Additional State Pension is an extra amount of money that could be received on top of basic state pension. However, it’s only available of men born before 6 April 1951 or women born before 6 April 1953. So long as the person qualifies for it they will received the additional state pension automatically, with it being paid with the basic state pension. The rules around date of birth are strict but it is possible to inherit additional state pension from a partner, even if the person inheriting it does not qualify for it themselves.

For those that do qualify for additional state pension it is worth noting that it is made up of three schemes. It is possible that all three of the schemes could have been paid into depending on how long a person worked and if they choose to top up their state pension.

The schemes are split by timings. From 2002 to 2016 the schemes was the “state second pension” and this would have been contributed to if the person was employed or claiming certain benefits at the time.

From 1978 to 2002 the scheme was the “state earnings-related pension scheme (SERPS), this could only be contributed to if the person was employed at the time. From 12 October 2015 to 5 April 2017 the scheme was the “state pension top up”.

This one could only be contributed to by people who reaches state pension age before 6 April 2016 and opted into the scheme.