State pensioners born before 1960 are being advised to check their bank accounts on Friday morning, as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) adjusts payment dates due to the Early May bank holiday.
Anyone expecting a benefit payment on Monday 4 May should instead receive it on Friday 1 May. This change applies to the state pension as well as most other benefits.
The basic state pension is usually paid every four weeks, with the exact day determined by the last two digits of your National Insurance (NI) number. The payment schedule is as follows:
- 00 to 19: Monday
- 20 to 39: Tuesday
- 40 to 59: Wednesday
- 60 to 79: Thursday
- 80 to 99: Friday
Big Issue, a leading social enterprise news website, previously warned: "If your benefit payment hasn’t arrived and you think you should have received it, double check the payment date on your awards notice in the first instance. If there has been a bank holiday or weekend, there’s a chance it may be delayed until the next working day. After that, contact your bank to ask if there is a payment waiting to go through. The payment might be pending and it might be a simple issue of the funds not having been cleared yet."
Meanwhile, the state pension age is set to rise from 66 to 67, affecting all new pensioners. The change will be phased in from April 2026, with a month added every two months until 2028, when everyone will reach pension age at 67.
