Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015

Effect of pensioner postponing or suspending state pension

17.—(1) If a person’s entitlement to a state pension under this Part has been deferred for a period, the weekly rate of the person’s state pension is increased by an amount equal to the sum of the increments to which the person is entitled.

(2) But the weekly rate is not to be increased under subsection (1) if the increase would be less than 1% of the person’s weekly rate ignoring that subsection.

(3) A person is entitled to one increment for each whole week in the period during which the person’s entitlement to a state pension was deferred.

(4) The amount of an increment is equal to a specified percentage of the weekly rate of the state pension to which the person would have been entitled immediately before the end of that period if the person’s entitlement had not been deferred.

(5) In subsection (4) “specified” means specified in regulations.

(6) The amount of an increase under this section is itself to be increased from time to time in accordance with any order made under section 132 of the Administration Act (annual up-rating of benefits).

(7) For the purposes of this section and section 18 a person’s entitlement to a state pension under this Part is deferred for a period if the person has opted under section 16 to suspend his or her entitlement for that period.

(8) For the purposes of this section and section 18 a person’s entitlement to a state pension under this Part is also deferred for a period if the person is not entitled to it for that period by reason only of—

(a) not satisfying the conditions in section 1 of the Administration Act (entitlement dependent on claim etc.), or

(b) subsection (9).

(9) A person is not entitled to a state pension under this Part for any period during which his or her entitlement to any other state pension under this Part is deferred.