The Additional State Pension is an extra amount of money you could get with your basic State Pension. It’s based on your National Insurance contributions.

How much you get depends on your earnings and whether you've claimed certain benefits. There is no fixed amount like the basic State Pension.

You get the Additional State Pension automatically, unless you've contracted out of it.

The Additional State Pension is paid with your basic State Pension. It normally increases every year by prices - the percentage growth in prices in the UK as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI).

There is no fixed amount for the Additional State Pension.

How much you get depends on:

• how many years of National Insurance contributions you have
• your earnings
• whether you’ve contracted out of the scheme

Get a State Pension statement to find out how much you may get.

How you’re paid

The additional State Pension is paid with your basic State Pension into your bank account.

Once you’ve reached State Pension age and are claiming the basic State Pension you’ll automatically get any Additional State Pension you’re eligible for. There is no need to make a separate claim.

You won’t get the Additional State Pension if you’ve contracted out of it. If you only contracted out for certain periods, you’ll get a reduced amount.

The Additional State Pension is made up of 2 schemes. You might have contributed to both, depending on how long you’ve been working.

The main difference between the 2 schemes is that since 2002 you also contribute to the Additional State Pension if you’re claiming certain benefits.

The State Second Pension since 2002

You contribute towards your Additional State Pension through your National Insurance contributions when you’re:

• employed and earning over the lower earnings limit of £5,668 a year (in 2013 to 2014)
• 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

You’re not eligible if you're:

• employed and earning less than £5,668 per year
• self-employed
• unemployed
• in full-time training

Contracting out of the Additional State Pension

You can only contract out if your employer runs a contracted out pension scheme. Check with them.

If you’re a member of a contracted out workplace pension you don’t contribute to the Additional State Pension for the time you belong to the scheme.

This means that when you retire you either don’t get any Additional State Pension or it might be reduced, depending on how long you contracted out.

You and your employer pay lower National Insurance contributions while you contract out. When you retire, you’ll get a pension from your employer’s scheme.

To contract out you must be:

• earning at least the lower earnings limit of £5,668 a year (in 2013 to 2014)
• paying Class 1 National Insurance (or treated as paying them - check with your employer)

Different rules apply if you’re a member of a salary-related pension scheme before 6 April 1997. These rights, known as the 'Guaranteed Minimum Pension', can’t be taken before age 65 (men) or 60 (women). The Guaranteed Minimum Pension will continue to be paid at these ages even when the State Pension age rises.

You don’t have to do anything.

If you’re eligible, you’ll automatically get it when you claim your State Pension.

After you claim, the Pension Service will write to you and tell you how much you’re getting.

Inheriting additional State Pension

If your spouse or civil partner dies, you may be able to inherit part of their additional State Pension. Contact the Pension Service to check what you can claim and how.

You’re under State Pension age

You may inherit the additional State Pension if you get Widowed Parent’s Allowance. However, if your Widowed Parent’s Allowance ends, the additional State Pension ends too. It may be paid again when you reach State Pension age if:

• you haven’t remarried or formed a new civil partnership
• you were entitled to Widowed Parent’s Allowance when over the age of 45

If you get Bereavement Allowance you’ll not inherit payments from the State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) until you reach State Pension age and only if you haven’t remarried or formed another civil partnership.

If your Widowed Parent’s Allowance or Bereavement Allowance ended before you were 55, the amount of SERPS pension you receive will be less.

You’ve reached State Pension age

The amount you can inherit depends on your spouse’s or civil partner’s date of birth.

You can inherit up to 50% of your spouse’s or civil partner’s State Second Pension.

The maximum amount of additional State Pension you can get is £163 per week from April 2013 to April 2014. This is based on your own and their National Insurance contributions.

Maximum State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) pension you can inherit

The maximum amount depends on the birth date of the person who has died.

Divorce or dissolved civil partnership

If you get divorced or your civil partnership is dissolved the court can decide that your additional State Pension should be shared as part of the financial settlement. You’ll have to fill in form BR20 to give details of your additional State Pension.

Download form BR20 Pensions and divorce or dissolution (PDF, 148KB)