Should you defer your State Pension? Waiting raises your pension for life, but you go without payments meanwhile, and tax and benefits can be affected.

There is no right answer for everyone. Deferring swaps pension you could be paid now for a bigger weekly amount later, and whether that trade suits you turns on your health, your other income, tax and any means-tested benefits. This page sets out both sides without recommending either. The Pension Service at DWP can confirm the rules for your own record, free. Readers who want deferral weighed against private pensions and savings can have an FCA-authorised adviser phone them at no cost by completing this page’s form.

What do you get if you defer your State Pension?

A higher State Pension once you claim. GOV.UK puts the starting point simply: "If you do not claim your State Pension at State Pension age, it automatically defers." No paperwork is needed. The terms then depend on which side of 6 April 2016 your State Pension age fell; new State Pension vs old explains which scheme you are on.

  • New State Pension (State Pension age on 6 April 2016 or later). Higher weekly payments need at least 9 weeks of deferral. After that, GOV.UK says "For every 9 weeks you defer, you’ll get 1% added to your regular weekly pension payment for life. This works out as just under 5.8% for every 52 weeks (12 months) you defer." Up to 52 weeks of missed pension can instead, or as well, be claimed as a single arrears payment, which carries no interest.
  • Basic State Pension (State Pension age before 6 April 2016). The minimum deferral is 5 weeks, and GOV.UK says "For every 5 weeks you defer, you’ll get 1% of that amount added to your regular payment for life. This works out as just under 10.4% for every 52 weeks (12 months) you defer." The alternative is a one-off lump sum, open only after at least 12 months of deferral and paid with interest set at 2% over the Bank of England base rate. It is one or the other, not both, unless your State Pension age and your deferral both came before 2005.

GOV.UK's worked example uses the 2026/27 full new State Pension of £241.30 a week: "If you defer for 52 weeks, you’ll get an extra £13.99 a week (5.8% of £241.30)." The lump sum and how it is taxed are in State Pension lump sums, and the rate of increase in more detail in how much extra you get for each year you defer.

Why defer your State Pension? The case for waiting

Waiting buys a permanently higher weekly income. The points in its favour:

  • The extra is added for life, and after you claim GOV.UK says it will "usually increase each year based on the Consumer Price Index", though "It will not increase for some people who live abroad."
  • On the new State Pension the choice is flexible: take up to a year's missed pension as one arrears payment, take everything as extra weekly pension, or combine the two.
  • On the basic State Pension the increase is larger, just under 10.4% for each year deferred, and the lump sum has interest added on top.
  • There is nothing to arrange: simply not claiming starts the deferral.
  • On the basic State Pension, a surviving husband, wife or civil partner may be able to inherit the extra (see below).

Whether any of that outweighs the cost depends on your wider position, which the State Pension guide covers.

What are the downsides of deferring your State Pension?

The cost is the State Pension you are not paid while you wait. GOV.UK spells out the payback for someone on the full new State Pension: "It will take over 15 years to get back 52 weeks of deferred full new State Pension. This time increases by around 1 year for each additional 52 weeks you defer claiming." That is GOV.UK's general illustration for the full rate, not a forecast for any individual, and this page does not work out a figure for anyone.

Other points that weigh against deferring for some people:

  • On the new State Pension, arrears stop at 52 weeks; anything deferred beyond that comes back only as extra weekly pension.
  • No extra builds up during periods when you, or in some cases your partner, get certain benefits.
  • The higher weekly amount can cut means-tested help, and deferral extras could be taxed (both covered below).
  • After a move to some countries abroad, the extra stays fixed instead of rising each year.

Setting a year or more of deferral against savings, or another pension you could live on in the meantime, is the kind of trade-off an FCA-authorised adviser will discuss on a free call; to arrange one, leave a phone number using this page’s enquiry form.

Does deferring your State Pension affect Pension Credit and other benefits?

Yes, in two separate ways. First, the extra may not build up at all. GOV.UK says "You cannot build up extra State Pension during any period you get" Pension Credit, Universal Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Carer’s Allowance or several other listed benefits, and the same applies while your partner gets Pension Credit, Universal Credit or income-related ESA. Weeks on those benefits do not count towards the 9- or 5-week minimum either, and anyone on benefits who wants to defer has to tell the Pension Service.

