Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department provides on (a) how to request a state pension forecast and (b) the process for claiming a state pension.

Customers can request an estimate of their State Pension, which is known as a State Pension Statement, from The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) up to four months prior to reaching State Pension age by: -

• using the DWP online service at www.gov.uk/future-pension-centre or www.yourpension.gov.uk
• by telephoning the DWP Future Pension Centre on 0345 300 0168
• by writing to The Pension Service 9, Mail Handling Site A, Wolverhampton WV98 1LU and requesting form BR19 – Application for a State Pension Statement

Customers can claim their State Pension from DWP when they are within four months of reaching State Pension age by: -

• using the DWP online claim service at www.gov.uk/claim-state-pension-online
• contacting the DWP State Pension claim line on 0800 731 7898 and making a claim by telephone
• by writing to The Pension Service 4, Mail Handling Site A, Wolverhampton WV98 1AG and request a BR1 – State Pension claim form

Customers may be asked to provide documentary verification to support their State Pension claim, depending on the information held by DWP for each respective customer.