PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
State Retirement Pensions (23 February 2017)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to make changes to the state pension rules for cohabiting, unmarried couple to allow a cohabitee to claim extra state pension payments after their cohabitee's decease.

Asked by:
Chris Elmore (Labour)

We have no plans to extend access to state pension based on a deceased partner’s National Insurance contributions to surviving members of cohabiting couples. This is a feature of the old State Pension system for surviving spouses and civil partners who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 and, except as provided by transitional arrangements, will not apply to people in the new State Pension.

Answered by:
Lord Harrington of Watford (Non-affiliated)
2 March 2017