Some older UK pensioners can receive as much as £1,661.76 every four weeks from the state pension system because legacy retirement rules allow certain recipients to combine the basic State Pension with a substantial Additional Pension entitlement.
The figure applies to people who reached State Pension age before April 2016 and qualify for both the maximum basic State Pension and the highest possible Additional Pension payment. The scheme that created these additional entitlements is now closed to new retirees, but existing rights can still produce payments that exceed the standard new State Pension.
Why Some Older Pensioners Can Receive More than Newer Retirees
According to the Express, people covered by the pre-2016 State Pension system can receive a maximum basic State Pension of £184.90 a week in 2026-27 if they have the required National Insurance record.
By comparison, the maximum new State Pension, available under the post-April 2016 system, stands at £241.30 a week.
At first glance, that leaves older pensioners on the basic system receiving substantially less. The comparison changes for people who built up an entitlement to Additional Pension, often through their employment history.
Additional Pension is a broad term covering earnings-related schemes that operated before the introduction of the new State Pension. These included the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme, commonly known as SERPS, and the State Second Pension.
People can no longer start building entitlement under these arrangements.
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Additional Pension Can Add £230.54 A Week
The maximum Additional Pension payment for 2026-27 is £230.54 per week.
That amount is paid on top of the qualifying basic State Pension rather than replacing it. For someone entitled to both maximum amounts, the two components can therefore produce a much larger overall payment than the headline basic State Pension rate suggests.
Consumer magazine Which? explains the AP situation:
“The amount of additional state pension you’ll get depends on how many years you paid National Insurance for, how much you earned and whether you contracted out of the scheme.
“The maximum additional state pension you can get in 2026-27 is £230.54 a week (not including state pension top-up).”
The exact Additional Pension received by an individual can consequently vary substantially. A person’s earnings history, National Insurance contributions and any periods spent contracted out of the additional state pension system can all affect the final entitlement.
How the £1,661.76 Payment Is Calculated
State Pension rates are normally presented as weekly amounts, but payments are generally made every four weeks.
At the maximum Additional Pension rate of £230.54 a week, a four-week payment comes to £922.16.
The maximum basic State Pension of £184.90 a week produces another £739.60 over the same four-week period.
Combining those figures gives:
£922.16 + £739.60 = £1,661.76 every four weeks.
That total represents the upper-end scenario described in the report. A pensioner would need both the maximum basic State Pension entitlement and the maximum Additional Pension entitlement to receive the full amount.
It should not be interpreted as the standard payment for everyone who retired before April 2016. Many older pensioners receive lower amounts because their National Insurance records, earnings histories or contracting-out arrangements differ.
The Legacy System Works Differently from the New State Pension
The distinction stems from the major restructuring of the UK State Pension system in April 2016.
People reaching State Pension age under the newer system generally build entitlement to a single new State Pension rather than a basic pension supplemented by SERPS or the State Second Pension.
Those who retired under the earlier system may instead have several components making up their total weekly entitlement.
This is why comparing only the basic State Pension of £184.90 with the new State Pension of £241.30 can give an incomplete picture. Some pre-2016 pensioners accumulated earnings-related rights that continue to be paid alongside their basic pension.
The arrangement also means two people of similar age can receive very different amounts depending on when they reached State Pension age and what pension rights they built up during their working lives.
Who Can Still Benefit from Additional Pension
Additional Pension is not a new benefit that pensioners can apply for today. Eligibility comes from rights accumulated while the former schemes were still operating.
For those who qualify, the amount should form part of their State Pension entitlement and reflect their historical contributions and earnings.
Contracting out can have a significant effect. Under previous pension arrangements, some workers and employers paid reduced National Insurance contributions because an occupational or private pension was expected to provide an alternative to part of the additional state pension.
That history helps explain why the theoretical maximum does not apply uniformly across older retirees.
For pensioners who did build up the highest entitlement, the sums remain substantial. At the maximum 2026-27 rates cited by Which?, Additional Pension alone is worth £922.16 every four weeks, while combining it with the maximum £184.90-a-week basic State Pension brings the four-week total to £1,661.76.
