5 hours ago, evadgib said:

My suspicion is because its in the same bracket as Hanging; Everyone wants it but Govts fear it would be political suicide for whoever brings it back!

I doubt many in the uk have any idea as to how govt. pensions are treated once the individual moves abroad, but I suspect they think that they are all treated the same way?

41 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

I doubt many in the uk have any idea as to how govt. pensions are treated once the individual moves abroad, but I suspect they think that they are all treated the same way?

MSM always inc a photo of 'Mr and Mrs Wrinkly' sitting in deck-chairs on a beach sipping pina coladas at sunset whenever expat pensions are discussed. This fuels the myth that we're all living the life of Reilly and that they (Joe Public/Sun readers in UK) are somehow being duped which in turn leads to hostility (comments pages/FB) and non co-operation (Support/Petitions).

It's high time such behaviour was corrected.

Open letter from Anne Puckridge to the PM.

2 hours ago, evadgib said:

Open letter from Anne Puckridge to the PM.

So it would cost 0.5B to fix?

 

How much Did May bribe the DUP with?

 

All linked to votes which stop after 15 years. Bastards.

5 hours ago, Grouse said:

All linked to votes which stop after 15 years.

The board should note that I heard reference to a 'private members bill by the hon member for Montgomery' at the end of Cabinet Office questions immediately before PMQ's commenced & that the reply included a pledge from the responding minister for 'votes for life'.

The '15 year' baloney therefore appears to be on it's way out during the term of this Govt which in turn will make us much harder to ignore for too much longer.

 

 

The Canadian Alliance Of British Pensioners

14 hrs · 

A new letter from our Chairman, Ian Andexser:
As we are all aware, the political situation in the UK right now is in chaos. The deadline for the Brexit departure looms ever closer (March 29th) and no agreement has been reached with the EEC parliamentary union.

Despite this our pension issue still remains foremost in our minds and certainly that of our London PR firm who are continuing with ideas and meetings to increase the momentum of our campaign. 

...See more

ENDFROZENPENSIONS.ORG

 

Family Member Sign-up Form - End Frozen Pensions

Family Member Sign-up Form Is a member of your family affected by the Government’s ‘frozen pension’ policy? If so, we want to…

On 2/6/2019 at 8:33 PM, evadgib said:

The board should note that I heard reference to a 'private members bill by the hon member for Montgomery' at the end of Cabinet Office questions immediately before PMQ's commenced & that the reply included a pledge from the responding minister for 'votes for life'.

The '15 year' baloney therefore appears to be on it's way out during the term of this Govt which in turn will make us much harder to ignore for too much longer.

I hope so, as taxation without representation is clearly unfair.

Interesting debate on GMB yesterday although it didn't specifically mention the 'Frozen' issue:

 

46 minutes ago, evadgib said:

Interesting debate on GMB yesterday although it didn't specifically mention the 'Frozen' issue:

 

Who is that ignorant loud mouthed oik who HAS to talk over everybody without responding to them or letting anybody else finish what they are saying,

18 minutes ago, billd766 said:

Who is that ignorant loud mouthed oik who HAS to talk over everybody without responding to them or letting anybody else finish what they are saying,

Grouse ????

On 1/20/2019 at 10:08 PM, evadgib said:

AFAIK the CPI in Sep was 2.4%. HMG/MoD usually show their hand by the end of Jan. I'll post details as soon as they do.

2.4% seems to have been confirmed but I have yet to see anything from MoD in the usual format although they have issued their revised rates for war pensions.

Article in the Mail this week based on estimates from DWP as to what it would actually cost to unfreeze pensions.

 

Nothing really new but some of the comments are more telling and show the apathy to many of those in the UK on the issue, and probably what Ministers rely on to hold their position, something I put to William Hague when he was he was Foreign Secretary and visiting the Embassy here some years ago, of course he didn't comment, though gave a wry smile. 

 

Frozen expat state pension Itd cost 3bn five years thaw them

A report from the BBC published on 14/02/2019

 

“ 'Ex-pat pensions 'would cost £600m a year to thaw'

 

Kevin Peachey

Personal finance reporter

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

A total of 510,000 UK pensioners live overseas, receive the UK state pension, but do not see that pension increase in line with the cost of living.

They live in countries which do not have a deal with the UK to ensure their UK state pension rises in the same way as it does each year in the UK.

Some 84% of them live in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. There has been a long-running campaign calling for an end to these pensions being frozen.

Now, the government has said it would cost between £600m and £640m each year in the next five years for it to pay for this so-called up-rating of state pensions - something that it has so far refused to do.

There is a risk that thousands more could fall into this category were there to be a no-deal Brexit, cancelling the current reciprocal deal between the UK and the EU.”

On 1/20/2019 at 10:08 PM, evadgib said:

AFAIK the CPI in Sep was 2.4%. HMG/MoD usually show their hand by the end of Jan. I'll post details as soon as they do.

HMG published this link yesterday which contains the same inner detail as #71 above.

estimated cost of uprating state pensions in frozen countries

Evadgib, any inside as to why the DWP prepared this costing?

 

1 hour ago, evadgib said:

estimated cost of uprating state pensions in frozen countries

Less than the cost of HS2 - a vanity project which has already cost £Billions without one piece of track being laid.

8 minutes ago, Christophers200 said:

Less than the cost of HS2 - a vanity project which has already cost £Billions without one piece of track being laid.

I've just renewed my subs to CABP & am also a member of BPiA. If everyone else does same this nonsense could be consigned to history before the '22 GE when our restored votes will kick in.

46 minutes ago, billzant said:

Evadgib, any inside as to why the DWP prepared this costing?

