Deferring your State Pension: what you get for waiting
The State Pension is not paid automatically. If you delay claiming, it goes up by just under 5.8% for each full year. How it works and the catches.
By Christopher Fagan. Published 1 October 2026. Checked against gov.uk 1 October 2026.
The State Pension is not paid automatically. If you do not claim it, you are deferring, and the amount goes up.
The new State Pension rule
For anyone who reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016, the pension increases by 1% for every 9 weeks deferred, which is just under 5.8% for a full year. You must defer for at least 9 weeks to get anything. The increase is paid as a higher weekly pension for life, and rises with the triple lock. There is no lump sum option.
On the 2026/27 full rate, one year of deferral adds about £14 a week, roughly £728 a year.
The basic State Pension rule
If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016 the terms are better: 1% for every 5 weeks (10.4% a year), or a lump sum with interest if you defer at least 12 months.
When it makes sense
- You are still working and would pay 40% tax on the pension now but 20% later.
- You do not need the money and expect to live well past average life expectancy. The break even is about 17 years after you start claiming.
When it does not
- You receive Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Universal Credit or similar; deferral is treated as if you had the income, so it rarely helps.
- You have a health condition that shortens life expectancy.
- You need the money now. The extra is modest compared with the pension itself.
Already claimed and want to defer?
You can stop your State Pension once, for any length of time, and restart it later with the increase applied to the deferred period.
If you never claimed and are past State Pension age, you have been deferring. Claim it here.
Sources
Information only, not financial advice. If a figure here and gov.uk ever disagree, gov.uk is right and we will fix it.