UK sets 39% rise for protected payments from Apr 2026
If you built up extra state pension before 2016, you may have what’s called a protected payment. The Government has now set the revaluation for these payments at 39% to reflect price rises since April 2016. The Statutory Instrument was made on 25 November 2025 and laid on 27 November; it takes effect for advance awards from 22 December 2025 and for all other purposes from 6 April 2026, covering England, Wales and Scotland.
A quick primer before we go further. In 2016 the UK moved to the new State Pension. If, on 6 April 2016, your entitlement under the old rules was higher than the full rate of the new State Pension, the excess became your protected payment. It sits on top of your new State Pension and is shown as a separate line on your forecast.
Who is covered by this change? The order applies if you reach State Pension age on or after 7 April 2026. If that’s you, your protected payment will be adjusted by 39% before your pension starts. Northern Ireland runs its own process under separate legislation, so NI readers should check local rules.
Why 39% rather than a familiar yearly increase? By law, ministers must take the rise in the general level of prices since 6 April 2016 and apply that percentage to protected payments for each cohort. This review sets that cumulative change at 39.0%.
It’s also worth knowing how protected payments grow over time. Your main new State Pension is uprated by the triple lock. Protected payments are different: they move with CPI inflation both before you claim and each year after you’re on the pension. In short, protected payments do not receive the earnings or 2.5% elements of the triple lock.
Let’s make this practical. Suppose your protected payment calculated at April 2016 was £30 a week. When you reach State Pension age on or after 7 April 2026, the 39% revaluation takes that to £41.70 a week. After your pension starts, that £41.70 will then rise each April by CPI, not by the triple lock.
Key dates to keep in mind if you’re planning ahead. Awards on advance claims can reflect the new revaluation from 22 December 2025 under regulation 15, while 6 April 2026 is the general commencement date. The percentage applies to those reaching State Pension age on or after 7 April 2026.
What if you reach State Pension age earlier? For people reaching State Pension age in 2025, professionals noted a 33.9% revaluation covering the nine years to 5 April 2025, and Northern Ireland set the same percentage for its 2024 order. The percentage is set for your cohort by the last order that comes into force before you reach State Pension age.
There’s also a family angle to understand. If your marriage or civil partnership began before 6 April 2016, a surviving spouse or civil partner can inherit half of a protected payment, and courts can share protected payments on divorce. Revaluation therefore affects what a survivor might later receive and the value of any debit or credit created on divorce.
What this means for you. Check your State Pension forecast and look for a line labelled protected payment; not everyone has one, and many have zero. If you do have one and you’re due to reach State Pension age from April 2026, plan your budget with the 39% adjustment in mind and remember that future increases to that slice will follow CPI rather than the triple lock.