How your National Insurance number reveals if you’ll get your state pension paid early next week

EASTER is nearly upon us and that means not just one bank holiday but two.

The long weekend also means that benefit payment dates - including state pension - can be different to normal.

There's an easy way to check this too - and it will tell you if you can expect your payments early or not over Easter.

You should grab your National Insurance number, which you can usually find on paperwork from work or retirement.

The number you have dictates what day you receive your state pension payments.

Take a closer look at the last two digits of the number and they reveal the exact day you get your cash.

It works as follows:

• 00 and 19 - Monday
• 20 and 39 - Tuesday
• 40 and 59 - Wednesday
• 60 to 79 - Thursday
• 80 to 99 - Friday

So how does that bank holiday affect your payments?

Well this year Easter starts with Good Friday on April 15 and ends with Easter Monday on April 18.

Both these days are bank holidays, so if your state pension is usually paid on either of these days, you can expect a change.

The good news is that you won't have to wait, as the payments are usually made early rather than afterwards.

You'll get paid early if Friday or Monday are your normal pay days for state pension.

Instead you'll see the money land in your bank account or normal payment method on Thursday, April 14.

That's the last working day before the four-day bank holiday weekend.

If your National Insurance number ends in digits between 00 to 19, or 80 to 99, then you are likely to be affected by this change.

Regardless of the changes in date you won't have to take any action in order to receive the early payment.

This is because it is something the government will action automatically.

Payments should be placed straight into your bank, building society or credit union account and you won't have to worry about changing any details to make sure you get what you're owed.

And if your payment date falls on a normal day that's not a bank holiday, then you'll get your payment as normal.

What other bank holidays could affect my state pension payments?

There are a number of bank holidays throughout the year, with the Early May bank holiday and another four-day weekend thanks to the Queen's Jubilee.

Here is the full list of upcoming holidays for the rest of the year after Easter:

• Monday, May 2 - Early May Bank Holiday
• Thursday, June 2 - Spring Bank Holiday
• Friday, June 3 - Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday
• Tuesday, July 12 - Battle of the Boyne (Northern Ireland only)
• Monday, August 1 - Summer Bank Holiday (Scotland only)
• Monday, August 29 - Summer Bank Holiday (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)
• Wednesday, November 30 - St Andrew's Day (Scotland only)
• Monday, December 26 - Boxing Day
• Tuesday, December 27 - Christmas Day (substitute day)

In most of these cases, state pension payments due on a bank holiday are paid on the working day before.

Universal Credit and other benefit payment dates can change too because of the bank holidays.

Meanwhile state pension payments will increase from April 11 -fiind out how much more you'll get.