Manx State Pension

You can claim the Manx State Pension if you reach state pension age on or after 6 April 2019.

This is the case for men and women born on or after 6 January 1954.

The earliest you can get the State Pension is when you reach state pension age.

If you reached state pension age before 6 April 2019, you'll get the State retirement pension under what we call the 'old rules' instead.

Your National Insurance record

You'll usually need at least 10 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions or credits to get the Manx State Pension.

These could be in the Isle of Man, the UK or in certain other countries which have a social security agreement with the UK.

The 10 qualifying years don’t have to be in a row.

This means that for at least 10 years one or more of the following applied to you:

• you were working and paid National Insurance contributions
• you were eligible for National Insurance credits, for example if you were registered as unemployed, ill or a parent or carer
• you were paying voluntary National Insurance contributions

You might also qualify if you've paid married women's or widow's reduced rate National Insurance contributions.

Working after state pension age

You don't have to stop working when you reach state pension age to claim your State Pension. Any earnings you get don’t affect your State Pension.

You'll no longer have to pay National Insurance contributions on your earnings.

How to claim

You won't get your Manx State Pension automatically - you have to claim it.

We'll send you a claim form 4 months before you reach state pension age. We'll send it to the last address we have for you on our records.

If you haven't received a claim form from us 3 months before you reach state pension age, get in touch with our State Pensions Team by phoning +44 1624 685656 (option 3) or email statepensions@gov.im

You need to claim your Manx State Pension within 12 months of reaching state pension age. If you don't, you may lose money you would otherwise have been entitled to.

If you have paid or been credited with National Insurance contributions in the United Kingdom (UK), you'll need to contact the Department for Work and Pensions about claiming a UK state pension. You can make a claim for a state pension in the UK by contacting the UK Department for Work and Pensions:

• Telephone: +44 191 218 7777
• E-mail: tvp.internationalqueries@dwp.gov.uk
• Write to: International Pension Centre (Claims), The Pension Service 11, MAIL Handling Site A, Wolverhampton WV98 1LW

You can still get a state pension if you have other income like an occupational (works) pension or a personal pension.

Any UK state pension you get won’t affect your Manx State pension and will be paid separately from your Manx State Pension.

You don't need to make a separate claim for the Manx Pension Supplement.

The full amount of the Manx State Pension is £241.50 a week from 8 April 2024.

The amount you get may be higher than this if you have more than a certain amount of Additional State Pension.

Additional State Pension is based on your earnings between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2019, provided you were not contracted-out of 'SERPS' (the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme) or as it's been known since April 2002 the 'State Second Pension'.

But the amount you get may be less than £241.50 a week if:

• You have less than 35 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions in the Isle of Man
  
  
• You were 'contracted out' of the Additional State Pension for any period (you may have been 'contracted out' because you were in a certain type of occupational pension scheme or personal pension scheme)

You may also be eligible for the Manx Pension Supplement in addition to your Manx State Pension.

The actual amount of Manx State Pension you get depends on your National Insurance record in the Isle of Man.

You can find out more in How it's calculated.

Payments of the Manx State Pension can be made:

• Weekly or every 4 weeks (in arrears) into your bank account, or
  
• You can collect them from a post office each week using a MiCard

You will normally get your first payment of Manx State Pension within 5 weeks of reaching state pension age. However it may take longer if you live overseas.

The full amount of the Manx State Pension is £241.50 a week from 8 April 2024.

The amount of Manx Pension Supplement you may get is calculated separately.

What you'll get is based on your Isle of Man National Insurance record.

Valuing your National Insurance contributions and credits before 6 April 2019

Your Isle of Man National Insurance record before 6 April 2019 is used to calculate the 'starting amount' of your Manx State Pension.

Your starting amount will be the higher of:

• the amount you would have got under the old State Retirement Pension rules (which includes basic state pension and additional state pension); or
  
  
• the amount you would get on your record to 5 April 2019 if the new Manx State Pension had been in place since the start of your working life

Your starting amount will include a deduction if you were contracted out of the Additional State Pension. You may have been contracted out of the Additional State Pension because you were in a certain type of occupational pension scheme or personal pension scheme.

If your starting amount is less than the full amount of the Manx State Pension

You may be able to get more Manx State Pension by adding more qualifying years to your National Insurance record from 6 April 2019.

You can do this until you reach either the full amount of the Manx State Pension or state pension age - whichever comes first.

Each qualifying year on your National Insurance record from 6 April 2019 will add about £6.90 a week to your Manx State Pension. The exact amount you get is calculated by dividing £241.50 by 35 and then multiplying by the number of qualifying years you have after 5 April 2019.

These figures are likely to change over time due to inflation.

Example

You had a starting amount from your Isle of Man National Insurance record before 6 April 2019 of £130 a week.

