Older state pensioners who do not receive a £574.60 increase to their state pension payments can get a different boost of up to £556 from this month instead. This comes on top of the up to £439.40 extra money they will receive added to their basic state pension payments from April 6 2026 to April 5 2027.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the government will continue with the triple lock boost that will increase state pensioners’ payouts by 4.8% based on the wage growth figures for this year from April and for the foreseeable future. The triple lock has been confirmed to stay in place until at least after the next election.
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It means state pension payments automatically increase each April by one of three metrics: wage growth inflation or 2.5%, whichever is the highest. Older state pensioners currently receive £176.45 per week & this will increase by 4.8% to £184.90. New state pensioners will see theirs rise from the current £230.25 to £241.30 per week. Both of these are the maximum figures for those with a full National Insurance record.
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The full £184.90 will only be given to older state pensioners who have a full National Insurance record. Those with missing or incomplete records will receive less than that. However older pensioners can use Pension Credit to top up their weekly payments to almost the same amount as new state pensioners even if they have a full NI record. Pension Credit is also being increased by 4.8% and will take effect from April 2026.
Pension Credit is not actually triple locked as it increases in line with wage growth. It happens that wage growth is the metric being used for the triple lock this year anyway as it is the highest of the three so it is the same increase. This means that older state pensioners can get up to £566 extra from Pension Credit each year.
The maximum weekly payment increases from the current £227.10 to £238 per week. An older state pensioner could take the extra £440 in their basic state pension bringing their payments up to £184.90 and can also get the extra £566 from Pension Credit on top for an extra £1,006 per year.
To be eligible for Pension Credit you must have no other income. If you have savings over £10,000 your Pension Credit payment is reduced for every £500 you have over £10,000. These figures do not include Additional Pension payments which are payments related to now-defunct employer pension schemes like SERPS or Second State Pension. These are no longer available to new state pensioners but are still paid to basic state pensioners.
