Over a third (38%) of retirees have admitted they did not check their state pension forecast before they retired, Just Group has found.

Research by the retirement finance firm, which surveyed more than 1,000 retired and semi-retired people aged over 55, revealed this figure increased to 40% among those who had not yet reached state pension age (55-64 year olds) and 46% of those who claimed to have retired earlier than they had expected.

This is despite 1.2 million households relying on the state pension as their primary source of income in retirement.

Just Group found that among the two thirds of retirees who checked their forecast state pension income, 17% said it was, at a minimum, £250 less per year than they were expecting.

On the other hand, 9% of retirees said that it was at least more than £250 more per year than they were expecting.

When people started to receive their state pension, nine out of 10 (90%) retirees said that what they received in reality was either the same as or more than the amount they were forecast to receive.

Group communications director at Just Group, Stephen Lowe, said: "It’s easy to see why people may assume they’ll simply get the full state pension, but for many people this won’t be the case. The last thing these households need when they come to retire is the nasty surprise that their state pension is less than they thought.

"The Government offers a state pension forecast service and we urge anyone approaching retirement to use it – ideally in advance of beginning to retire. It will tell you if you are likely to receive less state pension than you thought and that will give you the opportunity to take steps to increase what you will actually receive."

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