State pension steal from April 2026

STATE PENSION STEAL TO COST SOME OVER £12,800

Anyone born 6 April 1960 or later will not get their state pension at 66. They will have to wait up to 12 months after that birthday to qualify, costing them up to £12,849 in lost state pension. 

The rise in state pension age will happen in stages linked only to date of birth. It will be identical for men and women and apply throughout the UK.

            The loss calculations were done by me. An FOI response from DWP is awaited.

The actual loss for any individual will depend on the day of the week which is their payday. That is a weekday from Monday to Friday and depends on their National Insurance number. The loss assumes the individual gets a full New State Pension and assumes that will be £241.05 from 6 April 2026 and £247.10, an increase of 2.5%, from 12 April 2027. The state pension is accumulated weekly so there are four or five weekly payments in a month which accounts for the difference between the minimum and maximum losses.  No account is taken of the up to six days pension that is paid between the birthday and the first payday.

Other losses

The loss of the pension for up to a year is not the only loss for people who reach 66 next year. 

• Winter Fuel Payment is only paid to those who reach state pension age in the qualifying week in September. For winter 2026 the last date to qualify is expected to be 27 September 2026 which will include people born 27 June 1960 or earlier who will be 66 and 3 months. In winter 2027 people born 26 December 1960 or earlier aged 66 and 9 months will qualify. The same rules currently apply to the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment in Scotland. 
• People who work must pay National Insurance contributions until they reach state pension age. They start at 8% on earnings over £242 a week (6% for self-employed) and 2% on earnings above £967 a week. In future people aged 66 will have to pay them until they reaach 67. 
• Bus passes for free travel after 9.30 in the morning in most of England are linked to state pension age. 
• Means-tested benefits such as pension credit, housing benefit, and council tax reduction are all linked to state pension age. Once you reach that age they pay much more than is paid to people below that age who are only entitled to 'working age' benefits. Universal credit is less than half the amount of pension credit and comes with onerous requirements to search for a job even if that seems hopeless in your late sixties.
• The qualifying age for pension credit will rise with state pension age so mixed age couples will have to wait longer for the younger partner to reach it.
• Many company pension schemes and some older public sector pension schemes still pay out from age 65 - or even 60 - leaving a longer gap before the state pension kicks in. 
• Attendance Allowance can only be claimed from state pension age. Younger people must claim Personal Independence Payment (PIP) which is the same amount but can be more for those with mobility issues but which has different tests for entitlement.

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the delay will affect around 600,000 people who reach 66 each year and approximately 5000 men and 3000 women will die at that age before they get their pension. 

The Office for Budget Responsibility estimated in 2025 that the total net savings for the Government from the change would be £10.5 billion in 2029/30.

Don't blame the present Government it was all laid out by George Osborne in the Pensions Act 2014 which brought forward by eight years the rise to 67. He boasted how much money he was saving the Government from a succession of pension age changes. They are all set out in these timetables.

Paul Lewis

29 September 2025

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