Protected payments in the new State Pension will be revalued by 39% for those reaching State Pension age from 7 April 2026, under an Order laid before Parliament this week. The instrument sets the statutory “revaluing percentage” at 39.0%, allows advance claims from 22 December 2025, and applies across England, Wales and Scotland. For retirees, this uplift only affects the protected payment slice of entitlement.

A quick refresher on what that means. The protected payment is the part of your new State Pension that, when calculated as at 6 April 2016, sat above the then full rate because of your pre‑2016 additional State Pension record. By law, this slice is revalued in line with the increase in the general level of prices since 6 April 2016, using the percentage set by the last order in force before you hit State Pension age.

Timing matters. The 39% revaluation is applied at award for people whose State Pension age falls on or after 7 April 2026; it doesn’t switch on earlier if you defer claiming. If you reached State Pension age in 2025/26, your protected payment was revalued using the percentage in force for that year instead. For planning, focus on your State Pension age date, not your claim date.

Two quick examples to ground the numbers. If your protected payment calculated back in 2016 was £18 a week, a 39% revaluation makes it roughly £25 a week at award in 2026. That sits on top of whatever the full new State Pension is at that time, and will then be uprated by the usual annual rules.

Smaller amounts still add up. A protected payment of £5 a week in 2016 terms becomes about £7 a week after the 39% uplift, worth roughly £360 a year before tax. It won’t transform a retirement budget, but it is predictable income you can factor into cashflow.

It’s important to say what this change is not. It does not raise the headline full rate of the new State Pension; that continues to be set by the government’s annual uprating process. Nor does it create a protected payment for anyone who didn’t have one in their 2016 foundation calculation. If your starting amount in 2016 was below the full rate, you likely have no protected payment and this Order won’t add a new slice.

There’s a related technical tweak for divorce cases. A separate Order revalues State Pension debits and credits (created by pension sharing) by cumulative price inflation, with percentage factors listed by tax year, and runs on the same 22 December 2025/6 April 2026 timetable. If pension sharing affected your protected payment, that mechanism applies alongside the 39% figure.

What to do now if you’re approaching 2026. Check your State Pension forecast to see whether you have a protected payment and how big it is; verify your National Insurance record; and build the protected payment into your retirement income plan. There’s nothing extra to claim-the Department for Work and Pensions includes the revalued protected payment automatically when it awards your pension.

Territorial point for readers near the Irish border. This Order covers Great Britain only; Northern Ireland makes equivalent regulations separately, as it did last year for the 2025 cohort.