insurance

Do they still qualify for a state pension? Or do they get nothing at all?

OP if you need actual advice (for you or someone you kbow) you should call Citizens Advice Bureau to get all the info as they can tell you based on your actual situation.

If they're in the 40s they still have plenty of time to get a job and to qualify for a state pension of some sort.

You can buy NI contributions to ensure you get the state pension if you don't have enough years contributions. I think it's comparatively cheap to do so compared to the benefit you get, so would be worth investigating what the rules are.

That's true. They're in their 40s so if they paid in from now onwards they'd have 20 years of contributions, which would get them a partial state pension. I just checked and you now need 35 years of ni payments to qualify for a full state pension.

I think they disregard the first £10k of savings and then for every £500 you have over £10,000, the government treats it as £1 of income per week.

The State Pension isn't means tested because it's considered an entitlement if you have paid sufficient NI contributions but Pension Credit is means tested as it isn't based on NI contributions or paying anything into the system.

But if someone has £40,000 in the bank but has paid no NI they get no state pension until that £40,000 has gone? Then they get pension credits – is that right?
NO.
They will never get state pension (or Retirement Pension) unless they have paid in sufficiently to the system.
"Pension Credits" is not the State Pension, there is a means tested benefit called "Pension credit" for those without enough income and with savings below a certain amount.
State pension is based on your NI contributions throughout your working life. Sometimes you can get "credits" towards this, for example while off work sick or while caring and receiving carers allowance.

Sell the property and get somewhere smaller and live off the cash for a while.

Someone who is a British Citizen, but lived abroad all their life until returning to the UK at the age of 67 would be the paradigm for the OPs suggested situation.

Friends have ND daughter who only got diagnosed ASD as an adult, I think. She was encouraged to volunteer and eventually this led to paid part time work. Perhaps a similar route would work

This is indeed the case. Some ppl do just get pension credit, no state pension

The person should have been issued with a National Insurance number in their late teens/early 20s. If they don't have an NI number or have lost their paperwork, they can request an NI number from the Pensions department.

See here: https://www.gov.uk/find-national-insurance-number

Once they have an NI number, they can register for access to the Government Gateway here:

https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

Then they can check their NI record.

If they are 40, they may have been credited three years of NI credits for the years in which they were 16, 17 and 18.

If they have been credited for these three years, that means they would need a further 7 years of Voluntary Contributions (or 7 years of credited contributions in order) to qualify for any state pension.

(Each additional year after 10 years increases the monthly pension by 1/35 of the full state pension.)

For someone aged 40, the state pension retirement age is predicted to be 68 and they need 35 "qualifying years" to be entitled to the full state pension.

We had this situation with our adult child. He has had a chronic medical condition since the age of 12 and has been unable to work. We have chosen to support him financially and provide his care. He has not claimed any benefits since since reaching school leaving age.

Last year, he registered for access to the Government Gateway. He had been issued with a NI number in his teens/20s. He was able to check his NI record and established that he had been credited with 3 years of contributions for the years in which he was 16, 17 and 18.

He established that he would need 35 "qualifying years" of contributions for the full state pension. So he applied to start paying monthly contributions from April this year.

If he continues to pay for these until he reaches state pension age, he would still be 3 years short of 35 years of Voluntary Contributions. So he elected to pay for 3 years of back contributions through HMRC, as a one-off payment, and also set up a direct debit mandate to pay monthly contributions going forward.

Because of the rules for paying missing years before the end of financial year 5 April 2025, he was able to choose to pay the 3 cheapest years. (Normally you can only pay back missing years for up to 6 previous years.)

The Martin Lewis financial site is very helpful about NI contributions, Voluntary Contributions and paying back missing years and the Pensions departments are friendly and helpful, too.

A further point to my post above regarding paying Voluntary Contributions/having credited qualifying years of contributions is that the 35 qualifying years do not have to be sequential and can be a mixture of credited years, NI contributions paid during any periods of work (as long as these are complete qualifying years or any missing weeks paid voluntary to make up a qualifying year) or voluntary contributions.

Just looked it up:
Pension credit is 227.10 per week for a single person
State pension is 230.25 per week for a single person.

So for paying 35 years of NI you get a massive 3.10 per week extra.

If you expect to have an inheritance or savings over £10k, the state pension ignores that whilst pension credit doesn't, so that is one benefit of paying NI for 35 years.
But otherwise I am frankly shocked that there is not a far, far bigger gap between the two rates.

The power of voting. More people should try it.

As things stand, Pension Credit is not covered by Triple Lock, so no guarantee it will rise in line with State Pension.
Of course, triple lock may be removed anyway in the near future.

Yes I’m surprised by that too. Seems little reward for hard work. It is a disincentive to work all those years. It would be outrageous if they started means-testing the state pension. There needs to be some reward for hard work.

Who is going to vote for that ?

Yep, for example the fellas who work cash in hand in Spain all their adult lives, can come back, use the NHS and claim Pension Credit equivalent to a full SP.

Younger voters? Older voters who see it as a strange promise to make when the country is struggling?

But unless something changes (and there is nothing to suggest it will) younger voters will be forever locked out because fewer of them vote anyway, and that is before you consider they are outnumbered by the older voters.

Lots getting a state pension will also be getting an extra bit(s). Mine is called (last time I looked which was admittedly a while ago) State Second Pension. It used to be called SERPS but they changed the name. It's related to earnings as an employee over your lifetime. Last time I checked mine was predicted at about £25/wk on top of basic state pension. And I haven't earned much in the grand scheme of things, so I imagine for some it could be a lot higher.

That is now called Additional State Pension and is only for men born before 6 April 1951 or women born before 6 April 1953.
Most people won't be getting anything extra on the state pension, except whatever private or employers pension they have.

This isn't accurate, SERPS ran until 2002 so some people younger than the dates you quote have it.

On the bright side, from the 2040s onwards, it looks like we will all of us get fuck all. 🌈

Additional State Pension: Eligibility - GOV.UK

It is not for people who retired after 5 April 2016.
So not for all of us who have not yet reached state pension age.