UK Farangs Receiving a Capped State Pension

[keithkarmann]

5 hours ago, adammike said:

In the UK you have to have ten years of contributions before you are eligible for any state pension.I paid in for about 12 years so I get £48 a week.

I paid into the Canada Pension for four years and I get about $100 per month, which I have been getting for nine years since I turned 60 years old.

[Kwasaki]

2 hours ago, Max69xl said:

You do know that any Thai are not allowed to sign the 'proof of life' form? 

I've had 5 life forms in 8 years 2 this year and a Thai person has witness them so why are you posted false nonsense.  

[Kwasaki]

5 hours ago, Hi Tea said:

A telephone call to the DWP immediately reinstates it.

IPC you mean if living in Thailand.

[Moonlover]

5 hours ago, peterpop said:

I am sure they do not check the countersigning person.  I have used a Thai person and they have not been called.

 

 

As with all my life certificates my recent form has been signed by my well trained 'company director' . She does run her own business and she does have company stamp. They've never been questioned yet, so it would appear the a 'company director' is indeed a 'person of good standing in the community' as they put it.

[Moonlover]

On 9/6/2020 at 7:18 PM, PaDavid said:

1. They don’t notify HMRC if your pension has been capped, so you end up paying too much tax - unless you spot it and notify HMRC yourself.

HMRC have not increased my state pension allotment for 6 years, ever since I told them that I live abroad and do not benefit from the increase. That's all you have to do.

[Chris.B]

2 hours ago, izod10 said:

DWP website

I've looked there but can't find the statement you quoted?

[Bundooman]

13 hours ago, ChrisKC said:

I have just received life certificate number 2. It seems that it might be every two years after reaching 75. I just go to my local Clinic with my Thai wife. we get the certificate signed in English by the Doctor both on the allotted line and across the Thai stamp. I return them in a new envelope. (I was sent an SAE) registered (not EMS which is hopelessly expensive). No problem. The Doctor's fee B50. Only blood pressure taken. Take your passport with you. By the way, the covering letter states that you have 16 weeks from the date of it to return the certificate - seems reasonable to me!

 

PM me if you would like to see what the letter and certificate looks like.

Thank you ChrisKC, that would be very useful, I'll PM you later today; I'd never heard of it before, but it does make sense for them to check.

[peleid]

I have just received a form to fill in (still alive????) I fill in a Tax Return form every year

[izod10]

8 hours ago, Chris.B said:

I've looked there but can't find the statement you quoted?

keep looking

 Am not joining yet another thread debating issues,there are already 2 or 3 running i was involved in        I'm not frozen  no intention of being frozen either

Edited September 8, 2020 by izod10

[simon43]

I detest the fact that the DWP consider 'snail mail' as the only efficient and secure way to contact me, unless I am proactive and telephone them to ask if they are trying to contact me.  I live in north Laos, and am trying to sort out top-up NI payments for my pension that's due in a few years from now.

 

To date, not one letter that they claim to have sent to me has arrived.  This hardly surprises me at all, since postal theft and gross inefficiencies in the postal service seem the norm over here.  (I always send documents by DHL).  I've asked them to use email for their messages to me, but they refuse, saying that it's not secure.  Well, snail mail is not secure either!

[faraday]

47 minutes ago, izod10 said:

keep looking

 Am not joining yet another thread debating issues,there are already 2 or 3 running i was involved in        I'm not frozen  no intention of being frozen either

Why don't you be helpful & post the link?

[Farang99]

Just received one, and, like you, it contains no facility for responding by email (theough my work-related pension provider, very sensibly, does).

 

However I have learned elsewhere on this site that the DWP International pensions site does have an email address, so I am going to hedge my bets and do it both ways - and if that confuses them so much they give me two pensions that will be all to the good

[email protected]

 

[Wullie Mercer]

16 hours ago, hugh2121 said:

email received from DWP in July this year:

Dear Mr Morgan,  

Thank you for your email dated 03/07/2020.

I have checked our records and can confirm we have not issued any life certificates to you since November 2018, which you completed and returned.

