UK State Pensions - yet another sick joke?

[rumak]

2 minutes ago, ballpoint said:

Close, but no California grass.

"Jojo left his home in Tuscon, Arizona".

oh jesus....... can't even get my cities right anymore   lol

[fredscats]

9 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Yes, I understand that.  I also know one expat in Thailand who had to repay. In his case he claimed whilst in Thailand which was a 'false declaration' and when DWP found out that he was in Thailand he had to repay 2 years of increased payments.

 

Had he done what another friend did (and said he had only recently decided to fully retire to Thailand) I suspect he would have got away with it. 

Are you relating to State Pension?if you are yet another load of trash    Read the DWP website,it informs   (really does)...also yet again "I know someone"

[VBF]

6 hours ago, ballpoint said:

Close, but no California grass.

"Jojo left his home in Tuscon, Arizona".

Well "Get Back" there then  ????

[soi3eddie]

On 7/9/2021 at 9:59 AM, bradiston said:

People have taken it all the way to the EU court of Human rights, via all the UK courts, and got absolutely nowhere. The fallacious argument is basically, the government can't afford to do it for the 400,000+ pensioners living abroad with frozen pensions, stating it would cost £500m. Which begs the question, what would happen if all 400,000 moved back to the UK? The government would have to cough up, and, of course, would find a way to so do. The money's there, it's just pensioners aren't a priority, just a bunch of old codgers the likes of Handoncock and co can kick around. But, how much are the savings to the NHS in not having to take care if 400,000 old age pensioners should the need arise? Far in excess of £500m I'll wager.

...and in additon to Pensions at full values and NHS access there may be council tax benefit and other benefits such as housing etc. Far, far outweighing the annual increment in pensions that, after all, they have paid NI stamp for 35+ years to qualify for anyway. If anyone reading this has yet to leave the UK in retirement then always maintain a UK address and never tell anyone that you are "living" overseas. It's just a long "holiday" as you never know when you you may be need to return "home".

 

 

[soi3eddie]

14 hours ago, Surelynot said:

Is this down to reciprocal agreements......where similar numbers of pensioners live in each other's countries.......no idea.....just guessing!

This is the excuse they use but how many Thai pensioners live in the UK? "Reciprocal agreement" my ar$e. Just an excuse to avoid paying overseas Brits for what they've contributed and qualified for over the years and they cost the country less than those residing in the UK as they don't use other public services such as NHS and local services.

  

[fredscats]

4 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

...and in additon to Pensions at full values and NHS access there may be council tax benefit and other benefits such as housing etc. Far, far outweighing the annual increment in pensions that, after all, they have paid NI stamp for 35+ years to qualify for anyway. If anyone reading this has yet to leave the UK in retirement then always maintain a UK address and never tell anyone that you are "living" overseas. It's just a long "holiday" as you never know when you you may be need to return "home".

 

 

Go along with this post,"maintain UK address" obv.,anywhere in the world actually that is unfrozen too,but that requires "proof of life" every year or so, a burden,UK not so

. The "never tell anyone" deepest darkest secret,is obvious,but then a tad depressing at potential of getting found out,but then "getting found out",how will that evolve?..a letter probably (proof of life)will pop through your door at registered address,  laughable if UK as that will never happen unless mail is returned to sender

 

Could add nobody has ever been "found out" just voluntary information supplied,by people now forever complaining about frozen pensions,why complain? you did it to yourself,egged on by idiots telling of doom and gloom,prison,paybacks lol

 

 DWP could not give a toss where you exist,just are alive,that's it...but the reported 10% rise coming up,goody-goody,now that is some rise,but even at 2.5% it surely mounts up,inflation sure makes a mockery of financial planning,a bike to a Roller(or reverse) lol

Edited July 11, 2021 by fredscats

[dabhand]

Seems that Lazarus (aka izod10) has risen!!

[Lancelot01]

On 7/9/2021 at 8:12 AM, jojothai said:

Why is it that they cannot even manage dealing with issues and making the payments?

I sent emails to DWP requesting clarifications affecting the payments that were not acknowledged and could not be found.
I had to telephone three times before I got anything done.

Its now 2 and half months since I qualified for payments. Still not got the confirmation letter or any payment.

It seems that Covid is now the designated excuse for incompetence.
Its not only government, most UK private company calls get the standard excuse
"Due to the current Coronavirus epidemic ... blah,, blah,,, blah".
You end up queuing far too long or get cut off, "try again later". 

At least one saving grace is that they will backdate all amouts due to you to your birthday. 

Even being in the UK, It took more than 4 months of backward and forward correspondence and phone calls before I was told the pension would be backdated to my birthday. 

[jojothai]

2 hours ago, Lancelot01 said:

At least one saving grace is that they will backdate all amouts due to you to your birthday. 

