Overview
- Webb’s report calls for heirs to receive payments if a new pensioner dies within five years of eligibility, with similar protection before pension age suggested via bereavement benefits.
- LCP proposes increasing the state pension age by one year every decade to keep average time on the pension at about 20 years.
- The five-year guarantee is modelled on annuity practice, with LCP arguing the cost would be modest because most people live beyond five years after reaching eligibility.
- LCP says the package has been fed into the government’s state pension age review as ministers prepare Budget decisions this month.
- OBR figures show state pension spending has risen to roughly 5% of GDP and could reach 7.7% by the early 2070s, reflecting demographics and the triple lock.