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State pensioners and people approaching retirement have been encouraged to check the DWP rules that apply to them. Now is a good time to check as the qualifying rules for the benefit are currently changing.

Pensions expert Hannah Martin, founder of Rich Retiree, warned that people often don't understand how the state pension works and their entitlement. She said: "According to Age UK, one on four people don't know their state pension age. And millions of people don't receive the full amount because they haven't built up enough qualifying years of National Insurance contributions."

It's definitely worth checking what age you can claim the state pension as this may be later than you think. The state pension age is currently increasing, moving up in stages between April 2026 and April 2028, from 66 to 67.

A further increase is also scheduled to take place, with the state pension age to increase from 67 to 68 between April 2044 and April 2046. There has been discussion of bringing forward the move to 68, so this is worth keeping an eye on for any changes to the rules.

Your National Insurance contributions (NI) is another factor that can be complicated to understand. Generally you need 35 years of NI contributions to get the full new state pension, which now pays £241.30 a week.

The full basic state pension pays £184.90 a week, and you typically need 30 years of NI contributions to get this. You can check how much you are projected to get using the state pension forecast tool on the gov.uk website.

This tool will also tell you if you could potentially increase your entitlement. One way to do this is by voluntarily buying contributions to fill any gaps in your record.

However, you can only do this as far back as up to six tax years ago. Financial expert Martin Lewis recently spoke about when it could pay to do this.

State pension payments increase each April in line with the triple lock, which lifted payments 4.8 percent in April 2026. This policy ensures the state pension goes up in line with the highest of 2.5 percent, the rise in average earnings or inflation.

Aside from the state pension itself, Ms Martin warned that many pensioners may not know they could claim extra funds from the DWP. She explained: "Many are also unaware of their entitlements.

"According to the Department for Work and Pensions, around £2.5billion in Pension Credit goes uncollected each year. They estimate that around 910,000 families who qualify for the benefit aren't applying, missing out on an average annual payment of £4,300."

Pension Credit provides top-up to increase your income to a minimum amount, topping it upn to £238 a week for single claimants and up to £363.25 a year for couples. You can get extra amounts added to this depending on your situation, such as an extra £86.05 a week if you have a severe disability.

Claiming the benefit also opens up access to other Government support, such as council tax discounts, housing benefit and a free TV licence for claimants aged 75 and over.

The Government website has a tool you can use to check how much you could get through Pension Credit.