Can you defer your State Pension?

The State Pension is a Government benefit paid regularly to people who have reached State Pension age from April 6, 2016, onwards. Most people can claim the State Pension, but not everyone is entitled to get the same amount. How much you will get depends entirely on your National Insurance record.

Can you defer your State Pension?

In short, yes, you are able to defer or delay when you receive your State Pension.

You will not receive the retirement payout automatically – you have to actively claim it.

You should get a letter no later than two months before you reach State Pension age telling you what to do and how to claim.

At this point in the process, you can either claim the pension or delay or defer claiming it.

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If you reached State Pension age before April 6, 2016, you can usually take your deferred extra amount as higher weekly State Pension payments or a one-off lump sum.

When you claim your deferred state pension, you will receive a letter asking how you want to take the extra money.

From the date of receiving the letter, you will have three months to make a decision and respond.

In this case, your State Pension payments will increase every week you defer as long as you delay for a minimum of five weeks.

The Pension will increase by the equivalent of one percent for every five weeks you defer, which works out at 10.4 percent for every 52 weeks.