When Is COPE Pension Paid

Find out what the COPE pension is and when you can expect to receive income related to your contracted out years through your workplace pension.

When Is COPE Pension Paid?

If you have checked your State Pension forecast online and noticed a reference to COPE, you might be wondering what it means and when it will be paid. COPE stands for Contracted Out Pension Equivalent, and while it is not a separate pension that gets paid directly, it does play an important role in how your State Pension is calculated.

This article explains what COPE is, how it relates to your pension, and when you can expect to receive payments that reflect your contracted out years.

What is COPE?

COPE refers to an estimate of the amount of pension income you may receive from a workplace or personal pension as a result of being contracted out of the additional State Pension in the past.

Before 6 April 2016, many people were members of occupational pension schemes that were contracted out of the additional State Pension. In exchange, both you and your employer paid lower National Insurance contributions, and your workplace scheme took on the responsibility of providing part of your retirement income.

When the new State Pension system began in April 2016, the government introduced COPE as a way of showing how your prior contracting out is taken into account in your State Pension forecast.

Is COPE a pension that gets paid separately?

No, COPE is not a separate pension and it is not paid by the government. Instead, it represents the amount you are expected to receive from your workplace or personal pension scheme due to the years you were contracted out.

In simple terms:

  • Your State Pension may be lower than the full amount because you were contracted out

  • However, your workplace or private pension is expected to include an amount roughly equivalent to what you would have received from the additional State Pension

  • That amount is referred to as your COPE figure

When is COPE paid?

Since COPE is not a payment made by the government, there is no official COPE "payment date". Instead, the pension scheme you were contracted out into will make its own payments to you when you reach its normal pension age.

The timing of these payments depends on:

  • The rules of your workplace or private pension scheme

  • Whether you take your pension early or late

  • How you choose to take your pension (e.g. lump sum, drawdown, annuity)

You should contact your pension provider to find out when you will begin receiving pension payments related to your contracted out service.

Will COPE affect when I receive my State Pension?

Your State Pension will be paid from your State Pension age, regardless of your COPE figure. COPE does not delay or change the payment date of your State Pension. It simply helps explain why your starting amount under the new State Pension may be lower than the full rate.

For the 2024 to 2025 tax year, the full new State Pension is £221.20 per week. If your forecast is lower than this, it may be due to your years of contracting out.

How do I find out my COPE amount?

You can check your COPE estimate using the government’s online State Pension forecast:

  • Visit www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

  • Sign in using your Government Gateway ID

  • Your COPE figure will appear along with your forecast

The COPE figure is only an estimate. The actual amount you receive will depend on your pension provider.

Does everyone have a COPE figure?

No. Only people who were contracted out of the additional State Pension between the late 1970s and 2016 will see a COPE figure. If you were always in employment that was not contracted out, or you paid full-rate National Insurance, you will not have a COPE amount.

Final thoughts

COPE is not a payment made by the government and does not have a fixed date. It is an estimate of how much pension income you are likely to receive from a workplace or personal pension because you were contracted out of the additional State Pension.

To find out when you will actually receive pension income related to COPE, you should contact the relevant pension scheme directly. Your State Pension will be paid separately from your State Pension age.