New State Pension - The Basics

The DWP has published new easy read guides intended to help people to understand the basics. These might be particularly helpful for anyone nearing State Pension age and wanting to know the next steps. There are three guides. They cover:

• what the new State Pension is and who can get it - here;

• how to apply for the new State Pension - here;

• how it pays the new State Pension - here.

And for more information on the new State Pension, please see here.

The guides are very Janet and John but that’s no bad thing.

The State Pension is forever changing and some may be confused as to why the “old” Basic State Pension is currently £137.60 per week while the New State Pension is currently £179.60 per week.

The answer lies in the abandoned State Earning Related Pension Scheme [SERPS] and Additional State Pension that even people at the DWP couldn’t get there head round if the number of incorrect calculations I have seen over the years is anything to go by.