Britons have been warned they may miss out on their state pension payments if they do not take action.

A person can start to receive their state pension when they turn 66 but it’s important to note this does not happen automatically.

An individual has to put in a claim to receive their payments. They can do this once they can do this up to four months before they reach state pension age.

An individual can put in a claim by filling in an online form on the Government website. They will need to provide a code that would have been sent to them in an invitation letter.

The current basic full state pension is £156.20 a week while the full new state pension is £203.85 a week.

A person typically needs 35 years of National Insurance (NI) contributions to get the full new state pension, and if they have gaps in their record they may not get the full amount. Typically 30 years are required on a person’s National Insurance record to get the full basic state pension.

If a person reaches state pension age but is not on track to get the full amount they may want to consider deferring the payments.

A person does not have to do anything to do this. Britons who reached their state pension age on or after April 6, 2016, will get an increase to their state pension for each week it is deferred, provided it has been deferred for at least nine weeks.

Their state pension will increase by one percent for each nine weeks it is deferred, or by just under 5.8 percent for the 52 weeks of a year.

Individuals who reach state pension age before April 6, 2016, will see their pension go up for each week it is deferred once it has been deferred for at least five weeks.

Their state pension will go up by one percent for each five weeks it is deferred, which is a 10.4 percent increase for each 52 weeks.

People may also want to consider voluntarily paying NI contributions, as this may increase a person’s state pension.

Individuals can usually top up their contributions over the past six years but at present this is extended by another 10 years, as far back as the 2007/2008 tax year.

A person can check their state pension entitlement using the state pension forecast tool on the Government website.

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