Despite headline news that the triple lock is set for the scrapheap in future, state pensioners will still be given a handy boost to almost every type of state pension payment come next April, following John Healey’s confirmed Autumn Budget announcements.
While not every state pensioner can get every type of state pension payment, as some depend on your age or your income, these are all of the state pension payments being paid out by the DWP which will be increased from April 6, 2026, by how much, and who could be eligible to receive them.
The triple lock governs most of the boosts, though it doesn’t cover all of them. The triple lock, still in place until at least 2030, is the mechanism by which pension payouts are automatically increased by the highest of three metrics: wage growth, inflation, or a flat 2.5%. But this only applies to the pension payments themselves; other pension-related benefits are not automatically uprated and must be increased directly by ministers.
Basic state pension – £375
The basic state pension is paid out to older state pensioners who retired before April 2016, unless they opted out. The basic state pension is being increased in line with the triple lock, which this year is based on wage growth, as the 3.9% wage growth figure is higher than inflation at 3.5%.
Basic state pension payments are being increased by nearly £375 a year. This will take the maximum payment for a basic state pensioner with a full National Insurance record (roughly 30-35 years of work), up from £184.90 to £192.10 per week.
New state pension – £490
The new state pension is paid to all state pensioners who hit state pension age on or after April 6, 2016. The new state pension is a larger payment, but it does not have some of the perks of the old state pension, such as Additional Pension (AP) payments – more on that below.
The new state pension is also being increased by the same margin as the old one, 3.9%. However, it starts off at a larger payment, so the increase is bigger, at nearly £490 in cash. This would put someone on the full new state pension with a full National Insurance record on course to receive £250.70 per week from next April – up from £241.30 per week currently.
Pension Credit – £483.60
Pension Credit is a pension-age benefit which is means tested. This means that not everyone is entitled to claim it, as it’s only given to those who can prove that their income is below a certain threshold. Income such as savings interest, property income (such as rental income) and of course, work salary, can all disqualify someone from being able to claim Pension Credit.
Pension Credit’s Guarantee Credit element is the most well known. This increases the amount a pensioner receives to almost the same level as a full, new state pensioner. It boosts a pensioner’s income by an average of £4,500 a year, and is intended to lift the lowest-income pensioners to broadly the same level of income as a full new state pensioner, for those without other income to fall back on. It has been increased by 3.9%, the same as wage growth. But this is not triple locked, and if inflation had been higher, wage growth would still have been used.
The Treasury has confirmed that this will result in a £9.30 per week boost to Pension Credit, or £483.60 per year, for a single state pensioner. For a couple, the increase is up £14.15 to £377.40 per week.
All other elements of Pension Credit, such as the uplift for disability, are increasing by 3.5% in line with inflation.
Additional Pension (AP) Payments
AP payments encompass several types of pension scheme run by the DWP in partnership with employers in the 1990s until 2002. Known variously as the Additional Pension, Second State Pension or SERPs schemes, they allowed an employee to be ‘contracted out’, effectively making additional pension contributions through work which the DWP would then pay out on later. Now defunct and not open to new state pensioners, the existing members of these schemes continue to receive payments from the DWP and the amount they are paid continues to be increased for inflation.
Though there is no ‘set amount’ for AP, as it depends on individual earnings, contributions and circumstances, there is a set maximum, and this has been increased by 3.5%.
The increase will mean that the AP payments will go up by 3.5% from their current £230.54 per week maximum to an estimated £238.61 maximum from April 6, 2027 (which is a 3.5% rise), with the final monetary figure set to be confirmed by the DWP before April 2027.
Attendance Allowance
This benefit is claimable by anyone who needs daily help with personal care due to an illness or disability. There are two different weekly rates, and how much you get depends on how much help you need day to day, but it is limited to state pensioners. The DWP will increase the payout for Attendance Allowance by another £4 a week for the higher rate, or £2.70 a week for the lower rate. It’s not means-tested either, which means that regardless of how much income you have, how much you have in savings or what else you own, you could still be eligible for the full benefit from the DWP for those who qualify for both parts.
