DWP seeks views on deferring the State Pension. Submissions by 1 December

On 20 October 2026, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published a call for evidence on deferring the State Pension. The department wants to strengthen its evidence base on how this option works in practice.

What deferring the State Pension means

Deferral allows you to delay claiming your State Pension. According to the DWP, this gives flexibility over when you start receiving the benefit. Depending on the rules in force and your individual circumstances, it may also mean a higher weekly pension once payments begin. This addition is called "extra State Pension" and is added to your regular State Pension.

What the call for evidence covers

The DWP wants to find out:

• why people defer their State Pension,
• how well they understand the options available,
• what influences the decision on when to claim a pension,
• what their experiences are and what the consequences of their decisions have been,
• what barriers and difficulties they encounter.

The department stresses that this is purely information gathering. It does not propose any specific policy changes and does not assume that the current rules will either be kept or changed. The data collected is intended to help assess how the current rules work in practice and to identify issues that may need further analysis.

Deadline

Submissions are accepted until 23:59 on 1 December 2026. The full call for evidence document is available on GOV.UK, including in a Welsh-language version.

What this means for you

For now, nothing changes: the DWP has not announced any changes to the rules. However, the call for evidence concerns people approaching pension age and may be of interest to anyone who has worked in the UK and is wondering when to claim their State Pension. They can describe their own experiences, for example difficulties in understanding the options. The source does not say exactly who can take part in the consultation, nor does it describe the rules for people living abroad. It is worth checking the details on GOV.UK.