Overview
- Payments due on Thursday 1 January and, in Scotland, Friday 2 January will be made on Wednesday 31 December, while Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 December payments run as scheduled.
- The full New State Pension currently pays £230.25 a week, equivalent to £921 every four weeks, for those qualifying under the post-2016 rules.
- From April 2026, the full State Pension is set to rise to about £12,548 a year (£241.30 a week) under the triple lock, a 4.8% uplift of nearly £575, though Standard Life warns this remains below minimum living-cost benchmarks.
- The State Pension age will increase from 66 to 67 between 2026 and 2028, with a further rise to 68 planned for 2044 to 2046.
- People at or above State Pension age should stop paying National Insurance and can reclaim any NICs deducted, while deferring a claim increases entitlement by 1% for every nine weeks deferred (about 5.8% a year).