Due to the ongoing restrictions caused by Covid-19 we have stopped issuing our life certificate requests until worldwide circumstances change. Your payments will continue to be issued every four weeks.

Yours Sincerely

 

Gemma 

+44 191 2187777

The Pension Service 11

Mail Handling Site A

Wolverhampton

Not true about suspending the proof of life cert. got one last week, filled in and returned. Found best person to sign is my doctor.

[hotandsticky]

11 hours ago, orientalist said:

I just received my latest life certificate. They are sent every 2 years. Usually i am in the UK around this time and a family friend - a JP - signs it. This year I will try my bank since the lawyer I have used for similar things in the past charges 1800 baht. 

 

 

Total overkill.

 

Anyone who can countersign a British passport application can sign  a life certificate.

[hotandsticky]

14 hours ago, Hi Tea said:

Why?  If you're already in the Post Office why not register/track it?  That way you don't have to scan anything to them.

 

Why bother.

 

Unnecessary cost and tracking only shows arrival in the UK. Doesn't evidence receipt by Wolverhampton - or processing by DWP staff.

 

Airmail is just as likely to get there and costs peanuts. No need to scan and email now that airmail to the UK is up and running again.

[brianthainess]

15 hours ago, Hi Tea said:

16 hours ago, chilly07 said:

On the question of certification I use a certified notary which most Thai lawyers are

That's the easy, most logical way but some posters like to make things seem as difficult as possible!

Took a friend one time, lawyer could speak english but could not read it, told him what it was, he signed, stamped it, and gave copies of all his " Qualifications".   1,000 baht job done. on reflection as the Pu Yia Ban has known me and wife for years i would try him first, after all he has a rubber stamp 

[Kwasaki]

9 hours ago, Chris.B said:

I've looked there but can't find the statement you quoted?

https://www.gov.uk/international-pension-centre

[PaDavid]

13 hours ago, andygrr said:

That's BS my mum received one last week. The letter was dated early Aug and they give you 16 weeks from date of letter so 4 weeks have already passed. so they are still sending them out. Her last one was in June 2018 so looks like every 2 years. Yes they are a pain to get signed.

It appears a batch were sent out dated 2nd or 3rd August. Most received end of August. But, check the postmark- sent from Laksi, Bangkok. So, for whatever reason, there is a 3-4 week discrepancy between dating the letter and posting it. 

[Kwasaki]

7 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

Took a friend one time, lawyer could speak english but could not read it, told him what it was, he signed, stamped it, and gave copies of all his " Qualifications".   1,000 baht job done. on reflection as the Pu Yia Ban has known me and wife for years i would try him first, after all he has a rubber stamp 

No need to pay that much or the need of a rubber stamp.

A Thai govt teacher friend signs mine, he just puts his Thai ID number in the stamp box area and telephone number.

[theoldgit]

14 hours ago, Max69xl said:

You do know that any Thai are not allowed to sign the 'proof of life' form? 

 

Where did you get that information from?

 

 

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, simon43 said:

I live in north Laos, and am trying to sort out top-up NI payments for my pension that's due in a few years from now.

Try the IPC they will the dept that deals with your pension when you get it.

https://www.gov.uk/international-pension-centre

[PaDavid]

18 hours ago, Bundooman said:

I'm 76 and was already receiving my State pension when I arrived here to live in 2005.

The DWP is also aware that I live in Thailand and so I receive the reduced amount accordingly.

When I turned 70, my Tax returns ceased and I have not completed any since then.

My former Tax Accountants paved the way for my earlier tax returns, so I guess I am receiving the correct amount.

 

However, I am interested in this "Life Proof" form. How do you know whether one has been sent to you?

What triggers such a document? Does the DWP just send them out randomly or are certain people targeted for a specific reason? 

Do the DWP advise you by any other means that such a form has been sent?

I would imagine that a good many of us are recipients of the State Pension and a sudden cessation of it would be quite a Shock.

 

Can anyone explain the circumstances of this?

I am fully aware of why the DWP would want to check that they are only paying those entitled and still alve!

 

 

My first one (the one I never received) was supposedly sent about a year after I moved here. Since then I’ve had 2 more at 2 yearly intervals - though I have heard some people receive them annually. As I got married last year in Bangkok (necessitating a visit to the Embassy) presumably that was sufficient evidence I was alive. 
 

