Announced But Not Yet Confirmed: £488 Rise For State Pensions

DH will be moaning!

I’m ready to duck for cover and not looking for a fight, but there are many rich pensioners (depending on one’s definition of rich) as some threads and posts on GN show? New cars, second homes, long haul holidays, gifting money and property to AC, etc. Granted, they have decent occupational pensions as well as DWP, but in others eyes, they just see ‘rich pensioners’.
I’m actually quite pleased that pensions are now quite a hot topic amongst youngsters, most of whom I know are already making provisions towards their retirement, one way or another.

I don’t receive full SP as I have contracted out deductions but after paying NIC for 50 years, I have just worked out that 3.9% will give me a post tax rise of £1 a day.

To counter all the bumper rise hyperbole that is bound to come from the media perhaps there should be a pensioner meme showing how we are going to fritter away this largesse.

Right now it’s a toss up between two Conference pears or a pack of Jammy Dodgers.

www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/offers/one-pound

Is this rumoured increase a percentage or £488 across the board?
I have contracted out deductions too.

Never mind, Graphite, it could be two cups of coffee a week!

I agree with Georgesgran that there are wealthy pensioners but it's not because of the state pension. They have workplace pensions as well and some are quite substantial.
Anyone who only has the state pension will not be well off.

If it's a percentage then the gap between the old State Pension and new will widen.
Those with a small works pension, no SERPS, just above the limit for extra benefits, will fall further behind because prices are bound to go up this winter.

I suppose this is to soften the blow that the triple lock is going.
Pensions are not a level playing field so £488 will not be the sum being received by all pensioners.

Whatever I do receive will be added to my WFA and be frittered away trying to keep myself warm as I expect a harsh winter. I think I am classed as a rich pensioner paying taxes and not receiving benefits. I have an Occupational pension. I obviously get colder than somebody who is 79 so that is an extra £!00. That amount doesn't rise as I age, unfortunately.

JenniRen

Is this rumoured increase a percentage or £488 across the board?
I have contracted out deductions too.

Never mind, Graphite, it could be two cups of coffee a week!

It's a percentage increase ( % not yet confirmed) so increase will depend on your current SP.

Sarnia

I suppose this is to soften the blow that the triple lock is going.
Pensions are not a level playing field so £488 will not be the sum being received by all pensioners.

Where has that information come from Sarnia? I haven’t seen any announcements.

I do think it will be a percentage rise, the pension regulations would need to be changed for it to be anything else, surely, and would have significant financial implications.

Sarnia

I suppose this is to soften the blow that the triple lock is going.
Pensions are not a level playing field so £488 will not be the sum being received by all pensioners.

True, but that’s because some got their pension (and the retirement that goes with it) six or seven years before others, and many married women paid a lower contribution. Nobody on the NSP was able to pay SERPS, and there is no possibility of inheriting a spouse’s pension either.

So yes, the two systems are different, but it is by no means true that everyone on the NSP is better off than everyone on the old. Anyone who earned an above average salary when in work will be losing out on the NSP, as it is capped, (so no higher for higher payments) widows and widowers get less on the NSP, and the overall loss of 6-7 years of payments is enormous, too.

If ‘wealthy’ pensioners are wealthy because of occupational pensions, that means they have saved into them, so IMO it would be very wrong to means-test based on that. Apart from the ethics of that, it would further discourage people when it comes to making provision to get above a very low income.

I don’t think that people living only on a SP (without SERPS) should pay tax, but that’s an argument for increasing the tax thresholds for all ages, not for singling out pensioners. I think it should be a minimum of £15000 and not be frozen going forward.

Speaking of widows’ pensions, something has just occurred to me - where is Whiff these days?

Casdon I think the mooted figure is based on the formula for the triple lock, and yes, it applies to the full NSP as there is such a big discrepancy between payments to those on the old, because there were more variables on that system meaning that any ballpark figure would be inaccurate for many.

My state pension is not anywhere near as much as that.
Luckily I don't rely on it entirely.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202609/medium-4t7ren-average-pension-march-2026.png https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202609/medium-b2149v-screenshot-2026-09-15-at-12-48-50.png

This will be a pre-tax rise of £9.40 a week for people receiving the full new State Pension (which few do due to lack of NIC years or contracted out deductions) but that's the pre-tax £488 that’s being quoted.

Wages growth was 3.9% so that would be the triple lock on the basic element of the pension

CPI is likely to be round 2.9% so that would be applied to SERPS and Protected Payments.

It’s as I’ve been saying on other threads, a 1% difference.

