The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is set to pay thousands of older Brits the state pension early next month due to the May bank holidays.
There are two bank holidays in May – one at the beginning and one at the end. This year’s Early May bank holiday is Monday, May 5, and the Spring bank holiday is Monday, May 26. If your state pension payment falls on one of these dates, you will have it paid earlier.
Usually, payments come on the working day before so this year, pensioners due payments on the bank holidays will see them on Friday May, 2 and on Friday, May 23 instead.
You can find out if the bank holiday changes impact you through the two-digit code linked to your pension payments. State pensions are paid every four weeks, and the day your payments are issued depends on your national insurance number – and more specifically, the last two digits.
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If those digits are between 00 and 19, your state pension is transferred on a Monday. Numbers between 20 and 39 mean your payment will be made on a Tuesday, and figures from 40 to 59 indicate a Wednesday. This pattern continues throughout the week, with 60 to 79 codes paid on Thursday and numbers 80 to 99 on Fridays. There are different rules if you live abroad.
If you’re due to be paid on a different day, you won’t need to do anything – the money will be paid into your account as normal. The amount you get will also remain the same, and it will also be paid into the same account in which you normally receive your state pension payment.
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If your payment is due on a different day, it will arrive in your account as normal. Payment dates will return to normal after this. If your money does not arrive in your account on the new payment date, you will need to contact the department that pays your benefit as soon as possible.
This is because the DWP support offices will be closed over bank holidays. For those looking to get information on their state pension, they will need to contact the Pensions Service, which you can do by calling 0800 731 0469.
State pension payments rose from Monday, April 7 and the new 2025-25 payment rates take effect from the first day of your next full benefit week. If your pay day is a Wednesday, for example, your state pension increase will take effect from that date onwards. As the state pension is paid in arrears, any previous days and weeks owed in your next payment will be at the 2024-25 rate.
The DWP applies the same approach each year, meaning that people receive the same state pension rates for an equal number of weeks, regardless of their paydays. The new pension rates will be paid in the May state pension pay packet.
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