hotandsticky

True ... if you have an acceptable card to make payment. (or someone to do it for you).

My intention in starting this thread was as follows:- 1. Show that frozen pensions can be unfrozen. 2. Clarify some of the myths around bar stool advice. 3. Discuss the morals of the options available. 4. Consider the risks/rewards involved in taking up some of those options. I am grateful for the knowledgeable comments that have contributed to this thread - there were always going to be the detractors, but responding to their "garbage" (as described above) helps to get a balanced view of the facts and processes. I learned that DWP do not send life certificates to UK addresses - something I had wrongly assumed they did from friends original story........ that is something that considerably reduces the risk associated with 'unfreezing' process.

1. Unusual, they normally charge a fee for using their card. 2. He may wish to apply in person and save 5K

Good luck with paying for your next UK passport renewal. Never give up a home country bank account is my advice.

It is current. All gov.uk websites are current/live/up to date.

There is no court order - there never is. Your question is redundant and comes across as supercilious. His gonads were not as large as yours; I suspect that the conversation went.... government - "you have to repay the overpayment" - 70+ year old expat says "I can't". "Minimum we can accept is £5 pm" says government. "I can do that" replies the Farang. I imagine that is what most septuagenarian expats with limited education and life skills would have done.

That I don't know I am afraid - he told the story about his state pension.

Soi 13 Suk would enable anyone with the slightest knowledge of Thailand to have a punt at Bangkok. As for the new Cheap Charlie's you will have to Google it like I had to. I think On Nut area is the place to start.

Thaksin needed to be smart so he could line his own pockets.

That is possible, I don't know his exact circumstances but he was allowed to pay the minimum £5 pm. No penalties or repercussions.

Looks like this forum is too much for you.

Everyone else is OK Lez. Now just ask me any questions you are confused about.

Yes. Another friend (same town). He was daft enough to say that he had been in Thailand for 5 years! Had to repay £5 per month...died before he finished the job.

Not discontinued. A Thai widow can claim if domiciled in the UK.

My pal. Didn't lie, just overlooked advising DWP of his return to Thailand.

He didn't

The pension freeze is applicable if you reside (more than 6 months) in one of the countries where there is no reciprocal tax agreement ie Thailand. Doesn't matter what you own in the UK.

A widow has to be domiciled in the UK to claim Bereavement Payments.

No. "John Duffy is chair of the International Consortium of British Pensioners which runs the End Frozen Pensions campaign. He says: Quite astonishingly, a 'frozen' state pensioner will find their UK state pension 'thawed' if they return to the UK, even if only for a short period. Indeed, the pension is unfrozen during any visit to a list of 'unfrozen' countries, not just the UK. This means that somebody could receive – for example - £46 in one week living in a 'frozen' country, visit the UK, where their weekly pension will be tripled, only for this to revert to the frozen rate when back in their country of residence"

The UK was never part of Schengen, was it?

You have nothing. A 30 day visa exempt will be automatically granted.

....and it is ssh!te

Sound advice. I don't know any way that they would have an inkling of him being overseas - and the life cert was sent to Brighton. He called on my Thai phone because I have CAT phonenet; that didn't matter because he decided to 'come clean' to get his payment reinstated. Later:- I have just had a conversation with my friend up in Isaan.... I posted this thread to stimulate conversation about the option to 'thaw' frozen pensions. Most important was the desire to get a balanced view of the risks involved so that members could make their own INFORMED decision whether to invoke 'natural justice' regarding pension increases. Within that "informed" I cited the life certificate as a potential risk because a friend received one at his UK correspondence address. I am happy to apologise to Brit Man Too because (following my above conversation) we cannot categorically state that it was a life certificate that was sent out because nobody saw it. It was assumed that it was a life certificate because other people in our area of Thailand had also been sent them. My friend decided that it was time to admit to living in Thailand so, on my advice, he called DWP to ask why his pension had been stopped. He was told that he had not replied to a letter they had sent so they stopped his pension payment. He said that he had been Thailand for 6 months and it was likely that he would now live here; they immediately reinstated his pension payment and froze it accordingly. "Life certificate" was not specifically mentioned. He was more concerned about not losing the enhanced element of his pension so he did not mention that he had remarried. Also, a quick example of how DWP staff cannot necessarily join up the dots..... once the DWP established that my friend was in Thailand that was their job finished. They failed to pick up the fact his pension had already been increased as a result of him spending one year in the UK in his late 60's. He claimed his state pension from Thailand with a Thai address; after a couple of years he a spent almost a year in the UK and received the uplift + subsequent annual rises as a result of not advising his return to Thailand. His pension is now frozen with the benefit of those increases - it should have reverted to the initial pension at age 65.

PoL = life certificate?

True......but, as in this case, once you find it has no relevance there is no need to make a comment......????