Newly Married Man Uk State Pension Increase?

[wineman]

If a retired Englishman, receiving a UK State pension and living permanently in Thailand, marries a Thai national will he be entitled to an increase in that pension?

Any information on this subject will be gratefully received.

Also, what are the legal pro's and con's when married to a Thai woman please?

Edited January 7, 2008 by wineman

[JohnC]

If a retired Englishman, receiving a UK State pension and living permanently in Thailand, marries a Thai national will he be entitled to an increase in that pension?

Any information on this subject will be gratefully received.

This is a complicated subject not least because of the pensions reform act 2007, however the firts place to look is http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/atoz/a.../retirement.asp, from there you can e mail the Pension Service direct with your questions.

[prakhonchai nick]

If a retired Englishman, receiving a UK State pension and living permanently in Thailand, marries a Thai national will he be entitled to an increase in that pension?

Any information on this subject will be gratefully received.

If you are legally married (registered at an amphur) then you should be eligible for the dependents allowance which is around £58 a week! This allowance is being dropped from April 2010 for new pensioners, but will continue until April 2020 for existing pensioners.

Log on to http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk, and download the application form for dependents allowance and send it off together with either original or certified copies of the marriage certificate and some ID for your wife. translations are NOT required

Trust this helps.

[sumrit]

If a retired Englishman, receiving a UK State pension and living permanently in Thailand, marries a Thai national will he be entitled to an increase in that pension?

Any information on this subject will be gratefully received.

If you are legally married (registered at an amphur) then you should be eligible for the dependents allowance which is around £58 a week! This allowance is being dropped from April 2010 for new pensioners, but will continue until April 2020 for existing pensioners.

Log on to http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk, and download the application form for dependents allowance and send it off together with either original or certified copies of the marriage certificate and some ID for your wife. translations are NOT required

Trust this helps.

I've been told your wife will also need a UK National Insurance Number. Don't know if this is true though.

[wineman]

Thanks all for your help.

[Taijitu]

I've been told your wife will also need a UK National Insurance Number. Don't know if this is true though.

Its not true.

[Taijitu]

Mmmm...I wonder why this topic was moved to Jobs, economy, banking, business, investment in Thailand forum?

[wineman]

Mmmm...I wonder why this topic was moved to Jobs, economy, banking, business, investment in Thailand forum?

So do I! So, as I started this particular topic I'll ask -

Mods, why was this topic moved to Jobs, economy, banking, business, investment in Thailand forum?

[pkrv]

There have been plenty of posts on this subject simply search the forum.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/lofiversion/...php/t35877.html

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/lofiversion/...php/t22096.html

Basically the long and the short of it is that if you live outside of the E.U. (and one or two other countries, which do not include Thailand) your UK state pension is frozen for the rest of your life.

Check out the BBC web site as there have been well documented fights in the European Court of human rights over this. Essentially the UK defaults on its pension provision - guess how much your frozen amount today will be worth in say 20-30 years time - some one said peanuts but I think those too may be out of the league of such pension provision come that time .

You could try this link provided by another poster.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/bep/

Edited January 9, 2008 by pkrv

[wineman]

There have been plenty of posts on this subject simply search the forum.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/lofiversion/...php/t35877.html

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/lofiversion/...php/t22096.html

Basically the long and the short of it is that if you live outside of the E.U. (and one or two other countries, which do not include Thailand) your UK state pension is frozen for the rest of your life.

Check out the BBC web site as there have been well documented fights in the European Court of human rights over this. Essentially the UK defaults on its pension provision - guess how much your frozen amount today will be worth in say 20-30 years time - some one said peanuts but I think those too may be out of the league of such pension provision come that time .

You could try this link provided by another poster.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/bep/

Thanks pkrv, but my question is not about frozen state pensions.

[Dave the Dude]

Basically the long and the short of it is that if you live outside of the E.U. (and one or two other countries, which do not include Thailand) your UK state pension is frozen for the rest of your life.

Quite correct, unless your in a position to change this unfair law . i.e. A Civil Servant . They are exempt from the freezing of their pensions when they live abroad. That, I think is an even bigger con than us (fairly) normal working sorts having our hard earned pensions frozen, but then again someone has got to pay for all the 'Career Spongers' in the UK.

