Archive Website of the UK government

Please note that this website has a UK government accesskeys system.

Public services all in one place

Main menu

State Pension can be claimed by people living in England, Scotland and Wales who are within four months of their State Pension age.

To use State Pension online, you must:

be claiming for yourself
live in England, Scotland or Wales
be within four months of your State Pension age
not want to defer your State Pension
have a UK bank, building society or Post Office card account
not be receiving any benefits that affect how your State Pension claim is processed

If you've already started your State Pension claim online you can log in and complete it.

You need to register for State Pension online at Government Gateway. You'll need your:

You will then get a User ID and/or activation code in the post, usually within 7 days - they will arrive separately, for security reasons.

If you already have a Government Gateway ID, select 'Register to claim' and login as an existing user.

If you've already used the Directgov Pension Forecast service you'll be able make your claim straight away.

When you receive your user ID and/or activation code in the post:

make sure you have the information and documents you need to claim State Pension
log in with your User ID and the password you gave when you registered
activate the service
start your claim

You will need to log in within 28 days to activate your account and claim State Pension online.