Claim your State Pension online

If you are eligible, you can claim your State Pension online but you will need a Government Gateway account. Read on to find out what the steps are and how you can claim your State Pension online.

Get started - register with Government Gateway

Who can use this service?

To use this service you must be resident in Northern Ireland. If you live in Great Britain or are a non-UK resident, use one of the links directly below to claim your State Pension online.

If you are resident in Northern Ireland, you can use the service by continuing on this page.

Who is eligible to claim State Pension online?

To claim your State Pension online you must:

be claiming for yourself
be within four months of State Pension age, or older
not want to defer your State Pension
have a National Insurance number
have a UK bank, building society or Post Office card account
not be receiving, or be in the process of claiming, a State Pension, Graduated Retirement Pension, War Widow's or Widower's Pension, Bereavement Benefit, Carer's Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Income Support, Industrial Death Benefit, Industrial Injuries Disablement Allowance, Jobseeker's Allowance, Pension Credit or Severe Disablement Allowance

Step one: Government Gateway

If you don’t have a Government Gateway account

Government Gateway is a secure route to government services. As part of Government Gateway registration you'll be asked questions to confirm your identity. Once registered, you’ll be sent a user ID and activation code in the post. You’ll need these to use the State Pension online service.

Please do not share the personal information or password you enter with anyone.

If you do have a Government Gateway account

If you already have a Government Gateway account, you'll need to answer additional questions to confirm your identity. You’ll then be sent an activation code in the post to use with State Pension online.

Please do not share the personal information or password you enter with anyone.

Step two: information you need before you can claim your State Pension online

You will need to have the following information to hand when you make a claim:

your National Insurance number
your current address and postcode, plus your last two addresses
your tax reference number (you can find this on HM Revenue and Customs forms P45 or P60, or any letter you’ve had from them about tax)
if you’re married or in a civil partnership (or have been in the past), we’ll need your husband, wife or civil partner’s details (this includes their National Insurance number and the date of your marriage or civil partnership)
if you’re divorced or widowed, your civil partnership has dissolved or you’re a surviving civil partner, we’ll need this date as well
details of any social security benefits or entitlements that you or your husband, wife or civil partner are getting or waiting to hear about
the address of any employer you’ve worked for in the last two years, and the dates that you worked for them
if you’ve ever lived or worked abroad, we’ll need your social security number and the dates you were abroad
our policy is to have all State Pensions paid direct into an account (we’ll need the number for the account you want your State Pension paid into)

Step three: Claim your State Pension by activating your new or updated Government Gateway account

Sample Government Gateway card Log in to your new or updated Government Gateway account and activate it with the code you've been sent. You can then claim your State Pension.

Activate your account and claim your State Pension

Step four: Confirmation your claim has been completed

When you've completed your claim you'll see a screen confirming that it's been submitted and telling you what will happen next.

Return to a claim you have already started

You can go back to a claim you have already started, if you have not submitted it yet. You'll need your State Pension service unique reference number. This was given to you when you last used the service.

Go back to a claim you have already started

Saved a claim before 29 July?

Partially completed claims were deleted on 29 July to allow for a system upgrade, so you'll need to start your claim again.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Service downtime

You will not be able to register or activate your account between 9.30 pm and 7.00 am.

Get advice on benefits

If you would like more information on benefits use the benefits adviser, an online service to help you find out which benefits you may be entitled to.