sandyf

Indeed they are not even prepared to follow the recommendations of the APPG enquiry in 2020. For these reasons, the main recommendation of this report is that the UK Government end the ‘frozen’ pension policy. We urge the Government to seek to provide UK pensioners living in ‘frozen’ countries with their full uprated UK state pension as soon as possible, particularly given the recent impacts of COVID-19 on this group. https://frozenbritishpensions.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Frozen-Pensions-APPG-1.pdf The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Frozen British Pensions exists to bring together parliamentary supporters of the case to unfreeze frozen British State Pensions Overseas and to campaign for reform on this issue. https://frozenbritishpensions.org/

A statement that could only come from the young. It wasn't until 1989 that a private individual could contract out of SERPS. When it came about I was told it was too late not enough time left to get over the start up cost and produce any significant return. Remaining in SERPs was the better option, but at that point in time overseas retirement wasn't on the horizon.

Truncating what was said is a breach of the rules but why should that matter. Many of the posts on this thread come from a lack of historical awareness. It is an unfortunate fact of life that many are oblivious to injustice and discrimination. The Suffragettes were part of the ‘Votes for Women’ campaign that had long fought for the right of women to vote in the UK. They used art, debate, propaganda, and attack on property including window smashing and arson to fight for female suffrage. https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london/explore/who-were-suffragettes#:~:text=The Suffragettes were part of,to fight for female suffrage.

The wrongs of the past are never old, how do you think women got the vote or gay men avoided prison. A recent petition on the subject reached a level that required an answer in the House. This brought about media coverage that has never been seen in the past and a significant increase in public awareness, the majority of the UK public have no idea. Petition and answer can be seen here. https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2024-02-19/debates/24021975000085/FrozenBritishPensions

Indeed, I think it was 1981 whe the UK government said it would not be entering into any new reciprocol social security agreements, until brexit came along. Canada does have a reciprocal agreement in place but at the time it was drawn up the Canadian pension could not be exported so pensions were not included. Some time later the Canadian policy was amended to allow pensions to be exported but UK has consistently refused to revisit the agreement. The whole issue stems from the fact that politically the state pension is viewed as a benefit and the legislation is embedded in the Social Security Act. The government could extract the state pension and make it stand alone legislation but there is no political will. About the only politicians that have said anything significant in the House are Jeremy Corbyn and Ian Blackford, in 2015 it was the topic of Ian Blackford's maiden speech. Every year the Social Security Act comes before parliament but debate is only allowed on the government changes, any attempt to bring up the state pension gets sidelined.

Didn't the government reduce NI contributions just a couple of weeks ago, and not for the first time. The Tories have been buying votes with the revenue that was intended for pensions for years. It is all a deliberate plan to make pensions fully funded from income tax and dispensing with NI, making it easier to run the scheme down as time goes bye. Income tax may eventually have to be raised to pay for abolishing national insurance, Jeremy Hunt has suggested the day after delivering the government’s spring budget. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/07/income-tax-likely-to-go-up-if-national-insurance-scapped-hunt-suggests

There was a time when it was 44 years of contributions. A friend of mine who had been made redundant had made his up with voluntary contributions and when they suddenly dropped it to 30 years he wrote and asked for a refund. Doesn't take much to guess the reply.

The governments main argument is that it has been that way for over 70 years. In that same 70 years there has been numerous instances of legislation being overturned, but then it is all about public opinion and how many votes can be generated. I hope Keir Starmer was paying attention at the time. "The Labour Party have today formally announced that they will support the APPG in its efforts to annul the Social Security Benefit Up-rating Regulations." https://frozenbritishpensions.org/jeremy-corbyn-gives-labours-backing-pension-unfreezing/