Not yet, but I suspect Brexit (Brits in EU) and/or the AAPG had something to do with it.

Update re Veterans ID Cards .

Key detail:

Quote

All other veterans will be able to apply for a new ID card by the end of this year, to mark their time in the armed forces.

Minister for Defence People and Veterans Tobias Ellwood said:

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the ex-forces community, and we are working hard to ensure they receive the support they deserve.

These new cards celebrate the great commitment and dedication of those who have served this country, and I hope they can provide a further link to ex-personnel and the incredible community around them.

Veterans UK - which manages pensions and compensation payments for the armed forces - local authorities, service charities, NHS and GPs will also benefit from the change, as they will not have to conduct time-consuming checks to identify individual veterans.

 

I have trawled the forum and haven't been able to find anything useful on this.

 

My state pension is due to start in May. I've heard nothing from DWP. I have a UK address, and any correspondence is forwarded to me.

 

Is it possible to make my pension claim, using my UK address, without leaving Thailand?

Spidey,

 

I had to apply for my state pension within 4 months prior to my 65^thbirthday, I don’t think your pension payments will start without you applying for it. I was living in Thailand and used my Thai address. The explanatory details I found here:-

 

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-if-you-retire-abroad

 

and

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-claiming-a-state-pension-if-you-retire-abroad

 

and I applied using this form

 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/501316/ipc-br1-gov-nsp.pdf

 

You might be able to use this form to apply and state that you have a UK correspondence address. But if you are using the above, then you are stating that you live in Thailand. Have a look at the form and consider the details of your circumstances.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Bill Z

Yes. You have to contact them, not the other way round.

Download the forms and fill them in.

There are a lot of pages.????

22 hours ago, Spidey said:

I have trawled the forum and haven't been able to find anything useful on this.

 

My state pension is due to start in May. I've heard nothing from DWP. I have a UK address, and any correspondence is forwarded to me.

 

Is it possible to make my pension claim, using my UK address, without leaving Thailand?

They send the claim form out between 4 and 3 months prior so depending on when in May it may just be a bit late. If I remember right they say if you haven't received it by the 3 month point you should contact them, I think these days they prefer to do everything over the phone.

There are 2 different claim forms, one for living in the UK and one for living abroad, the UK one being a lot shorter. Both are available for download from the DWP website.

Govt Responded to a Petition on the Governance of NI fund.

AAPG next meeting 19 March

Feel free to add comments at the bottom of the page.

Band of MPs urge Theresa May to end 'grossly unfair and unjust' pension policy hitting over half a million British expats

On ‎2‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 2:09 AM, sandyf said:

They send the claim form out between 4 and 3 months prior so depending on when in May it may just be a bit late. If I remember right they say if you haven't received it by the 3 month point you should contact them, I think these days they prefer to do everything over the phone.

There are 2 different claim forms, one for living in the UK and one for living abroad, the UK one being a lot shorter. Both are available for download from the DWP website.

OK, so I tried doing it online as a UK resident. Needed original marriage certificate and a heap of questions that I couldn't really answer. It became obvious that I would probably need to return to the UK to complete the process. Phoned my mate to inform him that I would be coming back and messaged my wife to tell her to find the marriage certificate.

 

My mate informed me that I had a pile of letters there. He's under instruction to open my mail and forward anything important. He hadn't done it for a while so opened all my mail. Amongst it was an "Invitation to Apply for Your State Pension" with unique ID. 

 

Went on line and completed the application in minutes, using the unique ID. Very few questions and no requirement to produce ant documents. Received an email a few minutes later from DWP telling me that I will receive an information pack, 2 weeks before my pension is due to start. Job done.

 

Only slight issue is that they said that they will contact my mobile if they had any issues with my application. Had given them my mate's mobile with instructions to him to tell them that I'm on holiday and back in 4 weeks. They have my email. Hopefully I will hear no more from them and my bank account will duly be credited in May.

 

Lesson learned, without the unique ID that you get sent, a difficult, if not impossible process to complete online. With the ID, easier than applying for a dog licence.

9 hours ago, Spidey said:

Only slight issue is that they said that they will contact my mobile if they had any issues with my application. Had given them my mate's mobile with instructions to him to tell them that I'm on holiday and back in 4 weeks. They have my email. Hopefully I will hear no more from them and my bank account will duly be credited in May.

I have a UK Giff Gaff PAYG sim card which I keep in a spare phone here in Thailand. As long as you use the sim at least once every six months the sim remains active (I simply send myself a text message to my Thai number). Ideal for receiving texts from the UK, but receiving voice calls can be expensive so I have a 'Skype UK phone number' for that. 

 

For a credit card company, where for security, they will send me part of a password via email and part via text I gave them my Giff Gaff number and give my Skype number to anybody who might need to phone me (eg: my bank). I also gave HMRC my Skype and mobile numbers when I was applying for my pension a few years ago. I 'explained' that I lived in a poor mobile signal area so was only really reliable for texts and asked if they could phone my landline number if they needed to phone me. Works a treat because the call always comes directly to my Skype app on either my laptop if I'm at home or my mobile if I'm out. And, of course, if I need to phone anybody in the UK, by using Skype, it shows my number as a UK number.  

18 hours ago, Spidey said:

Hopefully I will hear no more from them and my bank account will duly be credited in May.

Depends on your birthday. You will be allocated a day and the payment will be credited 4 weeks following that day after your birthday. I was allocated a Friday, and was almost 5 weeks after my birthday, lost 5 days pension. The day you get is dependent on your NI number, someone did post the formula some time ago.