Defer (delay) your State Pension

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1. How it works

If you do not claim your State Pension at State Pension age, it automatically defers. You do not have to do anything.

This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).

When you claim your State Pension, you can usually get the State Pension you’ve deferred as:

  • a one-off payment
  • increased regular payments (known as ‘extra State Pension’)

Any extra payments you get from deferring could be taxed.

What you’ll get depends on when you reach State Pension age.

State Pension age

You reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016 if either:

  • you’re a man born on or after 6 April 1951
  • you’re a woman born on or after 6 April 1953

You reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 if either:

  • you’re a man born before 6 April 1951
  • you’re a woman born before 6 April 1953

If you get benefits

You cannot build up deferred State Pension while you or your partner are getting certain benefits.

If you spent time in prison

You cannot build up deferred State Pension for any time you’ve spent in prison.

2. If you reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016

You can get the State Pension you’ve deferred as:

  • a one-off arrears payment of up to 52 weeks (12 months)
  • increased regular payments (known as ‘extra State Pension’)
  • both a one-off arrears payment and increased regular payments

Get a one-off arrears payment

You can only claim a one-off arrears payment of up to 52 weeks.

If you defer for longer than 52 weeks, you’ll get the rest as extra State Pension.

Example

If you defer your full new State Pension for 52 weeks, you’ll get a one-off arrears payment of £12,547.60.

If you defer your full new State Pension for 27 weeks, you’ll get a one-off arrears payment of £6,515.10.

You will not get any interest added to your one-off arrears payment.

Get increased regular payments

You can get your deferred pension as an extra payment on top of your regular payment.

You must defer claiming your State Pension for at least 9 weeks before you can claim increased regular payments.

For every 9 weeks you defer, you’ll get 1% added to your regular weekly pension payment for life.

This works out as just under 5.8% for every 52 weeks (12 months) you defer.

Example

You get £241.30 a week (the full new State Pension).

If you defer for 52 weeks, you’ll get an extra £13.99 a week (5.8% of £241.30).

If you defer for 104 weeks (2 years), you’ll get an extra £27.99 a week (11.6% of £241.30).

It will take over 15 years to get back 52 weeks of deferred full new State Pension. This time increases by around 1 year for each additional 52 weeks you defer claiming.

Get a one-off arrears payment and increased regular payments

You can get your deferred pension as both a one-off arrears payment and increased regular payments.

Example

If you defer your full new State Pension for 78 weeks (18 months), you can backdate your claim by 12 months and get a one-off arrears payment of £12,547.60.

For the additional 26 weeks deferred you’ll get an extra State Pension payment of £6.97 per week (2.89% of £241.30).

Annual increases

After you claim your State Pension, the extra amount you get because you deferred will usually increase each year based on the Consumer Price Index. It will not increase for some people who live abroad.

Claim your deferred State Pension

Claim a deferred new State Pension.

There’s a different way to claim if:

Get help

Contact the Pension Service if you need help.

3. If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016

You can get the State Pension you’ve deferred as either:

  • increased regular payments (known as ‘extra State Pension’)
  • a one-off lump sum payment

You cannot get both increased regular payments and a lump sum (unless you reached State Pension age and deferred before 2005).

When you claim your State Pension, you’ll get a letter asking how you want to get your deferred pension. You’ll have 3 months from the date on the letter to decide.

Get increased regular payments

You can get your deferred pension as an extra payment on top of your regular payment.

You must defer your State Pension for at least 5 weeks.

For every 5 weeks you defer, you’ll get 1% of that amount added to your regular payment for life.

This works out as just under 10.4% for every 52 weeks (12 months) you defer.

Example

You get £184.90 a week (the full basic State Pension).

By deferring for 52 weeks, you’ll get an extra £19.22 a week (10.4% of £184.90).

Get a one-off payment

You must defer your State Pension for at least 12 months to get a one-off ‘lump sum’ payment.

The amount you get will include interest of 2% above the Bank of England base rate.

Annual increases

After you claim your State Pension, the extra amount you get because you deferred will usually increase each year based on the Consumer Price Index. It will not increase for some people who live abroad.

Claim your deferred State Pension

Claim a deferred basic State Pension.

There’s a different way to claim if:

Get help

Contact the State Pension claim line if you need help.

4. If you get benefits

You cannot build up extra State Pension during any period you get:

  • Income Support
  • Pension Credit
  • Employment and Support Allowance (income-related)
  • Jobseeker’s Allowance (income-based)
  • Universal Credit
  • Carer’s Allowance
  • Carer Support Payment
  • Incapacity Benefit
  • Severe Disablement Allowance
  • Widow’s Pension
  • Widowed Parent’s Allowance
  • Unemployability Supplement

You cannot build up extra State Pension during any period your partner gets:

  • Income Support
  • Pension Credit
  • Universal Credit
  • Employment and Support Allowance (income-related)
  • Jobseeker’s Allowance (income-related)

You must tell the Pension Service if you’re on benefits and you want to defer.

You will need to defer for a minimum amount of time before your State Pension will start to increase. This will either be 9 or 5 weeks, depending on when you reach State Pension age. Time when you (or your partner) get these benefits does not count towards that time.

Increased regular payments

Taking your extra State Pension as increased regular payments could reduce the amount you get from:

  • Income Support
  • Pension Credit
  • Universal Credit
  • Employment and Support Allowance (income-related)
  • Jobseeker’s Allowance (income-related)
  • Housing Benefit
  • Council Tax Reduction

If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016

Your Universal Credit payments may be reduced if you choose to take your extra State Pension as a lump sum.

Winter Fuel Payment

You need to claim Winter Fuel Payment if you’ve deferred your State Pension. You only need to do this once.

Get help

Contact Jobcentre Plus if you need help to understand how your benefits could be affected.

5. If you move abroad

If you move to any of the countries in this list, the rules for deferring are the same as in the UK:

If you move to a country that is not in the list, the extra payment you get will stay the same. It will not go up or down over time.

If you move to a country that is not in the list, your extra payment will be based on the amount of State Pension you’re entitled to at whichever is later of:

Contact the International Pension Centre if you need help working out what you could get.

6. Inheriting a deferred State Pension

You can usually inherit your partner’s extra State Pension if all of the following apply:

  • your partner reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016
  • you were married to, or in a civil partnership with, your partner when they died
  • your partner had deferred their State Pension or was claiming their deferred State Pension when they died
  • you did not remarry or form a new civil partnership before you reached State Pension age

If your partner died before 6 April 2010, one of the following must also apply:

  • you were over State Pension age when your partner died
  • you were under State Pension age when your partner died, you’re a woman and your deceased partner was your husband

You can only receive any extra State Pension you’ve inherited once you’ve reached State Pension age.

If your partner died before claiming their State Pension

How you inherit your partner’s extra State Pension depends on how long they deferred their pension for.

A year or more

If your partner deferred their State Pension by a year or more, you can usually choose to inherit it as a lump sum or as regular payments. You’ll get a letter with the options you can choose from.

Between 5 weeks and a year

If your partner deferred their State Pension by between 5 weeks and a year, you’ll inherit it as regular payments. You’ll get these payments with your own State Pension.

Less than 5 weeks

If your partner deferred their State Pension by less than 5 weeks, their State Pension payments for those weeks will become part their estate (their total property, money and possessions).

If your partner was getting their extra State Pension before they died

You’ll inherit your partner’s extra State Pension as extra regular payments. You’ll get these payments with your own State Pension.