Older state pensioners can receive up to £1,661.76 every four weeks by combining their basic state pension with Additional Pension (AP), a scheme that is no longer available to new retirees.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) pays the old state pension at a maximum of £184.90 per week for those who reached state pension age before April 2016 with a full National Insurance record. By comparison, the new state pension, introduced after 2016, is worth up to £241.30 per week.
What is Additional Pension?
Additional Pension is an umbrella term for several extra pension schemes that older state pensioners could use before the basic state pension was phased out in 2016. These include the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) and the Second State Pension.
Although new retirees can no longer claim AP, those who participated in the schemes, usually through their work, can still receive AP payments from the DWP every week.
Maximum payments and four-weekly schedule
The maximum AP payment is capped at £230.54 per week from April, which is nearly the same as the new state pension rate. This is paid on top of the basic pension amount.
DWP state pension payments are made every four weeks. This means an older pensioner can receive up to £922.16 from AP alone in a four-week period. Combined with the basic pension, the total reaches £1,661.76 per four-week period for those with maximum National Insurance contributions and AP entitlement.
Tax and future outlook
According to consumer magazine Which?, the amount of additional state pension depends on years of National Insurance contributions, earnings, and whether the individual contracted out of the scheme. The maximum AP in 2026-27 is £230.54 a week, not including state pension top-up.
These AP payments are not exempt from tax, and no special exemption is planned for the future.
