Will Sibley 29 May 2025 8:53am BST The state pension is one of the most valuable benefits you can access in your lifetime – but you might have to put in a little extra work to make sure

you’re receiving the maximum amount available to you. If you’re approaching state pension age now is the time to start thinking about whether there’s anything you can do now to increase your

future payments. Even if you’re already claiming the pension, there are still ways you might be able to pocket more. * What is the maximum UK state pension in 2025? * Four ways to get the

maximum state pension * How to claim your state pension WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM UK STATE PENSION IN 2025-26? For the 2025-26 tax year that runs from 6th April 2025 to the 5th April 2026, the

were “contracted out” before 2016 this will affect the amount you get. FULL BASIC STATE PENSION * £176.45 per week * Approximately 9,175.40 per year The basic state pension applies if you

had reached state pension age before the 6th April 2016 (men born before the 6th April 1951, and women before the 6th April 1953). You receive the full basic amount with around 30 qualifying

years of National Insurance contributions, but again, this can vary. You may also receive the additional state pension on top of the basic state pension. Some people have managed to receive

pensions far higher than either the old “basic” or post-2016 state pension. An, admittedly tiny, handful of pensioners receive more than £45,000 a year. You can read more about how they did

it here. FOUR WAYS TO GET THE MAXIMUM STATE PENSION Rather than keeping yourself in the dark about how much you’ll receive from the state in retirement, there are four simple steps you can

take to ensure you earn the highest possible amount: * Consider filling National Insurance gaps * Weigh up whether deferring could work for you * Claim National Insurance credits * Check for

state pension errors 1. CONSIDER FILLING NATIONAL INSURANCE GAPS To qualify for the maximum new state pension, you must have at least 35 qualifying years of National Insurance

contributions, with payments reduced if you have fewer years. You need at least 10 qualifying years of NICs to get any state pension at all. Each qualifying year on your NI record can equate

to roughly £6.58 a week being added to your state pension payments – or £342 a year. You can pay to fill in contribution gaps via Class 3 National Insurance contributions. Buying a full

year currently costs £923 so it’ll take roughly three years to make your money back from the boost. Usually, you can buy voluntary National Insurance credits for the previous six tax years.

Our guide on how to top up your state pension explains how to fill National Insurance gaps, step by step. It’s worth noting in some cases that buying extra NICs will not boost your state

pension payments, such as where you are contracted out. So, make sure you check that you will definitely benefit before you make any payments as you will not be able to get a refund

afterwards. Andrew Tully, of Nucleus Financial, said: “Care needs to be taken as many people will have sufficient NICs to qualify for a full state pension, so have no need to pay more. “Even

if you have gaps in your record you may be able to fill these for free by making sure you have received credits – for example, if you were unemployed, or caring for relatives.” Now read

State pension: How much you'll get and how to claim Read more 2. WEIGH UP WHETHER DEFERRING COULD WORK FOR YOU Deferring your state pension can mean getting higher payments when you do

come to claim. Not only will this give you an eventual income boost, it can be a handy way to minimise tax – for example, if you’re choosing to work beyond the state pension age and are in

danger of being pushed into a higher tax bracket. For every nine weeks you defer your state pension, you can receive an extra 1pc back from the Government in your payments. This works out at

around 5.8pc extra each year. Deferring your state pension does come with a catch: if you die before the “break even point”, you could end up receiving less money overall. Lorna Shah, of

pension provider Legal & General, said given people are now living longer, taking this risk will make sense for many – particularly those who choose to continue working beyond state

pension age. Ms Shah added: “For those keen to retire completely, deferring their state pension might not be suitable unless they have another form of income in place. “However, our research

suggests that an increasingly significant number of pre-retirees are planning to take a phased approach to their retirement, where they lessen their hours and responsibilities rather than

stopping work altogether.” 3. CLAIM NATIONAL INSURANCE CREDITS Paying to fill National Insurance gaps can be pricey, particularly if you’re missing several full years, so the best bet is to

prevent the gaps emerging before you reach state pension age. One way to do this for periods when you’re not in work is by claiming National Insurance credits, which will count towards your

state pension entitlement, and may increase your payments when you retire. While you’ll get credits automatically in some instances, others have to be applied for. You may be able to claim

NI credits for any time you’re not working, including: * looking after a child via claiming child benefit – this can include grandparents * claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance * claiming

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) * receiving statutory sick pay * receiving maternity allowance. These are just a few of the eligible reasons for claiming National Insurance credits.

If you’re providing care, you can also get credits, including if you’re getting carer’s allowance payments or you’re on income support. The box below explains more about how this works

Claiming National Insurance tax credits for caring for grandchildren 4. CHECK FOR STATE PENSION ERRORS Sometimes, no matter how good your pre-retirement planning has been, things can still

go wrong and you may find yourself being paid less state pension than you should be. A number of large-scale state pension errors have been uncovered in recent years, with hundreds of

thousands of people being underpaid. They tend to fall into two main categories: * PARENTS WHO HAD CHILDREN IN THE 1980S AND 1990S: an estimated 187,000 pensioners are receiving reduced

state pension payments due to failures to apply “credits” for time bringing up children. * UNIVERSAL CREDIT ERRORS: these particularly affect married women, widows and the over-80s. You may

be able to detect an error by checking your state pension, but as some errors will have taken place many years ago under now-defunct systems they can be trickier to check. For more details

on these errors, and how to rectify them, see our guide to state pension errors from former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb. HOW TO CLAIM YOUR STATE PENSION When you reach the state pension

age (currently 66), you won’t start receiving your state pension automatically – you have to opt in to claim it. There are three way to claim your pension – by applying online, on the

phone, or by post. When you reach the required age, you should automatically receive a letter inviting you to begin claiming. This will include an “invitation code”. Armed with your unique

code, you can choose one of three ways to claim your entitlement: * Apply online via the government website * Claim by phone by calling the Pension Service on 0800 731 7898 * Claim by post –

but you’ll have to call the Pension Service to request a state pension claim form to be sent to you.