For those on the maximum old state pension, the total weekly payment reached £415.44 instead of the £417.66 it would have been if the entire amount had risen by 4.8%.
Not everyone will see their pensions rise this month (Image: Getty)
Approximately 8.2 million pensioners will not receive the full 4.8% state pension increase that came into force on April 6. Fewer than two in five retirees have been given the entire uplift across all parts of their payments, according to analysis of official figures. Millions of other retirees did receive the bumper rise worth up to £575 a year—one of the largest in the past decade—at a time when energy bills are rising and households face another cost-of-living squeeze.
However, swathes of older pensioners are missing out on more than £100 this year because of outdated rules that mean only the core element of their pension is protected by the triple lock. The triple lock guarantees that the state pension rises each year by the highest of earnings growth, inflation, or 2.5%. This year, earnings growth of 4.8% was used, delivering a significantly bigger increase than the 3.8% inflation rate.
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Critically, the triple lock applies only to the basic or “core” state pension linked to National Insurance contributions. Additional earnings-related payments, built up under the old State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme (Serps) and the Second State Pension (S2P), rise by inflation alone.
Younger pensioners who reached state pension age after April 2016 saw their full new state pension jump from £230.25 to £241.30 a week—an annual increase of £575.
Older retirees on the pre-2016 system fared significantly worse. While the basic state pension rose from £176.45 to £184.90 a week under the triple lock, any additional state pension on top increased by just 3.8%.
For those on the maximum old state pension, the total weekly payment reached £415.44 instead of the £417.66 it would have been if the entire amount had risen by 4.8 %. That leaves them £2.22 a week, or £115.44 a year, short. Over 20 years, the cumulative loss exceeds £2,300 before future rises.
The two-tier system stems from the 2016 reforms designed to simplify the state pension into a single flat rate. While the new system is more generous upfront, it creates a widening gulf for those who spent decades contributing to the legacy Serps and S2P schemes.
Analysis of these official figures, revealed by Money Mail and This is Money, shows the extent of this disparity. Baroness Ros Altmann, a former pensions minister, said: “The triple lock is a bit of a con trick.
Older pensioners don’t benefit nearly as much from the triple lock as younger ones. The poorest and eldest are less protected than the youngest and better off. We need a proper review.”
The shortfall will be felt keenly as pensioners, who typically have lower incomes, struggle to cope with rising energy, food, and fuel costs linked to the oil crisis triggered by the Iran war.
This geopolitical instability has placed immense pressure on fixed-income households.
Former pensions minister Steve Webb said: “Many would prefer the whole pension to rise by the higher rate, but the old state pension as a whole is still increasing faster than inflation.”
Some post-2016 retirees have also been affected. Those with protected payments from the old system and those who deferred claiming their pension saw only the 3.8 % inflation rise on the extra amounts.
Furthermore, the increases push more pensioners closer to paying income tax. The full new state pension is currently just below the frozen £12,570 personal allowance, but frozen thresholds mean low-income retirees could face tax bills from next year, further eroding their real-world gains.