You have another 5 qualifying years on your National Insurance record after 5 April 2019 (each year adding about £6.90 a week to your Manx State Pension) equalling £34.50 a week.

This adds up to about £164.50 a week for your Manx State Pension.

The figures shown above may be adjusted to account for inflation.

Any Manx Pension Supplement you're entitled to is paid on top of this.

If your starting amount is more than the full amount of the Manx State Pension

The part of your starting amount which is above the full amount of the Manx State Pension (£241.50 a week, from 8 April 2024) is called your 'protected payment'. This is paid on top of the full amount of the Manx State Pension.

If your starting amount is more than the full amount of the Manx State Pension any qualifying years of National Insurance contributions you have after 5 April 2019 will not add more to your Manx State Pension.

If you didn’t pay any National Insurance contributions or get any National Insurance credits before 6 April 2019

This will be the case if you were born after 5 April 2003 or become resident in the Isle of Man after 5 April 2019.

Your state pension will be calculated entirely under the new Manx State Pension rules.

You'll usually need at least 10 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions or credits to get any Manx State Pension. These could be in the Isle of Man, the UK or in certain other countries which have a social security agreement with the UK.

The 10 qualifying years don't have to be in a row.

You'll need at least 35 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions or credits in the Isle of Man to get the full amount of the Manx State Pension.

You'll get a proportion of the Manx State Pension if you have between 10 and 34 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions in the Isle of Man.

Example

You have 20 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions in the Isle of Man after 6 April 2019.

You divide £241.50 by 35 and then multiply by 20.

Your Manx State Pension will be about £138 per week.

The figures shown above may be adjusted to account for inflation.

You'll get a proportion of the Manx State Pension if you have less than 10 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions in the Isle of Man but have qualifying years in the UK or in certain other countries that have a social security agreement with the UK, which, when added to the number of years of National Insurance contributions you have in the Isle of Man, amount to at least 10 years.

Your Manx State Pension will be calculated only on the number of qualifying years of National Insurance contributions you have in the Isle of Man.

Example

You have 5 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions in the Isle of Man after 6 April 2019.

You also have 30 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions in the UK.

You divide £241.50 by 35 and then multiply by 5.

Your Manx State Pension will be about £34.50 per week.

The figures shown above may be adjusted to account for inflation.

Your Manx State Pension is more likely to be calculated in this way if you were born after the 5 April 2003 or became a resident of the Isle of Man after 5 April 2019.

Annual increases

The amount of the Manx state pension will usually increase each April.

Get a State Pension statement

You can get a State Pension statement that can tell you how much Manx State Pension you may get. To get a statement of how much Manx State Pension you could get please print the BR19 application form and once completed send to the Income Tax Division, Government Office, Douglas Isle of Man, IM1 3TX. This form can be found at the Income Tax Division's Forms page under the National Insurance drop-down menu.

Your 'starting amount' may include a deduction if you were in certain:

• occupational ('works') pension schemes before 6 April 2019
• personal pensions before 6 April 2012

You may have paid lower National Insurance contributions and paid into one of these pensions instead. This is known as being 'contracted out' of the Additional State Pension and will affect most people who have been in work.

You can check with your pension provider if you've been contracted out in the past. The Pension Tracing Service might be able to find your pension providers' contact details if you've lost contact with them.

Changes to contracting out from 6 April 2019

On 6 April 2019 these rules will change so that if you were contracted out:

• you'll no longer be contracted out
• you'll pay more National Insurance contributions (the standard amount)

Check if you were contracted out

Check your payslips. You were contracted out if the National Insurance contributions code has the letter D or N next to it. You were not contracted out if it has the letter A.

If there's a different letter, check with your employer or pension provider.

You're more likely to have been contracted out if you worked in the public sector, for example:

• a Government Department, Board or Office
• a local authority
• the NHS
• the fire & rescue service
• the civil service
• teaching
• police force
• the armed forces
  
  

Your Manx State Pension is based on your National Insurance record in the Isle of Man when you reach State Pension age.

You'll usually need to have at least 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get any Manx State Pension.

You'll need 35 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions in the Isle of Man to get the full amount of the Manx State Pension.

You may get less than the full amount of the Manx State Pension (£241.50 a week from 8 April 2024) if you were contracted out before 6 April 2019.

You may get more than the full amount of the Manx State Pension if you would have had over a certain amount of Additional State Pension under the old State Retirement Pension rules.

Qualifying years if you're working

When you're working you pay National Insurance contributions and get a 'qualifying year' if:

• you're employed and earning £160 a week or more from one employer; or
• you're self-employed and paying National Insurance contributions

You might not pay National Insurance contributions because you're earning less than £160 a week. But you may still get a qualifying year if you earn between £123 and £160 a week from one employer.

The above amounts relate to the 2024/25 tax year. The amounts for earlier years were less than these. The amounts for future years are likely to be more.

