Your State Pension must be deferred for nine weeks before you can claim increased regular payments (Image: Getty)
State pensioners born after 1951 can gain an extra £2.41 per week with a ‘nine-week rule’, which means delaying the point at which you start claiming your State pension.
You can start claiming your State Pension from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) once you reach State Pension age, which is currently in the process of rising from 66 to 67, having started on April 6. Around four months before you are due to hit State Pension age, the Pension Service will send an invitation letter allowing you to choose to either claim your State Pension or defer it. Those who opt to claim it will start receiving payments upon reaching State Pension age, but if you choose to defer, payments will automatically be delayed until you decide to start claiming.
If you don’t need your State Pension straight away, deferring gives you the chance to pocket some extra money when you do claim.
But you must defer claiming your State Pension for a minimum of nine weeks before you can claim increased regular payments – and for every nine weeks you defer, you’ll get 1% added to your regular weekly pension payment for life.
Under the 2026/27 rates, this amounts to an extra £2.41 per week if you’re eligible for the full new State Pension, which is currently worth £241.30 per week.
Sarah Pennells, consumer finance specialist at Royal London, explains: “For every nine weeks you defer claiming your State Pension, you’ll get an extra 1% of your pension amount added onto your regular State Pension payments for the rest of your life.
“For tax year 2026/27, this works out at an extra £2.41 a week if you’re entitled to the full new State Pension.”
While the minimum amount of time you can defer your State Pension is nine weeks, the longer you delay claiming it the bigger the returns.
Deferring for an entire year (52 weeks) will give you 5.8% extra, which amounts to £13.99 per week, while deferring for two years (104 weeks) will give you 11.6% extra, amounting to £27.99 per week under current rates if you get the full new State Pension.
You reach State Pension age on or after April 6, 2016, if you’re a man born on or after April 6, 1951, or a woman born on or after April 6, 1953, at which point you can decide to defer claiming your payments.
You can choose to get the State Pension you’ve deferred as either a one-off arrears payment of up to 52 weeks (12 months), increased regular payments (known as ‘extra State Pension’), or a combination of both.
Opting for increased regular payments will give you extra money on top of your regular State Pension amount, but you must defer claiming your State Pension for at least nine weeks before you can claim these increased amounts.
The DWP said: “You can get your deferred pension as an extra payment on top of your regular payment. You must defer claiming your State Pension for at least 9 weeks before you can claim increased regular payments.
“For every 9 weeks you defer, you’ll get 1% added to your regular weekly pension payment for life. This works out as just under 5.8% for every 52 weeks (12 months) you defer.
“Example: You get £241.30 a week (the full new State Pension). If you defer for 52 weeks, you’ll get an extra £13.99 a week (5.8% of £241.30). If you defer for 104 weeks (2 years), you’ll get an extra £27.99 a week (11.6% of £241.30).”
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
Deferring your State Pension may give you increased regular payments once you start claiming, but it isn’t without its risks as it will take more than 15 years to get back 52 weeks of deferred full new State Pension, according to the DWP, and this time increases by around one year for each additional 52 weeks you defer claiming.
It means losing your pension income in the year you deferred it, but you would get an extra 1% added to your regular weekly pension payment for life for every nine weeks you defer.
So over time, what you lose in a year of deferral could eventually be gained back long-term if you live long enough. And if you’re still working, deferral can be a good option as it means you don’t lose any of your state pension during work to tax, which means you don’t have to wait as long to make the money back.