This article is simplified version of the British rules for eligibility to the state pension (New State Pension) in/ from Great Britain. Despite best efforts to correct interpretation of the rules, information in this article can not be considered legal advice therefore the author does not bear any legal responsibility for the correctness of the information provided.

Updated: 21st of April 2023

Many people assume that when they work, their years worked are automatically recognised for their future pension which they are to be eligible for. In many cases, it does not have to be so!

Summary of current rules and explanations

Automatic eligibility:

to partial British state pension is gained if you have accounted for 10 full tax years on your state pension account. It does not matter whether or not the 10 full tax years are gained together or with gaps in between years – you need to have accounted for at least 10 of them. You will get the money paid in/ from Great Britain when you reach your British state pension age and in amounts as explained below.

Potential eligibility:

to partial British state pension is gained if you have accounted for at least 1 full tax year on your state pension account. For example, if you have accounted for 4 full tax years in Great Britain and further 6 full tax years (10 in total needed for eligibility to British state pension) are gained abroad, these 6 years from abroad get included into your “years needed for eligibility” in Great Britain as well however the amounts of state pension from Great Britain will correspond only to amounts for the 4 full years only. You will get your state pension money paid in/ from Great Britain when you reach your British state pension age and in amounts as explained below.

Important: HMRC confirmed that the rules for the “potential eligibility” are still the same as before BREXIT, however they may change in the future. So far, HMRC were unable to tell if or when they are to change.

Please beware! Only full years are taken into account for eligibility to the state pension and I would advise you to take the following,

Recommended steps:

1) check on your state pension account online, or via telephone, or via post:

a) how many years you have accounted for, b) how many of those are full, c) what is your state pension forecast

2) ask for a paper form of your state pension forecast via post – to have a proof for the future

Accounted for year:

means a tax year (6th of April to 5th of April) when your employer paid contributions from your salary (National Insurance Class 1) to HMRC. Self-contributors, either self-employed or payers of voluntary contributions, pay the contributions themselves based on their individual circumstances (NI Class 2, Class 3, Class 4), however, please beware, Class 4 NI contributions do not count towards state pension eligibility.

Please beware – I come across cases when people think “if I work, I have my years accounted for”, however this does not need to be so! There are cases when the employers do not pay the contributions as they should do, or the work is paid cash-in-hand only, or the work is done without work permit.

means accounted for tax year (6th of April to 5th of April) in which you had paid/ received enough National Insurance contributions in order to be eligible for partial state pension.

Gaps within a year (when the year is not full)

This case can happen when, for example, you had a period of weeks/ months without earnings and, at the same time, you did not claim any benefits, or you did not earn enough in that tax year, or you worked cash-in-hand only, or your employer did not pay the required contributions. You can top up your contributions so you do not have gaps in your record.

for the new state pension is 66 years at the moment however yours is individual. You can check yours by clicking HERE. All you need is your date of birth.

Early retirement:

is not possible in terms of getting the state pension early in Great Britain. With other pensions, of which there are more types, e.g. “Workplace pension” (employer and employee pay a certain percentage from wages into workplace pension scheme), or “Private pension” (anyone can pay into one), it is possible to draw money already from 55 (57 from 2028) years of age. Civil servants have own rules and they can draw pension earlier too, depending on their particular circumstances.

How much money do I have to pay (to top up) in order to gain a full year:

That is very individual. For some years, in order for them to be full, you may need to pay only e.g. £30 but for some years, which you may miss completely, you may need to pay more, as explained below. By doing the recommended above steps, you will be able to find out how much you need to top up in order to gain a full year.

Part-time work:

If you work(ed) part-time, or you have more part-time jobs, you should have gross salary of at least £123 per week from at least one job. You will not have to pay National Insurance contributions above this amount up to £242 per week as an employee, however you will get the benefit of paying (your years will be accounted for). If your gross earnings are less than £123 per week, you most probably will have gaps in your record.

Loss of (Pre-)Settled Status:

Eligibility to new state pension does not depend on nationality, only on the number of accounted for full years in your national insurance contributions record.

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