State pension age: How National Insurance is affected by retirement - rules explained

Following this, a NI statement can be requested from HMRC to check if there are any gaps in that record.

Where gaps exist, people may be able to get NI credits or make voluntary contributions.

State pension claims themselves can be made up to four months before a person reaches their state pension age.

The initial payment will come through within five weeks of reaching state pension age and beyond this, they'll be paid once every four weeks.