That is a distorted perspective. The UK state pension is a "pay as you go" scheme where the workers of today make contributions to pay the pensioners of today. When you become a pensioner that still applies. Government revenue from workers contributions is by default index linked so all pension entitlement arising from workers contributions should be indexed linked, selective index linking is pure discrimination. Brexit brought the legal requirement to pay uprated pensions in the EU to an end. The government didn't like the thought of the backlash from so many close to home so they manipulated the legislation to suit. In 2019 Therese Coffey made this statement, which was then withdrawn. Fairly obvious she thought pensioners elsewhere didn't need peace of mind. "The government is sending out letters outlining that even if we leave without a deal, pensions for those in the EU will be uprated for a further 3 years –an increase of at least 2.5% annually for the duration of this Parliament,worth up to £200 a year per person. And pensioners will be told they do not need to do anything to continue receiving their State Pension. During the 3-year period, the UK government plans to negotiate a new arrangement with the EU to ensure that uprating continues. Work and Pensions Secretary Dr Thérèse Coffey said: Pensioners in Europe who have paid into the system for years deserve peace of mind over their future finances. Not only are we providing much-needed reassurance for hundreds of thousands of retirees, we’re ensuring we are fully prepared for leaving the EU on 31 October. No matter the circumstances of Brexit, we’ve made sure that pensionersdo not need to take any action to continue receiving their hard-earnedState Pension.” A new dedicated call centre team based in Newcastle has also beenestablished in order to answer any questions from those affected. The uprating will also affect those living in the EEA states and Switzerland. The letters will be sent next week."

Quite the opposite, as you said it came about at the outset because at the time there was significant emigration such as the assisted passage scheme to Australia. Successive government have deliberately misinterpreted the intention to suit their own agenda and the subsequent reciprocal agreements created legalised discrimination. There is a significant difference between people heading off at an early age for a new life in the colonies and people going into retirement having paid full NI throughout their working life.

1948

Each to their own whichever suits, was last time for me, pushing up daisies by time it's due again.

And guess who the "method " came from? Your words "Do it online or get yer wife to do it." You are free to believe the "online" method does not require the original passport being sent to HMPO.

You don't really need a SIM if you have a phone as you can use the hotspot if you have data. I don't have data on my phone and just piggyback my wife's phone when out and about.

You should try the pharmacy,tablets will make you feel better. Seriously, android is a pain in the neck, I had a Lenevo and quickly changed it for a Windows version.

I only do contactless in the UK or when travelling, and only use the Wise card. They send an email within seconds of the spend which is quite handy.

No he didn't, he said it shouldn't be done online. Most people do it themselves at VFS, i was one of the first when it move from the FCO in 2014. Went back to UK in Sept to do it again. VFS sucks.

The online method that was suggested requires the original passport to be sent to the UK and Mr Tom was quite right in what he said. You may well think it is ok to be without a passport but I doubt many would agree.

If you are in Sattahip I wouldn't disagree.

Indeed,we are in Chonburi and would normally use BTS from Kheha. But VFS has moved from Trendy to Rama 9 and going to that area we would use the airport and Makkasan.

I used to hate going to Bangkok but recent years has been a bit easier, i think due to better transport services. From Pattaya you could get the bus to the airport and then the train to Makkasan. VFS is not far away, within walking distance or a couple of stops on the MRT.

Agreed, you shouldn't be here without an original passport as proof of identity. As far as the wife goes I think it meant send the wife to VFS in Bangkok with the application.

Apologies, I looked back at my old passports and when I went to Luan Prabang in Jan 23 I did get the same sticker as you show but never noticed. Nothing on previous visits but they were some years prior. Same with Malaysia last visit was Feb 2020 and certainly no sticker on entry to Vietnam 2 months ago.

The only card I have on Google is my UK credit card, no loading required. I also only use cash here, my card is only to get cash from ATM. When I lost my ATM card at least it was protected by the pin number, contactless cards are very vulnerable.

It is a bit of a confusing topic. I have been using Google Pay for some years and found it quite useful. Google Pay came from a merger of Google Wallet and Android Pay but the wallet never actually went away. Looks like Google wallet has been revamped and now taking over from Google Pay. My understanding is that the new version of the wallet provides a contactless facility on an android phone for your cards so should work in any establishment that accepts contactless payment. Anywhere that you find Google Pay or contactless payment logos, you can make contactless payments with a supported form of payment that you stored in Google Wallet. https://support.google.com/wallet/answer/11951709?hl=en#zippy=%2Cwhats-the-difference-between-google-wallet-google-pay%2Ccan-i-use-google-wallet-to-tap-to-pay