Dave

[egg6447]

hi all, is there anyone out there that has achieved a solution to the additional pension/allowance, and how did it go for you?? thanks and regards egg6447

[apetley]

Basically the long and the short of it is that if you live outside of the E.U. (and one or two other countries, which do not include Thailand) your UK state pension is frozen for the rest of your life.

Quite correct, unless your in a position to change this unfair law . i.e. A Civil Servant . They are exempt from the freezing of their pensions when they live abroad. That, I think is an even bigger con than us (fairly) normal working sorts having our hard earned pensions frozen, but then again someone has got to pay for all the 'Career Spongers' in the UK.

Dave

Don't blame ex UK civil Servants for their indexed pensions when they are abroad.

If it were not for the UK Governments stubborn and morally bankrupt arbitrary refusal to index for those living in particular countries abroad it would not be an issue.

I was proud of being a Civil Servant. I worked at Ordnance Survey and helped produce the best mapping in the world and could have earned more had I chosen a career in the private mapping sector. I chose not too because I loved the job I had.

Instead of picking on a group who have what is fair, fight a Government who deny what is fair instead.

[Tafia]

Basically the long and the short of it is that if you live outside of the E.U. (and one or two other countries, which do not include Thailand) your UK state pension is frozen for the rest of your life.

Quite correct, unless your in a position to change this unfair law . i.e. A Civil Servant . They are exempt from the freezing of their pensions when they live abroad. That, I think is an even bigger con than us (fairly) normal working sorts having our hard earned pensions frozen, but then again someone has got to pay for all the 'Career Spongers' in the UK.

Dave

Don't blame ex UK civil Servants for their indexed pensions when they are abroad.

If it were not for the UK Governments stubborn and morally bankrupt arbitrary refusal to index for those living in particular countries abroad it would not be an issue.

I was proud of being a Civil Servant. I worked at Ordnance Survey and helped produce the best mapping in the world and could have earned more had I chosen a career in the private mapping sector. I chose not too because I loved the job I had.

Instead of picking on a group who have what is fair, fight a Government who deny what is fair instead.

It is only their civil service pension that is not frozen, that is no more than a works pension and a condition of their servce.

Civil Servants like others drawing their STATE PENSION whilst in Thailand will find the state pension frozen.

[Valentineboy]

I think the original question was" Can I get a married mans additional pension for my Thai wife who lives with me in Thailand?'

I believe in the UK it would be an extra 58 pound per week.I would like to ask" Is any one on this forum successfully claimed it?

[Valentineboy]

I think the original question was" Can I get a married mans additional pension for my Thai wife who lives with me in Thailand?'

I believe in the UK it would be an extra 58 pound per week.I would like to ask" Is any one on this forum successfully claimed it?

[Tafia]

Basically the long and the short of it is that if you live outside of the E.U. (and one or two other countries, which do not include Thailand) your UK state pension is frozen for the rest of your life.

Quite correct, unless your in a position to change this unfair law . i.e. A Civil Servant . They are exempt from the freezing of their pensions when they live abroad. That, I think is an even bigger con than us (fairly) normal working sorts having our hard earned pensions frozen, but then again someone has got to pay for all the 'Career Spongers' in the UK.

Dave

Dave,

Im sure we have discussed this before Civil Servants are NOT exempt from the freezing of the state pension.

Civil Servants pensions are index linked that is their work pension and condition of service which has nothing to do with the state pension which like all UK retirees in Thailand will be frozen

[davidthai]

hi all, is there anyone out there that has achieved a solution to the additional pension/allowance, and how did it go for you?? thanks and regards egg6447

Hi I am back to report my success in my application for my wifes allowance which is another 52.30 pound a month , it was backdated to my pensionable start date of 3 March 2008, i have also had arrears paid backdated to that date.

From my experience i would like to share the following:

Phone them in the first instance to request app form for additional pension for your wife , if your wife has a UK National Insurance Number everything will be done quickly , but if you are like me and your wife doesnt work and doesnt have a National Insurance number when you send in your application you will also need to send in the following original documents , Marriage certificate, wifes birth certificate and any divorce cert she may have had previously , they may not ask for all in the first instance but they will ask later and if you send everything in at the beginning it may turn out quicker for you , they will have them translated by their translator . after 4 weeks badger them on the phone and send emails , it helped in my experienced, hope this will help someone , my application took 8 months . when you send your application and docs send them EMS everything is quick and registered and you can track it on line with Thai post

Dave

[benjamat]

I am confused (again) Whay are we talking about here.

