DWP 'brings forward' date state pensioners will be handed free £884 in December

State pensioners are being handed a payment of £884 in December - as the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) brings forward the payment date owing to the Christmas bank holidays. If you reached state pension age on or after 6 April 2016 - or are yet to reach it - you're covered under the new state pension.

In 2024-25, the full level of the new state pension is £221.20 a week or £11,502.40 a year. This rises to £230.30 a week (£11,975.60 a year) from April 2025. Benefits are usually paid straight into the bank, building society or credit union account of the claimant.

If a payment date falls on a weekend or a bank holiday, then the claimant is usually paid on the working day before. Both Christmas Day and Boxing Day are bank holidays in all four nations, so any payments due on those days will be paid on the working day before, which is Tuesday 24 December (Christmas Eve).

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State pension payments are issued by the DWP on a four-week cycle, with the day on which a claimant’s state pension is paid dependent on the last two digits of their national insurance (NI) number. This is how NI numbers correspond to days of payment:

00 to 19 correlates to a Monday while 20 to 39 means you will be paid on a Tuesday. 40 to 59 means you will receive a payment from the DWP on a Wednesday with 60 to 79 paid out on a Thursday and also 80 to 99 being paid out on a Friday.

As with benefits, if the normal payment date falls on a bank holiday, the state pension is also paid on the working day before. Those claimants expecting payment on Wednesday 25 December of Thursday 26 December will receive it on Monday 24 December instead.