A DWP worker has spoken out over the difference in payments between the Full and Basic State Pension.
State pensioners have been warned over “two tier” treatment of older people from the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ). A DWP worker has spoken out over the difference in payments between the Full and Basic State Pension.
Ex-DWP worker Sandra Wrench warned: “The Triple Lock guarantee only covers the BASIC State Pension and not all components, the other components being Additional Pension (the scheme which existed between 1978-April 5, 2016 and which you could contract out of), Graduated Pension (1961-1975), increments for deferring your State Pension, and the protected pension which is any amount in excess of the 100% rate of the new 100 per cent State Pension which you might be entitled to at April 6, 2016.”
She said: “With the calculation of the New State Pension at April 6, 2016, in most cases, all the components of the old State Pension have been added together to give a basic State Pension, and where applicable a protected pension, which is the excess above the 100 per cent rate of the New State Pension.”
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Mrs Wrench said: “So by adding all the components together this has brought components such as additional pension, within the scope of the Triple Lock, which was 4.1 per cent this April 2025. Under the old scheme, additional pension would have just been increased by the CPI rate of 1.7 per cent for this April 2025.
“With The Triple Lock relating to the basic rates of the State Pension only, this has created a two-tier uprating system for those who reached State Pension Age before April 2016 where the 100 per cent rate of the Old/Basic State Pension is currently £176.45 a week and those who reached retirement age after April 2016 where the 100 per cent rate of the New State Pension is higher at £230.25.”
Mrs Wrench continued: “You can see how a person who reached State Pension Age before April 2016 has a lower percentage of their State Pension uprated by the Triple Lock compared with those who reached State Pension Age after April 2016.
“Because of this difference in basic pension and the Triple lock only relating to the basic rate of the State Pension, this will inevitably lead to those who reached State Pension Age before April 2016 falling further behind with every annual uprating.”
Mrs Wrench added: “The DWP have confirmed they cannot means-test the State Pension, so possibly the only way that the increased costs for State Pension can be addressed is through some adjustment to the Triple Lock, and to reassess the annual uprating of the State Pension.”
The new flat-rate State Pension, introduced in April 2016, offers a higher weekly rate than the basic State Pension. The full, new State Pension rate for the 2025/26 tax year is £230.25 per week, while the basic State Pension rate is £176.45 per week.
The difference in rate works out at £2,461 a year.