Even being in the UK, It took more than 4 months of backward and forward correspondence and phone calls before I was told the pension would be backdated to my birthday. 

Yes, however its frustrating having to transfer money from here to my UK bank account to pay for health insurance and credit card bills when the pension payments would have covered it.

 

The DWP did not readily tell me about the backdating when I queried it.

They made it very hard for me to know what to pay for some top up AVCs Class 2, they repeatedly directed me to Class 3.
When I rang HMRC they were far more helpful and said that the practise is as you state.
However HMRC could not do anything to assist with my AVCs because responsibility for pension passes to DWP six months before the pension birthdate.
I don't understand why the DWP make things so hard.

[bradiston]

UPDATE!

 

Without going into details about why (I'd attracted their attention for reasons I won't go in to), the DWP sent me a letter to my UK address informing me I have to fill in a lengthy questionnaire about my whereabouts, length of stay, everywhere travelled etc etc, since August 1st 2020. No idea why that particular date. If I don't return it completed, my state pension will remain at £xxx.xx until I do!

 

In my particular circumstance, this was an expected event, so please don't be alarmed! Just for information only.

[soi3eddie]

11 hours ago, bradiston said:

UPDATE!

 

Without going into details about why (I'd attracted their attention for reasons I won't go in to), the DWP sent me a letter to my UK address informing me I have to fill in a lengthy questionnaire about my whereabouts, length of stay, everywhere travelled etc etc, since August 1st 2020. No idea why that particular date. If I don't return it completed, my state pension will remain at £xxx.xx until I do!

 

In my particular circumstance, this was an expected event, so please don't be alarmed! Just for information only.

A clue as to why you attracted attention of DWP would probably be very useful to other members here at TVF. No personal info needed. 

 

[bradiston]

18 minutes ago, soi3eddie said:

A clue as to why you attracted attention of DWP would probably be very useful to other members here at TVF. No personal info needed. 

 

Yeah, I guess so. I rang them to change my bank details. Without thinking I mentioned I was currently abroad and unable to return due to the fluctuating covid situation. That opened the floodgates to a torrent of 3rd degree questioning until I finally hung up. So the tactic seems to be, if you let on as I did you're away, you will get this letter. It comes with a long questionnaire which I'll look at posting if anybody wants a copy.

 

As an aside, the damage is not immense. Obviously I'm frozen from here on in unless I suddenly realise I haven't been away that long, but I've already factored in the potential changes to my financial projections for the next 15 years. It's not hugely significant.

Edited July 17, 2021 by bradiston

[soi3eddie]

37 minutes ago, bradiston said:

Yeah, I guess so. I rang them to change my bank details. Without thinking I mentioned I was currently abroad and unable to return due to the fluctuating covid situation. That opened the floodgates to a torrent of 3rd degree questioning until I finally hung up. So the tactic seems to be, if you let on as I did you're away, you will get this letter. It comes with a long questionnaire which I'll look at posting if anybody wants a copy.

 

As an aside, the damage is not immense. Obviously I'm frozen from here on in unless I suddenly realise I haven't been away that long, but I've already factored in the potential changes to my financial projections for the next 15 years. It's not hugely significant.

Thanks. I guess they are trained to look to avoid any incremental increases in pension. I hope you can resolve it satisfactorily. Please feel free to update here so we can all learn what to expect.

 

[bradiston]

On 7/9/2021 at 4:43 PM, natway09 said:

I just love all you guys who rely on your "Nanny State" to live week by week.

Think yourself lucky you get anything at all.

As a Kiwi living in Thailand my  entitle,ment is NOTHING

I would need to return & live for 2 years to even be considered

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hardly anything to shout about though, is it? How about lobbying your government to change their laws rather than sneering at the UK who have at least slightly more civilized ones? And anyone retiring to NZ or Oz or Canada won't get the annual pension rise, but in the US, they will. Figure that out!

[thonglorjimmy]

On 7/9/2021 at 11:26 AM, bkk6060 said:

I never understand why and how the UK people put up with it.

UK people actually resident there actually don't care a jot, that's why the Government gets away with it.

If you were to ask the average Daily Mail reader, they would probably say that expats shouldn't receive a State Pension anyway.

[bradiston]

10 hours ago, bradiston said:

Yeah, I guess so. I rang them to change my bank details. Without thinking I mentioned I was currently abroad and unable to return due to the fluctuating covid situation. That opened the floodgates to a torrent of 3rd degree questioning until I finally hung up. So the tactic seems to be, if you let on as I did you're away, you will get this letter. It comes with a long questionnaire which I'll look at posting if anybody wants a copy.

