State pensioners are getting a boost in payments next month, thanks to the triple lock. The triple lock ensures that the spending power of pensioners is protected in the UK. The entitlement to state pension payments is based on your National Insurance contributions throughout your working life.

The state pension increases by 4.8% from April 2026, in line with average wages in the UK. The triple lock ensures state pension payments increase in line with one of three criteria. These are average earnings, the rate of inflation, or 2.5%, whichever is highest at the time. This increase is based on average earnings in the UK, meaning state pensioners are getting quite an increase in the coming weeks.

The basic state pension is going up to £184.90 a week, compared to £176.45 a week for the 2025/26 tax year. As well as having enough qualifying National Insurance years, people who want to claim the basic state pension need to be:

• Men born before 6 April 1951
• Women born before 6 April 1953

Anyone born after these dates, who has reached state pension age, claims the new state pension. Everyone on the basic rate has already reached state pension age/

Those on the basic rate will enjoy, roughly, an extra £33.80 per month, and an extra £439.40 per year.

The higher the payments get, the closer pensioners are to this limit. For those who earn extra income on top of their state pension, this could soon mean a hefty tax bill they never got before.

When it comes to the new state pension, the weekly payments increase from £241.30 per week, or £12,547.60 annually. This applies to those who reached State Pension age on or after April 6, 2016.