Defer (delay) your State Pension

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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 £176.45 a week (the full basic State Pension).

By deferring for 52 weeks, you’ll get an extra £18.35 a week (10.4% of £176.45).

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.

Claim your deferred State Pension

Claim a deferred basic State Pension.

There’s a different way to claim if:

• you live abroad, including in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man

• you live in Northern Ireland

Get help

Contact the State Pension claim line if you need help.

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