Qualifying years if you're not working

You may get National Insurance credits if you can’t work - for example, because of illness or disability, or if you're a carer or you're unemployed.

For example, you can get National Insurance credits if you get:

• Child Benefit for a child under 12 years old (or under 16 for periods before April 2010)
• Jobseeker's Allowance
• Incapacity Benefit
• Carer's Allowance

You're not working or eligible for National Insurance credits

You may be able to pay voluntary National Insurance contributions if you're not in one of the above groups but you want to increase your Manx State Pension amount.

Gaps in your National Insurance record

You can have gaps in your National Insurance record but still get the full amount of the Manx State Pension.

You can get a State Pension statement that can tell you how much new State Pension you may get. To get a statement of how much IOM State Pension you could get please print the BR19 application form and once completed send to the Income Tax Division, Government Office, Douglas Isle of Man, IM1 3TX. The form can be found at the Income Tax Division's Forms page under the National Insurance drop-down menu.

If you have gaps in your National Insurance record that would prevent you from getting the full amount of the Manx State Pension, you may be able to:

• Get National Insurance credits
• Make voluntary National Insurance contributions

You might be able to inherit an extra payment on top of your Manx State Pension if you're widowed.

You will not be able to inherit any extra payment if you remarry or form a new civil partnership before you reach State Pension age.

Inheriting Additional State Pension

You might inherit part of your deceased partner's Additional State Pension if your marriage or civil partnership with them began before 6 April 2019 and one of the following applies:

• your partner reached State Pension age before 6 April 2019
• they died before 6 April 2019 but would have reached State Pension age on or after that date

Any amount you inherit will be paid with your Manx State Pension.

Inheriting a protected payment

You'll inherit half of your partner's protected payment if your marriage or civil partnership with them began before 6 April 2019 and:

• their State Pension age is on or after 6 April 2019
• they died on or after 6 April 2019

It will be paid with your State Pension.

Inheriting extra State Pension or a lump sum

You may inherit part of or all of your partner's extra State Pension or lump sum if:

• they died while they were deferring their State Pension (before claiming) or they had started claiming it after deferring
• they reached State Pension age before 6 April 2019
• you were married or in a civil partnership when they died

Your partner's National Insurance record and your Manx State Pension

Your Manx State Pension is based on your own National Insurance record.

If you paid married women's or widows' reduced rate National Insurance contributions you might be able to increase your Manx State Pension if you're eligible.

If you get divorced or dissolve your civil partnership

The courts can make a 'pension sharing order' if you get divorced or dissolve your civil partnership.

You'll get an extra payment on top of your Manx State Pension if your ex-partner is ordered to share their Additional State Pension or 'protected payment' with you.

Your Manx State Pension will be reduced if you're ordered to share your Additional State Pension or 'protected payment' with your partner.

If you live or work in another country, you might be able to contribute towards that country's state pension scheme.

If you've lived or worked in another country, including the UK, you might be eligible for that country's state pension in addition to your Manx State Pension.

To check if you can pay into or receive another country's state pension, contact the pension service for that country.

Claiming another country's state pension

Depending on where you've lived or worked, you may need to make more than one pension claim.

To make a claim for a UK state pension:

• Telephone: +44 191 218 7777
• E-mail: tvp.internationalqueries@dwp.gov.uk
• Write to: International Pension Centre (Claims), The Pension Service 11, MAIL Handling Site A, Wolverhampton WV98 1LW

You can still get a state pension if you have other income like an occupational (works) pension or a personal pension.

Your Manx State Pension if you've lived or worked abroad

Your Manx State Pension will be based on your National Insurance record in the Isle of Man.

You need at least 10 years of National Insurance contributions to be eligible for the Manx State Pension.

If you don't have 10 years of National Insurance contributions in the Isle of Man you may be able to use time spent in the UK or in certain other countries that have a social security agreement with the UK to make up the 10 qualifying years.

Example

You have 7 qualifying years on your Isle of Man National Insurance record when you reach State Pension age.

You worked in France for 16 years and paid contributions to that country's state pension.

You will meet the minimum qualifying years to get the new State Pension because of the time you worked in France.

But your Manx State Pension amount will only be based on the 7 years of National Insurance contributions you made in the Isle of Man.

Your Manx State Pension if you live in the UK or overseas

You can claim the Manx State Pension whilst living in the UK or overseas.

Your Manx State Pension will increase each year in April, but only if you live in the UK or a country which has a social security agreement with the UK which allows for annual increases.

Your Manx State Pension won't increase if you live in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa or certain other countries.

Your Manx State Pension may be affected if your circumstances change.

The Manx Pension Supplement cannot be paid to you for any periods you live outside the Isle of Man.

You might have to pay tax on your Manx State Pension. However, we won't make any deductions for tax from payments of your Manx State Pension.