Older state pensioners can get extra £5,496 from DWP

Older state pensioners across the UK can get an extra £5,496 per year from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to boost their pension with a single claim. The DWP pays an 'over 80 pension' to retirees aged 80 or over who have a basic State Pension of less than £105.70 per week, or no basic State Pension at all.

The State Pension system in the UK is split into two schemes - basic and new - and which one you get depends on when you retire. Older retirees who were born before April 6, 1951, if you're a man, or before April 6, 1953, if you're a woman, will get the basic State Pension. Following a 4.1% uplift in April this year, this pension is currently worth £176.45 per week if you get the full rate, or £9,175.40 per year.

To get the full payment, men born between 1945 and 1951 usually need 30 qualifying years of National Insurance (NI), 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 years.

Anyone with less than the full number of qualifying NI years will get a basic State Pension of less than £175.45 per week - and if your weekly payments are less than £105.70, older pensioners can top up their earnings by claiming the over-80 pension.

The over-80 pension can give you £105.70 per week in the 2025 to 2026 tax year, or £5,496.40 per year, according to the DWP.

If you're eligible, the amount you'll get depends on how much basic State Pension you get (if any), but if it's less than £105.70 per week, you can get the difference paid up to this amount.

The DWP says an 80-year-old who gets £43 per week basic State Pension, for example, would get an extra £62.70 to top up their weekly amount to £105.70, which would amount to £5,496.40 extra per year in their pension pot.

This pension is only available to people aged 80 or over and you can't 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. The earliest you can claim is three months before your 80th birthday.

The DWP says: "The over 80 pension is a State Pension for people aged 80 or over. To be eligible, you must get either a basic State Pension of less than £105.70 a week, or no basic State Pension at all.

"It can give you £105.70 a week in the 2025 to 2026 tax year. 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.

"You cannot get the over 80 pension if you reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016."

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.