 

As an aside, the damage is not immense. Obviously I'm frozen from here on in unless I suddenly realise I haven't been away that long, but I've already factored in the potential changes to my financial projections for the next 15 years. It's not hugely significant.

 

[sandyf]

On 7/9/2021 at 4:57 PM, Bangkok Barry said:

What has your anti-Brexit tirade got to do with frozen pensions? Especially when UK pensions are not frozen for UK citizens living in the EU.

“The UK and EU have agreed that the UK will continue paying and uprating state pensions to UK citizens living in EU countries after Brexit – and vice versa,” said James Walsh, of trade body, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association.

It has everything to do with brexit, as outlined in your statement.

The government defense on frozen pensions is based on the legal requirement of a reciprocal agreement. There is no reciprocal agreement with the EU, it came to an end with brexit. A new agreement is in the pipeline and the current payment of the uprated pension is a temporary arrangement for 3 years on the expectation that the new agreement will be in place by then. Why should the EU get a new agreement and not other countries?

Amber Rudd, DWP minister at the time, said that the state pensioners living in the EU deserved to continue getting the full state pension as they had contributed to making the UK great. Obviously those of us living elsewhere made no contribution whatsoever, quite a kick in the teeth for those of us that served in the armed forces.

A competent legal team could pull the government argument apart but unfortunately we are a collection of relatively small groups around the world unable to attract any real attention.

I am perfectly aware there has been previous court cases but they were based on human rights which proved to be the wrong approach. There wouldn't be a case to answer if every UK state pension had been frozen.

[toofarnorth]

On 7/9/2021 at 5:25 PM, Surasak said:

Don't ever think they don't know, and it much easier for them now.

Yes , imagine getting a letter saying  ' As you live in Plymouth Mr Ross could you go down to the PO to fill a form in to confirm your address '. Well my SiL could go down for me but his passport pic looks nothing like me. Oh and he is 42 not 74. I will stay in the LoS I guess on 132 quid per week. Certainly no wish to go back from whence I came.

[sandyf]

On 7/10/2021 at 6:18 PM, jojothai said:

Do you have a bank or financial account of any kind in the UK?
What address do they use for you.
Are any accounts declared as non-taxable,
or do they have any reason to believe that you are working or resident abroad.

There is no link between DWP and Inland revenue. I am on a frozen pension and continually taxed on a full pension.

I have never bothered to correct the situation, just claim a refund every year which comes in useful.

[Kwasaki]

On 7/9/2021 at 6:22 PM, jojothai said:

Thanks, FYI

I applied in good time but they messed me about on AVCs. Even though I had paid nearly 34 years on the old system, they could only count 30 years on the new system since 2016. So they said that i would have to pay an additional 5 years to 2021 to max up the amount. 
Then DWP could not verify my details because its with HMRC.
Six months before the eligible birthdate responsibility transfers to DWP, but they have no access to the info!!!

Good excuse to screw me about .

So it took some weeks and three calls before they acknowledged info I gave to them promptly.
Paid AVCs before 25 April (DOB) . On 25 may they acknowledged paid to HMRC and credited.
Since then not got anything. I believe that the payments should be confirmed within a month.

Looks like I will have to call again to find out what is happening. Nincompoops.

Had my UK pension a good while and you remind of my claim.

They ask you list all employment from when you left school. 

I had pay tax and N.I. for 42 years and DWP only had record of 38 Years, I objected to no avail but at time they said you only need 30 years to qualify for a full state pension.

So I was OK and knew for years before that it would be frozen. 

[Kwasaki]

On 7/9/2021 at 6:57 PM, fredscats said:

In what way,please explain,not pie in the sky stuff either,but actual information

He doesn't need to explain it illegal some of us don't like the thought of being caught out for the sake of a meansily % rise every year. 

[Kwasaki]

On 7/10/2021 at 12:19 PM, possum1931 said:

Then don't tell them unless you want to join the "scared of your own shadow" brigade.

I wasn't scared I just prefer to be honest.

I sent an email to DWP (IPC) asking if I come to UK do I have inform you when I return to Thailand.

They said no we would normally have that information already.

So be careful those you that are doing something naulty. 555 ????

[Kwasaki]

On 7/10/2021 at 6:24 PM, hotandsticky said:

Another friend was caught out when a Life Certificate was sent to an old UK address - his son had moved and nobody thought to advise DWP. On that occasion he told DWP that he had spent winters in the UK but now that he was retired he had decided to live here full time. DWP simply froze him from that date  -  a far more common action on their part.

I was told that people living here having a pension paid into a UK  bank and they have a UK address DWP don't send Life Forms.!!! 

[Mac Mickmanus]

13 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

I wasn't scared I just prefer to be honest.

I sent an email to DWP (IPC) asking if I come to UK do I have inform you when I return to Thailand.

