STATE pension payments can be altered by when a person was born, with the income likely to be varied for those who were born prior to the 1950s. On top of this, state pensioners aged 80 or over may be eligible for a weekly boost.
UNIVERSAL Credit can be claimed by those who are on a low income or who are out of work and hit additional eligibility criteria. In most cases, the payments cannot be claimed by state pensioners but there are some exceptions to this rule.
| UPDATED: 17:19, Fri, Jan 15, 2021
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State pension income is dependent on National Insurance records, with at least 35 years needed to receive the full amount of £175.20 per week. National Insurance is usually built up as a person works, either for an employer or through self-employment, but records can also be boosted while a person is unemployed.
This works out as 10.4 percent for every 52 weeks of deferment.
While deferring state pensions are usually considered before claiming, it is also possible to pause and defer payments once they have been claimed, which will increase payments once they re received again.
The extra amounts can come through with the regular state pension but those who reached retirement age before 2016 have a unique option for how they can receive income.
State pension payments can be boosted by deferment (Image: GETTY)
Those who reached state pension age before April 6 2016 can take their extra state pension amounts as either:
Higher weekly payments or
Starting amounts can include a deduction if the claimant was in certain:
earnings-related pension schemes at work (such as a final salary or career average pension) before April 6 2016
workplace, personal or stakeholder pensions before April 6 2012
If a worker was invested in these types of schemes, they may have paid lower National Insurance contributions.
Pension amounts can be impacted by private schemes (Image: GETTY)
This is known as being contracted out of the additional state pension and the Government highlights this should affect most people who have been in work.
These rules were changed again in 2016 and those who were contracted out will no longer be going forward and will pay standard amounts of National Insurance.