Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund

Pension age for the UK state pension is 65 for women born since 6 April 1955 and for all men. You can postpone the pension for up to five years but cannot draw it early. During payment, it goes up each year in line with the retail prices index.
The pension is in two parts: the basic pension and the additional pension from the State Second Pension (S2P), formerly the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS). Everybody retiring in the UK who has paid or been credited with enough NICs (national insurance contributions) can claim the basic pension. If you have not paid enough NICs in your working life, it may be possible to do so before you retire. The amount of basic pension from April 2006 amounts to £84.25 a week, with an addition of £50.50 for an adult dependant.
The amount of S2P/SERPS pension depends on your earnings for UK tax since April 1978. If your employer contracted you out, you will lose some or all of your entitlement to the additional state pension whilst you were contracted out. The amount of reduction depends on the period during which you were contracted out. However you will still be entitled to any additional state pension built up before you contracted out.
To find out what your state pension might be, and to ask about paying any missing NICs, get in touch with the DWP Benefits Agency. Their local offices are in the phone book, or you can find contact details from their website at www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/contactus/home.asp