UK pensions. Is this the right forum?

[Gandtee]

I receive a UK Government pension, as does my Thai wife who qualifies for a UK State pension.. It's transferred monthly into our account here in Thailand. This month she has not received her pension.  Has anyone experienced the same or a similar problem and how to overcome it? We have submitted identification forms in the past, but have not received requests to submit them for some time. Could this be the problem? Any advice would be helpful.

[delgarcon]

I suggest you phone them, they usually answer eventually

[Gandtee]

1 minute ago, delgarcon said:

I suggest you phone them, they usually answer eventually

A phone call costs more than a months pension.????

[KannikaP]

11 minutes ago, Gandtee said:

A phone call costs more than a months pension.????

SKYPE.

[delgarcon]

7 minutes ago, Gandtee said:

A phone call costs more than a months pension.????

You're kidding, have you never heard of skype? If you're not sure how,  get someone to download skype for you and you'll find that a call to the UK costs peanuts, The problem is that you're unlikely to find someone on here that's got a Thai wife who's earning a UK pension.

[delgarcon]

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

 

You will find an online enquiry form here if you prefer to e-mail then

 

[Gandtee]

18 minutes ago, delgarcon said:

You're kidding, have you never heard of skype? If you're not sure how,  get someone to download skype for you and you'll find that a call to the UK costs peanuts, The problem is that you're unlikely to find someone on here that's got a Thai wife who's earning a UK pension.

That's what 36 year marriage does.???? Skype. A good idea. Why didn't I think of that? Maybe it's my 89 year old brain.

[Kwasaki]

Do you receive Proof of Life forms.

 

Any time I have not been paid I have telephoned them and asked them to call me back.

 

A True international call from my house cost 60 baht.

[Gandtee]

18 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Do you receive Proof of Life forms.

 

Any time I have not been paid I have telephoned them and asked them to call me back.

 

A True international call from my house cost 60 baht.

Have not received Proof of Life forms for a couple of years. I've been searching to download them incase that is the problem. To no avail?

[Kwasaki]

2 minutes ago, Gandtee said:

Have not received Proof of Life forms for a couple of years. I've been searching to download them incase that is the problem. To no avail?

DWP (IPC) when you contact them will email a copy to you to download and get printed.

 

They did that for me because I sold to them the one you said you sent I didn't get and so what if I don't get the second one.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Gandtee said:

1 hour ago, delgarcon said:

I suggest you phone them, they usually answer eventually

A phone call costs more than a months pension.

Using True or Dtac's discounted rates, it'd cost between B5 and B7 per minute.   Even if it did cost a months pension it would be worth it to get the pension going again, wouldn't it?

[Liverpool Lou]

42 minutes ago, Gandtee said:

Have not received Proof of Life forms for a couple of years. I've been searching to download them incase that is the problem. To no avail?

They're not available online, they're sent out by the DWP when they decide to as a way of checking on overseas pensioners.

[Gandtee]

7 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Using True or Dtac's discounted rates, it'd cost between B5 and B7 per minute.   Even if it did cost a months pension it would be worth it to get the pension going again, wouldn't it?

Not on our frozen pensions it wouldn't . Well hardly. A slight exaggeration maybe. ????

[Kwasaki]

28 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

They're not available online, they're sent out by the DWP when they decide to as a way of checking on overseas pensioners.

That's right they will send a download to you on your email though in certain circumstances.

[PPGuy]

OP, there have been a few very recent topics in this forum on the subject of UK pension suspended payments. this due to non return of undelivered Life Certs. E.g.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1295939-how-long-to-have-state-pension-reinstated-after-suspension/

 

Suggest you have a gander at some of the comments. I have just recovered from a period of suspended UK state pensions and a phone call to DWP was the easy option. They arranged to email me with a copy of the Life Cert. I completed it, sent it back, then had the backlog paid to me. All in, took about 3/4 weeks to conclude.

 

Some posters reckon DWP will reinstate the pension payments based on your initial call to them That was not my experience but I didn't ask if that was possible. So that should be on your list of things to ask when a call is made. 

 

Good luck. 

[anchadian]

Has your wife changed her address since receiving her state pension or maybe you both didn't receive a LC.

 

If so, it's just a phone call away (SKYPE) to inform them that her address has changed and they will email you a duplicate LC with a grace period of 16 weeks in which to return the completed LC and reinstate her payments.

 

I know this for a fact as it happened to my Thai wife.

 

Edited June 5, 2023 by anchadian

[elfpattaya]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

They're not available online, they're sent out by the DWP when they decide to as a way of checking on overseas pensioners.

The form is available.  It is also worth the phone call, as they sometimes take the phone call, after answering a few questions, as Proof of Life.

They sent forms out in January this year I received mine in March.

DWP pension form.pdf

[Gandtee]

4 minutes ago, anchadian said:

Has your wife changed her address since receiving her state pension.

 

If so, it's just a phone call away (SKYPE) to inform them that her address has changed and they will email you a duplicate LC with a grace period of 16 weeks in which to return the completed LC and reinstate her payments.

 

I know this for a fact as it happened to my Thai wife.

