Social Security Pensions Act 1975

Section 12.

SCHEDULE 1 Deferred Retirement

Increase of pension where pensioner defers retirement

1 Where a person defers his retirement from regular employment after attaining pensionable age, the rate of his Category A or Category B retirement pension shall be increased by an amount equal to the aggregate of the increments to which he is entitled under paragraph 2 below, but only if that amount is enough to increase the rate of the pension by at least 1 per cent.

2 (1) Subject to paragraph 3 below, a person is entitled to an increment under this paragraph for each complete incremental period in his period of deferment.

(2) In this Schedule—

(a) " incremental period " means any period of six consecutive days, excluding Sunday (Monday therefore being treated as the next consecutive day following Saturday); and

(b) " period of deferment", in relation to any person, means the period beginning with the day on which he attains pensionable age and ending with the day before that of his retirement.

(3) Subject to paragraph 3 below, the amount of the increment for any such incremental period shall be 1/8th per cent, of the weekly rate of the Category A or Category B retirement pension to which that person would have been entitled for the period if he had retired on attaining pensionable age.

(4) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (3) above the weekly rate of the pension for any period shall be taken to be the rate that would have applied on the last day of that period, including any increase under section 28(7) of the principal Act (invalidity) and any increase under paragraph 4 below but not any increase under section 41, 45 or 46 of the principal Act (child and adult dependants) or any graduated retirement benefit.

(5) Where one or more orders have come into force under section 124 of the principal Act (increases in rates of benefit) during the period of deferment the rate for any incremental period shall be determined under sub-paragraph (4) above as if the order or orders had come into force before the beginning of the period of deferment.

3 Regulations may provide that a day shall be treated in relation to any person or his pension as not being a day of increment and—

(a) if any incremental period in that person's period of deferment consists wholly of days that fall to be so treated in relation to him or his pension, he shall not be entitled to any increment for that incremental period under sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 2 above ;

(b) if any such incremental period contains one or more such days, the amount of the increment for the period under sub-paragraph (3) of that paragraph shall be proportionately reduced.

Increase of pension where pensioner's deceased spouse has deferred retirement

4 (1) Where a woman is entitled to a Category A or Category B retirement pension and—

(a) she has had a husband and he has died, and she was married to him when he died ; and

(b) the husband either—

(i) was entitled to a Category A or Category B retirement pension with an increase under this Schedule ; or

(ii) would have been so entitled if he had retired on the date of his death,

the rate of her pension shall be increased by an amount equal to the increase to which he was or would have been entitled.

(2) Where a man is entitled to a Category A or Category B retirement pension and—

(a) he has had a wife and she has died, and he was married to her when she died ; and

(b) he was over pensionable age when she died ; and

(c) the wife either—

(i) was entitled to a Category A or Category B retirement pension with an increase under this Schedule ; or

(ii) would have been so entitled if she had retired on the date of her death,

the rate of his pension shall be increased by an amount equal to the increase to which she was or would have been entitled.

Married women

5 (1) For the purposes of paragraphs 1 to 3 above in their application to a Category B retirement pension to which a married woman is entitled by virtue of her husband's contributions, a married woman who retires (or is deemed by virtue of section 27(5) of the principal Act to retire) before her husband shall be treated as deferring her retirement until he retires and her period of deferment shall accordingly be treated as ending with the day before that of his retirement.

(2) References in sub-paragraph (1) above to the retirement of a woman's husband shall, where the marriage is terminated before he retires, be construed as references to the termination of the marriage.

(3) In the case of—

(a) a Category B retirement pension to which a married woman is entitled by virtue of her husband's contributions ; or

(b) a married woman's Category A retirement pension with an increase under section 10(2) of this Act attributable to her husband's contributions,

the reference in paragraph 2(3) above to the pension to which a person would have been entitled if he had retired on attaining pensionable age shall be construed as a reference to the pension to which she would have been entitled if she and her husband had so retired.

(4) Paragraph 4(2)(c) above shall not apply to a Category B retirement pension to which the wife was or would have been entitled by virtue of the man's contributions ; and where the Category A retirement pension to which the wife was or would have been entitled includes an increase under section 10(2) of this Act attributable to his contributions, the increase to which he is entitled under that paragraph shall be calculated as if there had been no increase under that section.