The average SP being received in March 2026 was £211 for all age groups. Of course, we don’t know the make up of that between basic pension and SERPS/SSP or basic pension and a Protected Payment.

There was also only 1% difference in triple lock (4.8%) and CPI 3.8% for April 2026 so let’s say the average pension went up to £220 (compared to full nSP of £241.)

People are going to be lucky to see a post-tax rise next April of £1 a day.

As I said upthread, two Conference pears or Jammy Dodgers? Or I could push the boat out and have a small tin of Heinz Beans.

Many pensioners (not all of course) have inherited wealth - hence sometimes the new cars, the cruises etc

the 3 people I've seen representing the government over the last couple of days have been Jonathan "I'm a solicitor" Reynolds,Angela "i paid my stamp duty" Rayner and Louise "my phones been stolen" Haigh,this does not fill me with confidence.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Many pensioners (not all of course) have inherited wealth - hence sometimes the new cars, the cruises etc

the 3 people I've seen representing the government over the last couple of days have been Jonathan "I'm a solicitor" Reynolds,Angela "i paid my stamp duty" Rayner and Louise "my phones been stolen" Haigh,this does not fill me with confidence.

No me neither!

Meandrogrog

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Many pensioners (not all of course) have inherited wealth - hence sometimes the new cars, the cruises etc

the 3 people I've seen representing the government over the last couple of days have been Jonathan "I'm a solicitor" Reynolds,Angela "i paid my stamp duty" Rayner and Louise "my phones been stolen" Haigh,this does not fill me with confidence.

No me neither!

Nor me. Can’t believe that some people actually trust them. All a bunch of crooks.

It's not always true that those on State pension alone are worse off than those with a pension from work,
A friend of mine (sadly no longer around) had only state pension but because of Pension credit, Housing Benefit etc actually had more than me with my small work pension and paying tax.
Not all pensioners have large second pensions.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Many pensioners (not all of course) have inherited wealth - hence sometimes the new cars, the cruises etc

the 3 people I've seen representing the government over the last couple of days have been Jonathan "I'm a solicitor" Reynolds,Angela "i paid my stamp duty" Rayner and Louise "my phones been stolen" Haigh,this does not fill me with confidence.

I would think for most wealthier pensioners it’s down to a combination of factors. Higher earners when working generate bigger pension pots and are more likely to have savings. Inheritance plays a part too. A lot of potential inheritances are swallowed up in care fees too as older people live longer though.

This years average:
According to Unbiased, single pensioners report an average total income of about £17,264 annually, while broader household figures from the Office for National Statistics sit closer to £23,557.

Casdon

Sarnia

I suppose this is to soften the blow that the triple lock is going.
Pensions are not a level playing field so £488 will not be the sum being received by all pensioners.

Where has that information come from Sarnia? I haven’t seen any announcements.

I do think it will be a percentage rise, the pension regulations would need to be changed for it to be anything else, surely, and would have significant financial implications.

I was answering the OP's headline and post. I hadn't heard it either. Just saying that Pensions isn't the same for everyone so not everyone will receive the £488 in the OP's headline.
Ask Margs where she got it from as it was her post.

I think those who reach 65 this year and will not get their state pension until they are 67 will be feeling quite annoyed by this. My younger brother is one of them. By the time he gets his pension it is likely the triple lock will have gone and he along with many others will not enjoy what we have enjoyed for many years.
I think we have all been very lucky to have been born when we were. For the next raft of pensioners it won’t be so good.

Sarnia

Casdon

Sarnia

I suppose this is to soften the blow that the triple lock is going.
Pensions are not a level playing field so £488 will not be the sum being received by all pensioners.

Where has that information come from Sarnia? I haven’t seen any announcements.

I do think it will be a percentage rise, the pension regulations would need to be changed for it to be anything else, surely, and would have significant financial implications.

I was answering the OP's headline and post. I hadn't heard it either. Just saying that Pensions isn't the same for everyone so not everyone will receive the £488 in the OP's headline.
Ask Margs where she got it from as it was her post.

Sorry, I don’t make myself clear, I meant the statement about the triple lock?

Graphite

I don’t receive full SP as I have contracted out deductions but after paying NIC for 50 years, I have just worked out that 3.9% will give me a post tax rise of £1 a day.

To counter all the bumper rise hyperbole that is bound to come from the media perhaps there should be a pensioner meme showing how we are going to fritter away this largesse.

Right now it’s a toss up between two Conference pears or a pack of Jammy Dodgers.

www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/offers/one-pound

That’ll be us as well.