DWP sending older state pensioners £739 payments before August | Personal Finance | Finance
State Pension payments may be disrupted due to the August summer bank holiday (Image: Getty)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will be sending early payments of up to £739 to some older state pensioners before August.
The early payments come as a result of the August summer bank holiday, which falls at the beginning of next month on Monday, August 3, if you live in Scotland, four weeks earlier than the rest of the UK. When benefit payments, including the State Pension, are due to be paid on the same date that a bank holiday falls, the DWP will normally issue the payment on the earliest working day before instead. This means that older pensioners in Scotland who are expecting their basic State Pension to be paid on Monday, August 3, can instead expect to receive it three days earlier than normal on Friday, July 31.
The basic State Pension is worth up to £184.90 per week if you get the full rate, following a 4.8% uplift at the start of the new tax year on April 6.
As the State Pension is paid every four weeks, older pensioners getting the full basic State Pensoin can get up to £739.60 in each four-week payment period from the DWP.
Of course, this amount is based on a full National Insurance record, so those who don’t have enough qualifying years will receive less than this.
As for pensioners in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, State Pension payments will also be disrupted in August due to the summer bank holiday, but this will be later in the month as the bank holiday falls on Monday, August 31.
Older pensioners expecting a basic State Pension payment on this date can instead expect to be paid on the earliest working day before, which will be Friday, August 28.
Confirming the changes on a bank holiday, the DWP said: “Benefits are usually paid straight into your bank, building society or credit union account. If your payment date is on a weekend or a bank holiday you’ll usually be paid on the working day before.”
Pensioners can determine their usual State Pension payment day by looking for the two-digit code at the end of their National Insurance number, as this specifies the date on which payments are normally issued. This is how National Insurance numbers correspond to payment days:
20 to 39 – paid on Tuesday
40 to 59 – paid on Wednesday
60 to 79 – paid on Thursday
80 to 99 – paid on Friday
So if your National Insurance number ends in 00 to 19, it means your usual payment date falls on a Monday, meaning it may coincide with the August summer bank holiday.
If your State Pension payment date is changing due to the bank holiday, you don’t need to do anything as your money will be paid straight into your usual bank, building society or credit union account.
The DWP added: “You’ll be asked when you want to start getting your State Pension when you claim. Your first payment will be no later than 5 weeks after the date you choose. You’ll get a full payment every 4 weeks after that.
“You might get part of a payment before your first full payment. The letter confirming your State Pension payment will tell you what to expect.
“The day your pension is paid depends on your National Insurance number. You might be paid earlier if your normal payment day is a bank holiday.”
