The triple lock guarantees the state pension goes up by whichever is higher out of inflation (using the previous September inflation figure), wages (average growth between May and July) or 2.5%
The state pension is set to rise by 4.1% – an increase of up to £472 a year for some older Brits – from next week. The state pension increases every April in line with the triple lock promise.
The triple lock guarantees the state pension goes up by whichever is higher out of inflation (using the previous September inflation figure), wages (average growth between May and July) or 2.5%. This year, state pension payments are rising by wage growth, which was confirmed to be 4.1%. The increase will come into play on April 7, as this is the first Monday after the start of the new tax year.
But exactly how much extra you will receive depends on the type of state pension you are claiming, as well as your National Insurance record. There is the new state pension, which is claimed by men who were born on or after April 6, 1951, and women born on or after April 6, 1953. The full new state pension is is rising from £221.20 a week, or £11,502 a year, to £230.30 a week, or £11,975 a year.
Then there is the older basic state pension, which is claimed by men born before April 6, 1951, and women born before April 6, 1953. The full basic state pension is rising from £169.50 a week, or £8,814 a year, to £176.45 a week, or £9,175 a year. These are the maximum amounts you can possibly get from a state pension – you may get less if you don’t have enough qualifying National Insurance years.
For the new state pension, most people need 35 qualifying years on their National Insurance record to get the full amount, and normally ten years to get anything at all. For the basic state pension, if you’re a man, you usually need 30 qualifying years if you were born between 1945 and 1951, or 44 qualifying years if you were born before 1945, to get the full amount.
To get any basic state pension at all, you typically need one qualifying year if you were born between 1945 and 1951, or 11 qualifying years if you were born before 1945. If you’re a woman, you normally need 30 qualifying years if you were born between 1950 and 1953, or 39 qualifying years if you were born before 1950, to get the full amount.
To get any basic state pension at all, you usually need one qualifying year if you were born between 1950 and 1953, or ten qualifying years if you were born before 1950. However, many pensioners face paying tax, as the full new state pension edges closer to the current £12,570 tax-free personal allowance.
Jon Greer, head of retirement policy at Quilter: “The OBR’s latest forecasts confirm we are fast approaching a bizarre tax cliff edge for pensioners. With the state pension forecast to rise by 4.6% in April 2026 under the triple lock, it will land just below the frozen personal allowance.
“That leaves the UK potentially only one year away from pensioners having to effectively hand a portion of their state pension back to the Exchequer in tax, which to many would seem perverse. Reeves had committed to keeping allowances frozen until 2028 but, depending on what the actual uprating figure may be, could look to avoid the full state pension exceeding the personal allowance via the Autumn Statement later this year.
“What was intended as a mechanism to protect pensioners from poverty is now colliding with fiscal drag. This situation is the result of the triple lock producing some significant increases in the state pension due to high inflation and earning figures while the government has failed to uprate tax thresholds in tandem.
“It also adds to the debate of what looks like the inevitable review of triple lock. One potential reform to the triple lock is to link increases to earnings, with a temporary CPI indexation when inflation exceeded wage growth but generally falling in line with long term wage increases, helping align pension growth with the wider economy and creating a more predictable and affordable system.”
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