The state pensioners missing out on £11,973 DWP payments | Personal Finance | Finance
State pensioners born in certain years are missing out on £11,973 per year in State Pension payments from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The UK’s State Pension system is split into two different schemes – basic and new – and the one you are eligible for in retirement depends on when you were born.
Men born before April 6, 1951, and women born before April 6, 1953, receive the basic State Pension, which is currently worth up to £176.40 per week if you get the full rate. Those who are born on or after these dates are eligible to get the new State Pension and the full rate is worth £230.25 per week. Each pension scheme is paid at different rates, with those on the new State Pension getting up to £53.80 more per week than basic State Pension claimants.
The State Pension goes up at the start of every new tax year on April 6 and this year it was uprated by 4.1%, in line with the annual increase in the average weekly earnings index for May to July 2024.
This uprating has increased the new State Pension from £221.20 to £230.25 per week. It means those who get the full rate will receive £11,973 in pension payments over the course of a year – an extra £470 annually than the 2024/25 rates. But not everyone will get this amount, with basic State Pension claimants receiving £2,979 less – even if they get the full rate.
The basic State Pension has increased from £169.50 to £176.45 per week. This amounts to a total of £9,175.40 in pension payments over a year for those who get the full rate – an annual increase of £360 on last year’s rates.
According to the UK Parliament, an estimated 8.57 million pensioners were claiming the basic State Pension in the 2024/25 tax year, while only 4.38 million were new State Pension claimants. As such, it means almost nine million pensioners are missing out on £11,973 in pension payments per year as they are on the old basic pension scheme.
The DWP said: “Those in receipt of the State Pension and other uprated benefits will see an increase in their next payments following Monday 7 April.
“With uprating in effect, pensioners receiving the full basic State Pension will see their weekly payments rise from £169.50 to £176.45 per week, worth an additional £360 a year. In addition, the full rate of the new State Pension will increase from £221.20 to £230.25 per week, an increase of £470 a year.”
Minister for Pensions Torsten Bell added: “We’re improving the lives of millions of pensioners through our £7.84 billion additional funding for the State Pension this year. That means up to £470 extra in pensioners’ pockets from this week and comes alongside our work to boost Pension Credit uptake, and the £26 billion we’ve invested in the NHS that has seen waiting lists in England fall for 5 months in a row.”
