New State Pension to be at least £151.25 a week

The new State Pension, due to launch in April 2016, will now be at least £151.25 a week, it was revealed in the Autumn Statement.

Previously, the new single-tier pension was pegged at no less than £148.40 a week.

The increase is because the amount of Pension Credit paid to current pensioners is increasing in line with the so-called 'triple lock' guarantee and the two payments are linked.

The actual amount to be paid in new State Pension to the first batch of pensioners from April 2016 will be announced in autumn 2015.

The new State Pension

If you're a man and you reach 65 or a woman and you reach 63 on or after 6th April 2016 you'll receive the new State Pension.

You'll need at least 10 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions or credits to get any State Pension, and 35 years to get the full amount.

Currently, the Basic State Pension is topped up with Pension Credit if you're have a low income, but this will be scrapped for new pensioners from 2016.

You may receive a reduction in the new State Pension if you 'contracted out' of the Additional State Pension to pay into a personal or workplace scheme instead.

And you may receive more than the weekly amount if you have over a certain amount of Additional State Pension accrued.

Call for more flexibility

Accountants PwC have called for more flexibility in when people can access the State Pension, proposing a 'window' where people could access their pension within a certain time period, which could be earlier than the official age.

If people did access their pension earlier, PwC suggests, then they would receive a commensurately reduced amount each week based on their National Insurance record.

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