Money expert Martin Lewis has warned millions of state pensioners that they will not get the full £475 Triple Lock boost quoted in the media.
This week, it was revealed that the state pension will increase by 4.1 percent from April 2025 thanks to the latest Triple Lock calculations, which means pensions must rise to match inflation, wage growth or a flat 2.5 percent, whichever is highest. Based on current figures, that will be a £475 increase to the state pension.
But Martin, speaking on his latest The Martin Lewis Podcast on BBC, Spotify and Apple Music, urged ‘caution’ for state pensioners because most retirees will not get anywhere near to the £475 figure that is set to boost pensions in next April’s Triple Lock.
Martin said: “It came in April 2016 and is a totally new type of pension for anyone who hits state pension age in April 2016 or beyond.
“But if you look at the numbers, only 1 in 4 pensioners are on the new state pension, the rest are on the old state pension because they hit state pension age beforehand.
“The old state pension is less than the new state pension therefore a 4.1 percent rise in the old state pension is not as much.
“So the vast majority of pensioners won’t see £475 a year, they will see £363 a year as the full old state pension rise, it’s much smaller than is often quoted.”
Martin then went on to explain that the full new state pension also isn’t always full for everyone.
He continued: “You need full qualifying National Insurance years. If you don’t and millions don’t, especially many of the poorest, then you won’t get the full rise because it is a 4.1 percent rise on what you’ve got, and the £363 a year for the old state pension is if you’re on the full old state pension but many aren’t on the full one so they will get less than that.”
Martin then added: “In the debate over Winter Fuel Payments, what’s often quoted is the Triple Lock increase of £475, but only 1 in 4 pensioners get the new state pension which is the higher amount and many of those won’t be on the full new state pension.
“So we need to be slightly careful. The vast majority of pensioners won’t get the full £475 which is the figure you will see quoted in many media outlets and government communications from this point onwards.
“The vast majority of pensioners will see an uplift that is far less than that.”
