DWP code that tells you if your state pension will be paid early this month
Thousands of pensioners will see a change in their state pension payments this month.
This month some state pension payments will be paid by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) earlier than normal due to the Christmas bank holidays. This year, Christmas Day falls on a Wednesday, and Boxing Day falls on a Thursday. As the DWP does not pay state pensions or benefits on bank holidays, people with payments due on these days will get them earlier.
Usually, the DWP makes the payment on the final working day before the bank holiday, which this year will be on Christmas Eve. If you are due to be paid on Wednesday, December 25, or Thursday, December 26, it will arrive on Tuesday, December 24 instead.
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The New Year bank holiday on January 1 will also impact some state pensions. If you are due to receive your pension on Wednesday, January 1, you will be paid on December 31. Again, this is because the last working day before the New Year is Tuesday, December 31.
You can find out if you are impacted by the bank holiday changes 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.
If those digits are between 00 and 19, your state pension is transferred on a Monday. Numbers between 20 and 39 means 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 however if you live abroad.
If your state pension payments are scheduled for the week beginning 23 December, and your National Insurance number ends in digits between 40 and 99, you are likely to be affected by this change.
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. It's also very important to note that although receiving your benefits earlier may sound like a good thing, it does mean that you need to make your money last longer, even if it is just by one day.
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. You can find the relevant support numbers on the government's official website.
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