They said no we would normally have that information already.

So be careful those you that are doing something naulty. 555 ????

How could they obtain that info ?

The info that you were going abroad ?

[Kwasaki]

On 7/10/2021 at 7:23 PM, fredscats said:

Always "they they they" or" someone else". This is nothing but sheer bunkum

 

Are you disputing the DWP website as to guidance? or law? sounds as if you are then you are full of baloney.

 

University in UK did a survey on benefit fraud along with DWP law...  findings were..for the individual pensioner on state pension nobody has ever been prosecuted. or ever will be, and is 100% free of proceedings legal or civil,now that was an eye opener,and I may add no state pensioner will ever be obliged to pay back/ or receive reduced pension...read it  go on read it

 

Search for it its there , DWP and university concerned reports,... perhaps an apology from you, your"they picked him up" is a figment...but hang on here ,yes indeed why not write to DWP and point out how wrong they are in instruction and the university concerned as to their findings are wrong too,,but please do not waste your time here,get onto DWP immediately ,if not sooner and point out the error of their ways   now a feather in your cap awaits    If due diligence is followed you would not put this trash up,go seek,go look it up,its there

 

Your comments are pure trash

 

Get me a break a Uni survey there more like trash.

DWP can do what they like.

 

I telephoned IPC to see why I haven't received my pension it was because the Life Form sent to me had not been returned.

I said I have not received one, they don't believe you. 

They send a another Life Form by email for you to download or you have to wait until they sent another Life Form and they pay you once only because of given ID questions over the phone. 

If they do not receive the Life Form they stop your pension again.

If you say that's my only income they just say if we don't receive the Life Form we will stop your pension again indefinitely.

[Kwasaki]

On 7/11/2021 at 6:59 AM, fredscats said:

Go along with this post,"maintain UK address" obv.,anywhere in the world actually that is unfrozen too,but that requires "proof of life" every year or so, a burden,UK not so

. The "never tell anyone" deepest darkest secret,is obvious,but then a tad depressing at potential of getting found out,but then "getting found out",how will that evolve?..a letter probably (proof of life)will pop through your door at registered address,  laughable if UK as that will never happen unless mail is returned to sender

 

Could add nobody has ever been "found out" just voluntary information supplied,by people now forever complaining about frozen pensions,why complain? you did it to yourself,egged on by idiots telling of doom and gloom,prison,paybacks lol

 

 DWP could not give a toss where you exist,just are alive,that's it...but the reported 10% rise coming up,goody-goody,now that is some rise,but even at 2.5% it surely mounts up,inflation sure makes a mockery of financial planning,a bike to a Roller(or reverse) lol

I asked by email why aren't random Life Forms sent to people in UK and only abroad.

They replied 3 weeks later we sent to anyone at random.

I didn't bother to reply.

[Kwasaki]

35 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

How could they obtain that info ?

The info that you were going abroad ?

I don't know I never went in the end good job too otherwise I'd be stuck in covid UK. ????

[Eff1n2ret]

On 7/9/2021 at 6:42 PM, Bannoi said:

Pensioners living abroad don't vote

Some of us do, but in principle you're right because there aren't enough of us, and being spread across the 650(?) constituencies of the UK we do not register as an influential "community".

What I find sad is that there is little sympathy amongst the population in general for us. If ever I post in newspaper comment columns about the issue of frozen pensions, or as I did last week about the apparent impossibility of obtaining a Covid vaccine in Thailand, the replies are almost all, in so many words, "Tough. You chose to go and live abroad, so you shouldn't expect anything from any British government agency". They don't know, or ignore the fact, that many of us, particularly pensioners are still paying our full whack of income tax to support "their" NHS and other government services to which we have no access, and there seems to be a latent resentment that we have chosen to leave their rain and misery behind. We are truly second-class citizens.

[Neeranam]

On 7/11/2021 at 2:50 AM, VBF said:

Well "Get Back" there then  ????

He doesn't belong there anymore. He did once though.

[roo860]

10 minutes ago, Eff1n2ret said:

Some of us do, but in principle you're right because there aren't enough of us, and being spread across the 650(?) constituencies of the UK we do not register as an influential "community".

What I find sad is that there is little sympathy amongst the population in general for us. If ever I post in newspaper comment columns about the issue of frozen pensions, or as I did last week about the apparent impossibility of obtaining a Covid vaccine in Thailand, the replies are almost all, in so many words, "Tough. You chose to go and live abroad, so you shouldn't expect anything from any British government agency". They don't know, or ignore the fact, that many of us, particularly pensioners are still paying our full whack of income tax to support "their" NHS and other government services to which we have no access, and there seems to be a latent resentment that we have chosen to leave their rain and misery behind. We are truly second-class citizens.

'Rain and misery '?