If you haven’t received a Life Certificate, I can suggest only 2 reasons:

1. You haven’t notified DWP of your move to Thailand

2. They are receiving proof of life through some other channel. 

[Kwasaki]

17 hours ago, JAS21 said:

My Thai friend, now retired, signed the form...I asked him to just write 'retired' in the space where it should be stamped. It will probably come back!

That will be fine no official rubber stamp needed if the person signing doesn't have one.

[izod10]

1 hour ago, faraday said:

Why don't you be helpful & post the link?

look in other threads I was involved in

Perhaps,just perhaps I am giving the unfrozen a disservice,whatever is lost to one section is given to another section

 finished

Edited September 8, 2020 by izod10

[PaDavid]

16 hours ago, Matzzon said:

As you describe in point 2, you have problem going out during the pandemic. That must mean you have someone helping you already, because you have to buy food or groceries, right. How would it be to send that person with the letter at the same time?

My wife buys virtually everything we need either from a village shop or local market. We’ve been to a supermarket once since February. However, I am in close contact with two guys who let me know when they are going in case I need anything. We haven’t been to the post office at all since February. 
 

My main argument about going out, however, is that civil servants are refusing to go back to their offices and are working from home (BBC News 6th September). Good for one, not for the other

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, Wullie Mercer said:

18 hours ago, hugh2121 said:

email received from DWP in July this year:

Dear Mr Morgan,  

Thank you for your email dated 03/07/2020.

I have checked our records and can confirm we have not issued any life certificates to you since November 2018, which you completed and returned.

Due to the ongoing restrictions caused by Covid-19 we have stopped issuing our life certificate requests until worldwide circumstances change. Your payments will continue to be issued every four weeks.

Yours Sincerely

 

1 hour ago, Wullie Mercer said:

Not true about suspending the proof of life cert. got one last week, filled in and returned. Found best person to sign is my doctor.

Hugh says he received he received this email in July. The life certificates from DWP have begun to turn up in the last month or so now that the mail system is returning to normal.

 

So do you think that the message is not true?

[Kwasaki]

13 hours ago, andygrr said:

That's BS my mum received one last week. The letter was dated early Aug and they give you 16 weeks from date of letter so 4 weeks have already passed. so they are still sending them out. Her last one was in June 2018 so looks like every 2 years. Yes they are a pain to get signed.

There's people here on TV that can sign life forms if your Ma has a problem getting them signed, send in the post EMS and get it back EMS.

Not proper way it should be done but whose to know.

[Moonlover]

31 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

14 hours ago, Max69xl said:

You do know that any Thai are not allowed to sign the 'proof of life' form? 

 

31 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

 

Where did you get that information from?

 

 

All my certificates have been signed by Thais @Max69xl and not one of them has been rejected.

[Moonlover]

1 hour ago, hotandsticky said:

16 hours ago, Hi Tea said:

Why?  If you're already in the Post Office why not register/track it?  That way you don't have to scan anything to them.

 

1 hour ago, hotandsticky said:

 

Why bother.

 

Unnecessary cost and tracking only shows arrival in the UK. Doesn't evidence receipt by Wolverhampton - or processing by DWP staff.

 

Airmail is just as likely to get there and costs peanuts. No need to scan and email now that airmail to the UK is up and running again.

Rubbish! Thailand Post 'track & trace confirm delivery to the door every time. I've lost count of the number of letters I've sent to the UK and every single one has been confirmed as delivered.

 

Edited September 8, 2020 by Moonlover

[worgeordie]

18 hours ago, Hotrats said:

I received a "Proof of Life" form just last week. It took 4 weeks to reach me judging by the date on their letter. I got it signed and sent it back straight away. I seem to get one every 2 years. The annoying thing about these forms is finding someone appropriate to counter sign it. This time I got it signed by my local chemist. Am now waiting to see if they consider her as having sufficient social standing. 

I have used my local chemist to sign for me twice,all OK,

just make sure he stamps the form as well as sign it.

regards worgeordie