Older state pensioners with National Insurance numbers ending in certain digits will receive two Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) payments in September 2026, totalling up to £1,479.20 from basic rate payments alone.
Those who retired before April 2016 receive a lower weekly basic rate than new state pensioners: £184.90 compared with £241.30 for those who retired after that date. This gap remains even after the recent Triple Lock boost, which added 4.8% in April, and does not include any Additional Pension or SERPS payments that older pensioners may also receive.
Why some pensioners get two payments in September
Although state pension figures are often reported as weekly amounts, DWP state pension payments are actually made every four weeks. The exact payment date depends on when a person first claimed their pension and the last two digits of their National Insurance number.
According to the DWP, those whose National Insurance number ends in digits between 30 and 49 are normally paid on Wednesdays. Because September 2026 has five Wednesdays, some older state pensioners with these numbers will receive two payments in the month, for a maximum total of £1,479.20 from basic rate payments, assuming a full National Insurance record and excluding any additional payment increments from older schemes.
The same applies to Tuesdays this month, as September also has five Tuesdays. Pensioners who are normally paid on Tuesdays may therefore also receive two payments in September, depending on their usual payment schedule.
Pension Credit and additional schemes
Those with incomplete National Insurance records will receive lower total payments, with the DWP calculating the exact amount on a case-by-case basis when a person first reaches state pension age.
The annual sum of basic rate state pension payments for an older state pensioner comes to £9,614.80, still a few thousand pounds lower than the basic rate for new, post-2016 pensioners. However, another DWP rule allows older state pensioners to boost their weekly payments depending on their income and savings.
Pension Credit is a benefit available to older and new state pensioners to increase their income. For example, an older state pensioner who only qualifies for the basic state pension receives £184.90 per week, but Pension Credit tops this up to £238 per week, only a few pounds less than the new state pension rate of £241.30. Other income, such as earnings, property income, savings interest or a private pension, is counted first, and the full amount may not be available if income limits are exceeded.
Older state pensioners can also continue to receive Additional Pension schemes such as SERPS and Second State Pension, which could make their total payments higher than the base amounts. Although these schemes are no longer open to new members, those enrolled through their employer before retirement still receive Additional Pension amounts each week on top of their basic payments.
The Chancellor has announced that state pensioners who exceed the £12,570 Personal Tax Allowance will not owe tax on their state pension, as long as they have no other income. Details of how this will work are yet to be revealed, although Additional State Pension schemes for older state pensioners will not be exempted from tax, HM Treasury has confirmed.
