How to get your United Kingdom pension statement

State Pension forecast

Known in English as the State Pension forecast (and National Insurance record). Look for this name on the site — it may not be translated.

• Your National Insurance number (format: two letters, six digits, one letter).
• A GOV.UK One Login, or the older Government Gateway credentials if you still have them.
• An identity document for verification — typically a UK passport or UK driving licence.

1. 1
   Go to the State Pension forecast service

   This tells you what you are on track to receive, at what age, and how many qualifying years you currently have.

   Open this page ↗
2. 2
   Sign in or create a GOV.UK One Login

   Identity verification usually needs a UK passport or UK driving licence. This is the step most likely to block someone who has been abroad a long time.
3. 3
   Read your forecast

   Note two separate figures: the amount based on your record so far, and the amount if you keep contributing to State Pension age. They are not the same, and the difference is the whole point.
4. 4
   Check your National Insurance record

   This lists every year as full, partial or gap. Gaps are what voluntary Class 2 or Class 3 contributions could fill — often the single highest-return action available to a UK expat.

   Open this page ↗
5. 5
   If you can't get online, request it by post

   Form BR19 gets you a State Pension forecast by post, and there is an international version for people living outside the UK. Allow several weeks.

Identity verification fails because you have no current UK passport or licence

Use the postal BR19 route, or contact the International Pension Centre. Do not pay a third-party site that offers to 'retrieve' the forecast for you — the official route is free.

The service asks for a UK mobile number you no longer have

GOV.UK One Login supports an authenticator app as an alternative to SMS. Set that up before travelling if you can.

Your record shows gaps for years you were working abroad

That is expected — working abroad does not automatically build UK NI. Those are exactly the years voluntary contributions may cover, subject to deadlines.

Deadlines for filling historic National Insurance gaps have been extended more than once and are time-limited; treat any deadline you read anywhere, including here, as needing confirmation against GOV.UK before you rely on it.

Upload the statement to your vault and we'll read the figures out of it — balances, benefits, vesting and retirement ages — and tell you what changed since your last one.