Pensioners are being urged to check their mail as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is sending out letters with updated state pension details ahead of the April increase. The Department for Work and Pensions is sending letters to everyone aged 66 and over with new state pension details ahead of an uplift in April. The DWP is writing to state pensioners who were born in and around 1960, or in the years before.

One recipient shared on the HMRC forum: “I received a letter today saying that my State Pension will increase from April 2026. I receive my pension weekly.”

At present, someone on the full New State Pension receives £230.25 per week, equivalent to £921 every four-week pay period, while those on the full Basic State Pension get £176.45 weekly, or £705.80 every four weeks.

The uprating will see those on the full New State Pension receive £241.30 per week, while recipients of the maximum Basic State Pension will get £184.90 per week.

CSPA General Secretary Sally Tsoukaris said the rise was “welcome news thanks to the continuation of the triple-lock, which is vital to ensure that State Pensions keep pace with wage growth as well as inflation so that pensioners’ income does not suffer the decline relative to wages that occurred prior to its introduction in 2011.”

She added: “Many pensioners are struggling in retirement and yet are being dragged into the 20% tax bracket on relatively low incomes. Three-quarters of all pensioners are now paying income tax after a lifetime of working, and millions more are now paying tax.”

However, the freeze on income tax thresholds means more of the State Pension increase will be taken in tax, as additional pensioners reach the £12,570 threshold, which has been frozen since April 2021 and will not rise until at least April 2028.

Had the threshold increased in line with Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation, it would now be £15,518, well above the highest State Pension rate.