DWP brings forward date state pensioners will receive payment in December

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is bringing forward the payment date for state pensioners next month. This is because of the Christmas bank holidays, with claimants being paid up to £884.

If you reached state pension age on or after April 6, 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 will be rising to £230.30 a week, or £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, reports BirminghamLive.

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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, December 24 (Christmas Eve).

State pension payments are issued by the DWP on a four-week cycle. The day on which a claimant’s state pension is paid is dependent on the last two digits of their national insurance (NI) number.

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, December 25 or Thursday, December 26 will receive it on Tuesday, December 24 instead.