State pension payments will increase in April
A DWP minister has urged people to check if they will be affected by a change to the state pension. Top minister Torsten Bell urged people to check online to see if they are impacted.
The minister spoke to the Work and Pensions Committee about changes to the state pension age. The access age for the benefit is increasing from this April, going up from 66 in stages, to reach 67 by April 2028.
The state pension age is going up again from 67 to 68, between 2044 and 2046. Mr Bell spoke about what support is available for people who have to wait longer to retire and stay in work longer as a result.
He also spoke about how people can check if they are impacted by the increase in the state pension age. On this topic, he said that adverts have gone out “encouraging people to go and check their state pension age”. He pointed to how people can do this online.
The minister said: “There are digital tools that enable people to know their state pension age. All people need to do is put their date of birth into the Work out your State Pension age tool and it tells them straight away.” There is a tool to do this on the Government website.
You can use this tool to check your state pension age as well as your bus pass age, when you will qualify for free bus travel. Mr Bell cited a survey that indicated that 96 per cent of people aged 60 to 64 say it is very or fairly easy to find out their state pension age.
The minister said: “That is good news. Our wider work is to drive people to those tools. Some of that is around radio campaigns—you will probably hear some of those—where the evidence shows it is most likely to have an effect. They have higher trust in radio advertising than others.”
Letters going out
He said that the previous Conservative Government had written to everyone impacted by the gradual move from 66 to 67, back in 2016. He said the DWP under the current Government plans to continue to write to people approaching retirement age.
Mr Bell said: “Three million letters have already gone to people who will be in the 67 cohort—the ones that are coming after 2028. I am sure we need to keep doing more on that front.”
The minister said the DWP is also working “closely” with employers to make sure they are aware of the changing state pension age. He explained: “We work with HMRC, who have bulletins that go directly to employers.
“It is important that it is not just about individuals knowing about the state pension age.
“Part of this is about employers expecting workers to either need or want to work later, so the communication is also with them.”