1,- Married persons pension ?

2, - Income support for dependant wife ?

A married persons pension would surely only apply if the wife was also at retirement age.

Cannot imagine UK government providing income support for non brit national living in another country.

If your wife has lived and worked in UK and has a NI number then something may be possible but it seems unlikely.

[sumrit]

I am confused (again) Whay are we talking about here.

1,- Married persons pension ?

2, - Income support for dependant wife ?

A married persons pension would surely only apply if the wife was also at retirement age.

A retired person is entitled to a married dependants allowance regardless of the spouses age (providing the

spouse isn't working or has an income of their own. I think a small income is allowed but it's only a few pounds

per week).

A retired friend of mine gets the married dependants allowance even though his wife is only 29 years old, and

when they moved to Thailand they were still entitled to this allowance.

As previously stated in this thread this only applies to people who reach retirement age before 5th April 2010

and it will only be paid until 5th April 2020.

Anybody reaching 65 after this date will not be able to claim this allowance (but may be entitled to some means

tested benifits, if they're living in the UK of course).

Cannot imagine UK government providing income support for non brit national living in another country.

If your wife has lived and worked in UK and has a NI number then something may be possible but it seems unlikely.

As the UK doesn't discriminate on the grounds of race any retired person is entitled to claim this allowance regardless of

their spouses nationality and as I've already said it doesn't matter where they live although if you live in certain

countries, Thailand being one, then the state pension is frozen at the level it was when you left the UK and is only

restored to current levels if you move back to the UK.

Your spouse doesn't have to have worked or resided in the UK to qualify.

Hope this make things a bit clearer .

[YORKSHIREPUD]

hi all, is there anyone out there that has achieved a solution to the additional pension/allowance, and how did it go for you?? thanks and regards egg6447

Hi I am back to report my success in my application for my wifes allowance which is another 52.30 pound a month , it was backdated to my pensionable start date of 3 March 2008, i have also had arrears paid backdated to that date.

From my experience i would like to share the following:

Phone them in the first instance to request app form for additional pension for your wife , if your wife has a UK National Insurance Number everything will be done quickly , but if you are like me and your wife doesnt work and doesnt have a National Insurance number when you send in your application you will also need to send in the following original documents , Marriage certificate, wifes birth certificate and any divorce cert she may have had previously , they may not ask for all in the first instance but they will ask later and if you send everything in at the beginning it may turn out quicker for you , they will have them translated by their translator . after 4 weeks badger them on the phone and send emails , it helped in my experienced, hope this will help someone , my application took 8 months . when you send your application and docs send them EMS everything is quick and registered and you can track it on line with Thai post

Dave

Dave, I sent my form back to the uk Months ago, the PO wanted 900 Baht to send by EMS and 90 Baht for normal post,I opted for normal, that was many months ago and the pensions office say that they have not received it, I had to get another form and sent it back by courier to make sure this time.

[David006]

Basically the long and the short of it is that if you live outside of the E.U. (and one or two other countries, which do not include Thailand) your UK state pension is frozen for the rest of your life.

Quite correct, unless your in a position to change this unfair law . i.e. A Civil Servant . They are exempt from the freezing of their pensions when they live abroad. That, I think is an even bigger con than us (fairly) normal working sorts having our hard earned pensions frozen, but then again someone has got to pay for all the 'Career Spongers' in the UK.

Dave

Not sure about the validity of your comment ....My late father was a civil servant before moving to Canada...his pension WAS and IS ( for my mother) frozen...

[micaw60]

I think the original question was" Can I get a married mans additional pension for my Thai wife who lives with me in Thailand?'

I believe in the UK it would be an extra 58 pound per week.I would like to ask" Is any one on this forum successfully claimed it?

I claimed and successfully got the additional pension for my Thai wife; it took a few months but eventually came through with no notification the bank deposit just increased?

You need to download the forms to complete and will need all the relevant documants, marriage certificate, etc. but you should get the extra pension within a few months - frozen of course!

Micaw60

Edited May 11, 2010 by micaw60

[thaimate]

I also recieved my 58 pounds no problem ,but and its a big but ,i became 65 just before the deadline and my wife had a national insurance no from when we lived in the U.K as said before i was not notified it just was added to my first pension payment ,however they did return our marriage certificate and her id card after two weeks.