Second, the extra can lower other help. GOV.UK says "Taking your extra State Pension as increased regular payments could reduce the amount you get from" Pension Credit, Universal Credit, income-related ESA, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction. On the old basic State Pension, Universal Credit may also be reduced if the extra is taken as a lump sum.

Deferring does not keep a pension out of the Pension Credit sums either. The Pension Credit eligibility rules say "If you’ve deferred your State Pension, the amount of State Pension you would get is counted as income." Anyone on a low income can read how the State Pension affects other benefits, Housing Benefit and a deferred State Pension and deprivation of capital for Pension Credit next. For free help with how your own benefits could change, GOV.UK points to Jobcentre Plus. Winter Fuel Payment also needs a claim once you have deferred (see the questions below).

Is the extra State Pension from deferring taxed?

It could be: GOV.UK's deferral guide warns that extra payments from deferring could be taxed. HMRC's general position is that the State Pension is taxable income, paid without tax taken off, and that tax is owed only when your total taxable income, with the State Pension counted in it, goes above your personal allowances.

What deferral does to your tax therefore depends on everything else you receive, such as other pensions, earnings and savings income. How the tax is collected, and how the old-style lump sum is treated, are in is the State Pension taxable? and State Pension lump sums.

What happens to a deferred State Pension if your partner dies?

Sometimes the extra passes on, but the conditions are narrow. GOV.UK says a surviving partner can usually inherit it if all of these apply: the partner who died had a State Pension age before 6 April 2016; the two of you were married or civil partners at the time of death; they were deferring, or drawing a deferred State Pension, when they died; and you had not remarried or entered a new civil partnership before your own State Pension age. Where the death was before 6 April 2010, one more must apply: either you were over State Pension age at the time, or you were under it, a woman, and the person who died was your husband. Nothing inherited is paid until you have reached State Pension age yourself.

The form it takes depends on whether your partner had started claiming. If they were already receiving their extra State Pension, it comes to you as extra regular payments with your own pension. If they died before claiming, GOV.UK ties it to how long they had deferred: a year or more usually gives you a choice between a lump sum and regular payments; between 5 weeks and a year gives regular payments; under 5 weeks, the pension for those weeks becomes part of their estate.

GOV.UK’s new State Pension guide lists the same condition, that the partner reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016. If these conditions leave you unsure about your own marriage or civil partnership, say so when you send the call-back form; how they apply to you is something an FCA-authorised adviser explains without charge. The wider rules are in what happens to your State Pension when you die and inheriting additional State Pension.

Questions people ask before deferring

Should I defer my State Pension if I am still working?

Not claiming is all it takes, so someone still working can simply let the pension defer. Whether you still pay National Insurance past State Pension age is answered in National Insurance after State Pension age; the larger question is how the extra weekly amount would sit on top of your earnings for tax.

Is it worth buying extra State Pension years instead of deferring?

They are separate routes. Deferring changes when you claim the pension you have built; paying voluntary National Insurance contributions fills gaps in the record, covered in topping up your State Pension and fixing missing years.

Can I defer after I have already claimed?

That has its own page: can I defer once I have started claiming? The longest you can defer for is in how long you can defer your State Pension.

Does the extra State Pension go up every year?

Usually, in line with the Consumer Price Index once you are claiming, though not for some people living abroad. How that compares with the triple lock is covered in deferred State Pension and the triple lock.

Does deferring affect the Winter Fuel Payment?

It means you have to claim it. GOV.UK says "You need to claim Winter Fuel Payment if you’ve deferred your State Pension", and that claim only has to be made once.

Putting the pros and cons side by side

For deferring: a weekly pension that is higher for life, usually rising with prices, with an arrears or lump-sum option depending on your scheme. Against: the pension you go without while waiting, a payback period GOV.UK puts at over 15 years for a year's deferral at the full new rate, possible effects on means-tested benefits and tax, and narrow inheritance rules. Rules for the basic State Pension are in how deferral differs on the basic State Pension, and the mechanics in deferring the State Pension.

Free help is available. The Pension Service handles State Pension questions (the State Pension claim line for a deferred basic State Pension), and MoneyHelper gives free, impartial information. Pension Wise offers free appointments on pension options to people over 50, but GOV.UK notes that it "does not cover the State Pension". Fitting deferral around private pensions, savings, tax and benefits in one conversation is what an FCA-authorised adviser offers. Sending the short form on this page books that phone call, which costs nothing.