Overview
- Winter Fuel Payments worth up to £300 are being paid now to around nine million over-65s, alongside an automatic £10 DWP Christmas Bonus for people on 24 qualifying benefits.
- From April 2026 the new and basic State Pension will rise by about 4.8% and Attendance Allowance by 3.8%, lifting the top AA award to roughly £5,959 a year.
- Experts warn the full new State Pension is on course to overtake the frozen £12,570 personal allowance around April 2027, which would bring some retirees with small extra incomes into income tax.
- Budget papers confirm a pledge to waive tax and paperwork for those whose sole income is the state pension if it exceeds the allowance, with further details to be set out next year.
- Pension Credit remains a key passport benefit averaging about £4,300 a year, the over-80 top-up can raise weekly payments to £105.70, and Scotland is transitioning claimants to Pension Age Disability Payment by the end of December.