[jesimps]

I married a Thai lass in August 2009 and sent off the application form and marriage cert and wife's documentation which were returned along with a covering letter dated September 2009. Since then, despite numerous letters, emails and phone calls from me, I received nothing of substance, only the stock reply that my details had been received and were being looked into.

Today I received a letter from the DWP saying that I'm not entitled to this allowance because I live in the UK and my wife lives in Thailand. It's taken them 14 months to come to this conclusion, surely they could have told me this at the onset and saved me a lot of time and effort. Instead I've been passed between Birmingham, Newcastle and London and finally had to write two letters to the CEO of the Pension Service with a copy sent to the Pensions Advisory Service.

I'm now in the position where I either have to accept this decision or ask them to reconsider. I was always under the impression that if you were legally married, irrespective of the wife's nationality or whether or not you lived under the same roof, you were entitled to this allowance.

I do plan to live permanently in Thailand in the near future, but I am now outside of the cut off date (April 2010) so I don't know if the change of circumstances would be valid under the original claim of August 2009.

I should be grateful to hear from anyone who's circumstances are similar and who have actually been paid this allowance.

[msg362]

I married a Thai lass in August 2009 and sent off the application form and marriage cert and wife's documentation which were returned along with a covering letter dated September 2009. Since then, despite numerous letters, emails and phone calls from me, I received nothing of substance, only the stock reply that my details had been received and were being looked into.

Today I received a letter from the DWP saying that I'm not entitled to this allowance because I live in the UK and my wife lives in Thailand. It's taken them 14 months to come to this conclusion, surely they could have told me this at the onset and saved me a lot of time and effort. Instead I've been passed between Birmingham, Newcastle and London and finally had to write two letters to the CEO of the Pension Service with a copy sent to the Pensions Advisory Service.

I'm now in the position where I either have to accept this decision or ask them to reconsider. I was always under the impression that if you were legally married, irrespective of the wife's nationality or whether or not you lived under the same roof, you were entitled to this allowance.

I do plan to live permanently in Thailand in the near future, but I am now outside of the cut off date (April 2010) so I don't know if the change of circumstances would be valid under the original claim of August 2009.

I should be grateful to hear from anyone who's circumstances are similar and who have actually been paid this allowance.

I was told the same thing by Newcastle. If you do not live in the same country, no allowance. Stupidly if you live in the same country but in different places you can still claim it. So either live both in UK and get them both indexed or live in Thailand and get both frozen

Edited October 26, 2010 by msg362

[jesimps]

I married a Thai lass in August 2009 and sent off the application form and marriage cert and wife's documentation which were returned along with a covering letter dated September 2009. Since then, despite numerous letters, emails and phone calls from me, I received nothing of substance, only the stock reply that my details had been received and were being looked into.

Today I received a letter from the DWP saying that I'm not entitled to this allowance because I live in the UK and my wife lives in Thailand. It's taken them 14 months to come to this conclusion, surely they could have told me this at the onset and saved me a lot of time and effort. Instead I've been passed between Birmingham, Newcastle and London and finally had to write two letters to the CEO of the Pension Service with a copy sent to the Pensions Advisory Service.

I'm now in the position where I either have to accept this decision or ask them to reconsider. I was always under the impression that if you were legally married, irrespective of the wife's nationality or whether or not you lived under the same roof, you were entitled to this allowance.

I do plan to live permanently in Thailand in the near future, but I am now outside of the cut off date (April 2010) so I don't know if the change of circumstances would be valid under the original claim of August 2009.

I should be grateful to hear from anyone who's circumstances are similar and who have actually been paid this allowance.

I was told the same thing by Newcastle. If you do not live in the same country, no allowance. Stupidly if you live in the same country but in different places you can still claim it. So either live both in UK and get them both indexed or live in Thailand and get both frozen

Smacks of fiddle to me this 'living together in same country bit', I intend to contact the DWP and ask them to quote me the appropriate legislation on this. If they can't, then I will write to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. When I worked for the foreign office in India, immigration officers seconded to the High Commission used to go on field trips to check out claims of immigrants living in the UK, who were claiming allowances for wives and dependents in the sub-continent. As a born and bred British citizen, I would expect at least the same treatment.

Does anyone know of any experts who I could contact to take this on on a 'no win no fee' basis?