State Pension payment rates will change in April following an uprating.
State Pension rates increased by 4.8% on April 6 (Image: Getty)
Older state pensioners will benefit from a weekly cash boost of up to £8.45 extra following a triple lock change that started on April 6.
The State Pension increases at the start of each new tax year in line with the triple lock. The triple lock determines exactly how much payment rates rise each year based on whichever is the highest out of three factors – the consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation (measured for September in the previous year), average wage growth between May and July of the previous year, or 2.5%. This year, average wage growth was the highest at 4.8% so State Pension rates have now increased by this amount, with the uplift reflected in payments from April 6 onwards.
But as the UK’s State Pension system is split into two schemes – basic and new – the amount that pensioners receive in the 2026/27 tax year depends on when you retired.
Men born before April 6, 1951, and women born before April 6, 1953, receive the basic State Pension and will see their pension payments increase by 4.8% from April 6. The increase will take the full basic State Pension up from the current rate of £176.45 per week to £184.90, giving pensioners a weekly cash boost of £8.45.
Over a full year this amounts to a maximum of £9,614.80 in pension payments, up from £9.175.40 previously, giving older pensioners on the full rate an extra £439.40 annually.
But of course whether you get the maximum £184.90 depends on your National Insurance record. To get the full amount, a man born between 1945 and 1951 usually requires 30 qualifying National Insurance years, while men born before 1945 require 44 qualifying years.
For women, you’ll need 30 qualifying years if you were born between 1950 and 1953, or 39 qualifying years if you were born before 1950. If you have less than the full number of qualifying National Insurance years then your basic State Pension will be less than £184.90 per week from April 6 onwards.
As for those getting the new State Pension, the weekly rate has now gone up from £230.25 per week to £241.30, giving pensioners a weekly increase of £11.05, or an extra £575 annually if you get the full rate.
The figures are based on the maximum possible amount for those with a full qualifying National Insurance record, so those without enough qualifying years will receive less.
Alongside the State Pension increase, MPs also backed proposals to increase other inflation-linked benefits and tax credits by 3.8% from April 6, while Pension Credit increased by 4.8%, meaning it’s now worth an average of £4,300 per year.
Confirming the April changes, Work and Pensions minister Sir Stephen Timms told the Commons in February: “Changes will mainly come into effect from 6 April this year and apply for the tax year 2026-27.
“The order maintains the triple lock – which benefits pensioners in receipt of both the basic and new State Pensions – raises the level of the safety net in pension credit beyond the increase in prices, increases the rates of benefit for those in the labour market, and increases the rates of carers benefits and benefits to help with additional costs arising from disability or health impairment.”