March 2025 DWP payment dates for benefits and pensions, in full

Spring is just around the corner with the promise of more daylight and warmer weather and fewer costs for heating and lighting homes which will come as a welcome relief for many households.

For those who rely on state benefits and pensions, there is further good news this spring with a 1.7 per cent increase in benefits and 4.1 per cent rise in the state pension to be introduced in April.

However, all this comes as the Government is planning to publish a green paper on reform of the health and disability benefit system. The aim is to make up to £5bn in savings from the welfare bill.

Detail on the green paper is expected to be announced at the end of March, ahead of this payments for benefits and the state pension from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) remain unchanged.

Benefits payments are usually made straight into the bank, building society or credit union account of the claimant.

When a payment date falls on a weekend or a bank holiday, then the claimant is generally paid on the working day before.

There are no bank holidays in March for England, Wales and Scotland so benefit payments, will only be affected if the designated day fall son a weekend. Then the payment will be made on the working day before which is Friday.

There are bank holidays in Northern Ireland on Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 March.

Benefit payments are administered by the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland and in the event of a bank holiday, payments are made on the last working day before the bank holiday which is Friday 14 March.

This is the schedule for DWP’s benefit payments:

If a benefit payment is not made by the expected day, the DWP advises claimants to check the date on their award notice and bank account.

If the date is correct but the money has failed to arrive in a claimant’s account, they should then contact the appropriate helpline on the government website.

As with benefits, the basic state pension is paid directly into a claimant’s bank, building society or credit union account.

Pension payments are made on a four-week cycle, with the day on which it is paid dependent on the last two digits of a claimant’s national insurance (NI) number.

This is how NI numbers correspond to days of payment:

No bank holidays in March for England, Wales and Scotland mean state pension payment days will remain unchanged.

For those who discover a problem with their pension payments, a helpline is available here on the DWP website.