Eligible State Pensioners should have received a letter from DWP
Hundreds of thousands of State Pensioners of a certain age have received a boost to their payments, but it’s not much. The Government was asked in Parliament about the additional 25p weekly sum given to people on the basic State Pension when they turn 80.
This means that anyone born in 1944 or earlier, as well as those who have turned 80 this year, and are receiving the basic State Pension, should receive the extra money. The supplementary payment for those entering their eighties was introduced back in 1971.
But back then the State Pension was £6 a week, making the 25p addition a significant 4% uplift. Today it’s a boost of just £13 a year.
Ministers have not increased the additional payment since it came in, similar to the unchanged £10 Christmas Bonus that many recipients get during the festive season, which has also remained the same since it launched in 1971. Labour MP Jonathan Davies enquired about the total administrative cost of implementing the 25p additional amount and whether it exceeds the extra sum paid out to those who receive it.
Pensions minister Torsten Bell responded to say that the 25p age addition is “simple to administer”. He said: “Payments are made automatically as part of the person’s ongoing State Pension entitlement. The administration costs are therefore negligible.”
However, the minister acknowledged that some expenses are incurred by the DWP in informing individuals approaching their 80th birthday about the modest pay increase. Mr Bell said: “In 2024, 474,239 letters were issued to inform people that they were now entitled to the age addition, costing £278,030 in printing and postage.
“In 2024/2025, the annual cost of the 25p age addition to the State Pension for those eligible 80+ is estimated to be £50.8million. Administrative costs therefore do not exceed the total amount paid.”
A research briefing issued by Parliament in 2013 about the extra 25p explained the thinking behind the policy: “Pensioners aged 80 and over receive an addition of 25 pence to their State Pension. The age addition was introduced in 1971, in recognition of ‘the special claims of very elderly people who on the whole need help rather more than others’.
“It has never been uprated, with successive Governments either arguing that greater priority should be given to protecting the level of the basic benefits, or choosing to target additional resources at older pensioners by other means, for example, through means-tested benefits or lump sum payments, such as the Winter Fuel Payment.”
State pensioners received a 4.1% increase to their payments from April in line with the triple lock. This increased the full basic state pension from £169.50 a week to £176.45 a week. To receive the full basic State Pension, you generally need 30 years of National Insurance contributions.
The full new State Pension now stands at £230.25 a week, up from £221.20 a week since April. You can find out your projected State Pension amount using the State Pension forecast tool on the Government’s website.
