The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has set the revaluing percentage for protected payments within the new State Pension at 39.0 per cent. The measure is made by the State Pension Revaluation for Transitional Pensions Order 2025 (SI 2025/1219), signed on 25 November 2025 and laid before Parliament on 27 November 2025. The instrument extends to England, Wales and Scotland.
Under section 148AC(3)–(4) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992, the revaluing percentage reflects the increase in the general level of prices since 6 April 2016, the start of the statutory review period. The percentage is used to revalue “protected payments”, defined by paragraph 6(5) of Schedule 1 to the Pensions Act 2014 as the part of a person’s new State Pension derived from pre‑April 2016 contributions that exceeded the full rate of the new State Pension at 6 April 2016.
Eligibility is cohort‑based. The Order specifies that the 39.0 per cent revaluation applies to people who reach pensionable age on or after 7 April 2026. By law, the revaluing percentage is the one in the last order to come into force before the individual reaches pensionable age, so earlier cohorts remain subject to the percentages set by previous instruments. Pensionable age is determined by the rules in paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to the Pensions Act 1995.
Commencement is staged. From 22 December 2025 the Order has effect for making an award on an advance claim under regulation 15(1) of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987, where the claimant reaches pensionable age on or after 7 April 2026. For all other purposes, the Order comes into force on 6 April 2026, allowing awards to reflect the updated revaluing percentage from the start of the 2026–27 tax year.
In practice, a protected payment is a ring‑fenced top‑up for those whose pre‑2016 record would have produced a higher pension under the previous system-typically individuals with Additional State Pension. The calculation fixes the protected element at the 6 April 2016 baseline and then applies the revaluing percentage up to the point the person reaches pensionable age, when it is paid alongside the new State Pension.
A simple illustration helps. If a person had a £20.00 protected payment at 6 April 2016, applying the 39.0 per cent revaluation would set that component at £27.80 when they reach pensionable age on or after 7 April 2026. The uplift applies only to the protected payment; it does not change the main new State Pension amount, which is set separately through the annual uprating process.
The instrument is geographically limited to Great Britain. State Pension arrangements in Northern Ireland are legislated separately; individuals there should refer to the Department for Communities for equivalent provisions and timelines.
The Order follows a review by the Secretary of State under section 148AC(1) confirming that prices increased over the review period. It is made under sections 148AC(3) and 189(1) and (4) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 and is signed on behalf of the Secretary of State by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Torsten Bell. The DWP states that no full impact assessment has been produced as no significant effect on the private, voluntary or public sectors is expected.
For claimants and advisers, the immediate action is to check whether a protected payment exists on the individual’s record and, if so, to plan on the basis that it will be revalued by 39.0 per cent if pensionable age is reached on or after 7 April 2026. Advance claims may be submitted from 22 December 2025 so that awards can be calculated using the new percentage for the relevant cohort.