DWP issues pension warning to people reaching retirement age

The State Pension can be claimed by those who have reached the UK Government’s eligible retirement age and who have paid sufficient National Insurance contributions

More than 12.4 million people throughout the UK currently receive crucial financial support through the State Pension, including over 981,000 people living in Scotland.

The State Pension can be claimed by those who have reached the UK Government’s eligible retirement age, which currently stands at 66 for both men and women, and who have paid sufficient National Insurance contributions.

However, as reported by the Daily Record, many people who are approaching this age in 2022 may be unaware that the State Pension is not paid automatically by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Instead, it must be manually claimed, and those who fail to do so may miss out on as much as £185.15 per week.

The reason the payment is not transferred automatically once a person reaches the official retirement age is because many people opt to put off claiming it in order to continue working and add more to their pension pot.

As stated in DWP guidance: You do not get your State Pension automatically - you have to claim it. You should get a letter no later than two months before you reach State Pension age, telling you what to do.

It continues: If you want to defer, you do not have to do anything. Your pension will automatically be deferred until you claim it.

This means that, unless you reply to the letter stating that you wish to begin claiming payments, you will not receive the State Pension.

Putting off claiming could up the amount of money you eventually get each work, so long as you defer for at least nine weeks.

The amount you receive rises by the equivalent of 1% for every nine weeks you defer, which works out as almost 5.8% for every 52 weeks.