 

No change of address. But thanks for the info. I had Skype but my kids treated me to a new computer and It's not installed. But no problem.

[Gandtee]

7 minutes ago, elfpattaya said:

The form is available.  It is also worth the phone call, as they sometimes take the phone call, after answering a few questions, as Proof of Life.

They sent forms out in January this year I received mine in March.

DWP pension form.pdf 644.72 kB · 2 downloads

That's helpful. Thanks.

[anchadian]

7 minutes ago, Gandtee said:

No change of address. But thanks for the info. I had Skype but my kids treated me to a new computer and It's not installed. But no problem.

So it's just a matter of calling them (SKYPE) and inform them you didn't receive a LC and they will reinstate the payments and email you with a duplicate LC.

 

International Pensions Center
44 191 2187777 option 1 between the hours of 8am and 7:30pm Monday - Friday (United Kingdom time).

Edited June 5, 2023 by anchadian

[lungbing]

My pension didn't arrive last month.  I rang them, it took 35 minutes before they answered, the worst part being not the crap music but the voice thanking me for waiting repeated every minute.  Once answered the lady asked me a few security questions and then emailed me a new LC form.  She said the pension would be reinstated but it took a further week before it arrived.  My completed LC has apparantly now been sitting at Bangkok airport for the past 10 days on its way to Wolverhampton.

[anchadian]

26 minutes ago, lungbing said:

My pension didn't arrive last month.  I rang them, it took 35 minutes before they answered, the worst part being not the crap music but the voice thanking me for waiting repeated every minute.  Once answered the lady asked me a few security questions and then emailed me a new LC form.  She said the pension would be reinstated but it took a further week before it arrived.  My completed LC has apparantly now been sitting at Bangkok airport for the past 10 days on its way to Wolverhampton.

Did you send it airmail, registered or EMS?

 

When my wife sent hers back it took 8 working days by registered airmail.

Edited June 5, 2023 by anchadian

[Gandtee]

19 hours ago, anchadian said:

So it's just a matter of calling them (SKYPE) and inform them you didn't receive a LC and they will reinstate the payments and email you with a duplicate LC.

 

International Pensions Center
44 191 2187777 option 1 between the hours of 8am and 7:30pm Monday - Friday (United Kingdom time).

I've now got Skype. I want to Email the IPC to arrange a Skype call. Do you have their email address? Sorry to be a problem.

[treetops]

1 hour ago, Gandtee said:

I've now got Skype. I want to Email the IPC to arrange a Skype call. Do you have their email address? Sorry to be a problem.

Just call them - no need to arrange a call - and be prepared to be on hold for a while.

[Gandtee]

39 minutes ago, treetops said:

Just call them - no need to arrange a call - and be prepared to be on hold for a while.

I'm an 89 year old dummy. How do I phone them on Skype????? 

[lungbing]

23 hours ago, anchadian said:

Did you send it airmail, registered or EMS?

 

When my wife sent hers back it took 8 working days by registered airmail.

For EMS they wanted 1,000 baht.  It went registered at 250 baht.

[Gandtee]

On 6/5/2023 at 2:42 PM, Kwasaki said:

Do you receive Proof of Life forms.

 

Any time I have not been paid I have telephoned them and asked them to call me back.

 

A True international call from my house cost 60 baht.

I haven't received Proof Life forms since 2020. I used their Email questionnaire form two days ago and received a reply today, saying my pension has been stopped because I hadn't returned the POL form they sent? They sent me a PDF of the form. So that's a start.

On 6/6/2023 at 1:54 PM, treetops said:

Just call them - no need to arrange a call - and be prepared to be on hold for a while.

I'm an 89 year old dummy. How do I phone them on Skype????? 

[hotandsticky]

45 minutes ago, Gandtee said:

I haven't received Proof Life forms since 2020. I used their Email questionnaire form two days ago and received a reply today, saying my pension has been stopped because I hadn't returned the POL form they sent? They sent me a PDF of the form. So that's a start.

I'm an 89 year old dummy. How do I phone them on Skype????? 

Don’t bother. Use the normal phone method….dial 009- 0044- 191-218-7777

 

[Kwasaki]

12 hours ago, Gandtee said:

I haven't received Proof Life forms since 2020. I used their Email questionnaire form two days ago and received a reply today, saying my pension has been stopped because I hadn't returned the POL form they sent? They sent me a PDF of the form. So that's a start.

I'm an 89 year old dummy. How do I phone them on Skype????? 

You should be ok now, they sent a PDF life form by email to me when I didn't receive a life form they said has been sent to me.

 

They started paying my pension again.

I use the email questionnaire to tell them I have return the PDF copy life form to them. 

 

A recent life form that I sent they must have received because it's been more than 16 weeks and my pension is being paid.

[Gandtee]

On 6/10/2023 at 10:34 AM, Kwasaki said:

You should be ok now, they sent a PDF life form by email to me when I didn't receive a life form they said has been sent to me.

 

They started paying my pension again.

I use the email questionnaire to tell them I have return the PDF copy life form to them. 

 

A recent life form that I sent they must have received because it's been more than 16 weeks and my pension is being paid.

Did they contact you to say your pension has resumed?