An ongoing increase to the State Pension age in the UK will affect when pensioners born after August 6, 1960, can start claiming their State Pension from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The increase in the State Pension age from 66 to 67 is currently in progress, having got under way on April 6 this year. The age rise is being phased in gradually in one-month increments over a two-year period that is due to complete in 2028, and will be delayed until people become eligible for their State Pension. For those turning 66 within the two-year transitional period, the point at which they can claim their State Pension depends exactly on when their birthday falls, with the DWP timetable meaning some people will be just a month or two away from turning 67 before they can get their first payment.
The next phase of the age increase will begin this month, affecting anyone born between August 6, 1960, and September 5, 1960, with pensioners due to turn 66 during this period facing an extra five-month wait before they can claim their State Pension.
So if you were born on August 6, 1960, the age increase means you will become eligible to claim your State Pension on January 6, 2027, when you are exactly 66 years and five months old.
State Pension eligibility becomes further delayed the later in the year your 66th birthday falls, increasing by one month each time. It means those turning 66 in the month from September 6 face an extra six month wait, while those turning 66 in the month from November 6 face an extra seven month wait, and so on until the age rise to 67 is complete.
Listed below is the DWP timetable for the State Pension age increse from 66 to 67, which shows when people with birthdays between April 6, 1960, and March 5, 1961 can claim their State Pension:
May 6, 1960 – June 5, 1960: 66 years and 2 months
June 6, 1960 – July 5, 1960: 66 years and 3 months
July 6, 1960 – August 5, 1960: 66 years and 4 months
August 6, 1960 – September 5, 1960: 66 years and 5 months
September 6, 1960 – October 5, 1960: 66 years and 6 months
October 6, 1960 – November 5, 1960: 66 years and 7 months
November 6, 1960 – December 5, 1960: 66 years and 8 months
December 6, 1960 – January 5, 1961: 66 years and 9 months
January 6, 1961 – February 5, 1961: 66 years and 10 months
February 6, 1961 – March 5, 1961: 66 years and 11 months
March 6, 1961 – April 5, 1977: 67 years
The DWP said: “The Pensions Act 2014 brought the increase in the State Pension age from 66 to 67 forward by eight years. The State Pension age for men and women will now increase to 67 between 2026 and 2028.
“The Government also changed the way in which the increase in State Pension age is phased so that rather than reaching State Pension age on a specific date, people born between 6 April 1960 and 5 March 1961 will reach their State Pension age at 66 years and the specified number of months.
“For people born after 5 April 1969 but before 6 April 1977, under the Pensions Act 2007, State Pension age was already 67.”
