EXCLUSIVE: A payment top-up that’s only given to certain pensioners won’t be increasing from April.
The 25p ‘addition at age 80’ payment is staying frozen at its current rate (Image: Getty)
A State Pension payment given to pensioners aged over 80 who retired before 2016 will not be going up from April.
The State Pension increases at the start of each new tax year, on April 6, in line with the triple lock. The new rates are determined by whichever is the highest out of the consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation (measured for September of the previous year), average wage growth between May and July of the previous year, or 2.5%. As average wage growth was the highest out of these factors at 4.8%, the State Pension will rise by this amount from April 6.
But one pension payment that won’t be rising from April is a little-known 25p additional payment top-up that is only given to those aged 80 and over, who retired before 2016.
The 25p ‘addition at age 80’ payment for pensioners on the old basic State Pension is included in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits list for April 2026 onwards, but it is staying frozen at its current rate.
Much like the controversial £10 Christmas bonus, the 25p payment has never been adjusted for inflation since it was first introduced in 1971. At the time, pensions were £6 per week, so 25p represented a 4% boost.
The 25p per week payment was introduced in recognition of “the special claims of very elderly people who on the whole need help rather more than others”, and it is still given to some pensioners over the age of 80 today – at exactly the same rate as it was set at in 1971.
The DWP has confirmed it won’t be raising the 25p age addition payout from April, for the 55th year in a row, and has instead opted to increase other elements of support for pensioners.
Explaining the reasoning for keeping the 25p frozen, the DWP said any increase would be paid as State Pension and, as such, would be classed as taxable income, and this could affect other support pensioners can receive as a result.
A DWP spokesman told The Express: “Supporting pensioners is a top priority, and our commitment to the Triple Lock means millions of older people will see their State Pension rise by up to £2,100.
“Thanks to our biggest ever Pension Credit take-up campaign, we have seen an additional 33,500 Pension Credit awards in 2025, worth on average £86 a week, for those who need extra support.”
The DWP added: “Successive Governments have decided not to increase the 25p per week Age Addition payment since its introduction, instead opting to increase the generosity of other elements of support for pensioners.
“Any increase would be paid as State Pension and classed as taxable income which could have an impact on the amount of support people receive through other benefits.”
The full new State Pension, which is available to those who reached State Pension age after 2016, does not include the 25p age addition, but those who already retired before the pension changeover are still eligible to receive their quarter of a pound.
A Research Briefing issued by Parliament in 2013 explains: “The addition has never been increased. It was specifically excluded from the statutory index linking provisions of the Social Security Act 1975 (now replaced by section 150 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992). The Labour Government did float the idea of raising the age addition in their discussion document, ‘A Happier Old Age’, in 1978.
“In May 2012, there were some 3.2 million pensioners aged 80 and over. This would put the annual cost of the 25 pence age addition at some £41 million. If the 25 pence age addition had been increased by the Retail Prices Index (RPI) since its introduction in 1971, it would now be around £3.20 per week. The annual additional cost of increasing it to that amount would be around £500 million.
“Governments of both parties have generally resisted suggestions that the age addition should be increased, either arguing that greater priority should be given to maintaining or increasing the basic rate of benefit, or choosing to target additional resources on older pensioners by other means, for example, through means-tested benefits or lump sum payments, such as the Winter Fuel Payment.”