Frozen pension policy turns British expat's dream into a nightmare

[sandyf]

21 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The people cannot force the current government in power to do so and none of them will necessarily follow the wishes of the people once they've been elected!

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/

Edited April 28 by sandyf

[Liverpool Lou]

18 hours ago, Hugh Jarse said:

Why poor planning? Brit’s were not told about this when the moved abroad and believed they would be entitled to a pension based on their contributions not their residency!

I believe that claimants are advised that pension increases are only payable to those living in certain countries when they make their claim.  If they choose to advise the IPC of their move abroad to a frozen country, that is their problem. 

[NoshowJones]

14 hours ago, Moonlover said:

No that is not true. If you are returning to live there permanently you're entitled to NHS treatment from the moment you arrive. See para 5 in the reference below.

 

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs25_returning_from_abroad_fcs.pdf

These websites contradict each other you do not know who or what to believe. The DWP says, and it is there in black and white, and I am not going to look it up again, that they cannot take any debt owed to them from the UK state pension. Then another person shows a link (not sure where its from) saying that they can deduct any debt owed from the UK state pension.

[Liverpool Lou]

18 hours ago, superal said:

Are you saying that the HM gov will accept a down loaded signed copy of a life cert ? I thought that the signature had to be an original which is signed on the original life cert form . 

He's saying to download the form, if you can, when it is required by the DWP and post it back with original signatures in the provided envelope but I believe that it is only available for download if the pension has stopped because DWP didn't get the completed form and you contact them in a panic.

Edited April 28 by Liverpool Lou

[NoshowJones]

13 hours ago, delgarcon said:

And?

But does it say what country you are going to?

[Expat68]

20 hours ago, proton said:

 

How did they find out, were they posting evidence on facebook or did somebody report them?

Good question. I know for a fact that if you have a rented property in the UK you have to fill out a form and inform the inland revenue, they have people who go round visiting every agent who have to give them a list of who is on their books 

[Liverpool Lou]

18 hours ago, sambum said:

Just because the system has been in place for over 70 years doesn't necessarily mean that it is right or fair.

No one has said that it is fair!

[NoshowJones]

47 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

He didn't say that £1000 was deducted from his pension, he just said that it had to be paid.

That is true, but what if he did not pay it? I would not have.

[FruitPudding]

35 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Same way it affects those who have been abroad for five minutes.

I thought they were freezing pensions to what they were when you left the country

[Liverpool Lou]

17 hours ago, FruitPudding said:

 

You think it's fair that expats who have 'paid in' don't get the full pension??

They do get the full pension that they are entitled to when they claim but they do not get any annual increases.  Not every claimant gets "the full pension", including UK residents, it depends on the individual's NI contributions.

[BritManToo]

14 hours ago, freedomnow said:

Weird how there is the exception.

Do they not checkup on location of where you claim from ?

They haven't for me.

[delgarcon]

31 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

But does it say what country you are going to?

Exactly

[Liverpool Lou]

11 minutes ago, FruitPudding said:

47 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Same way it affects those who have been abroad for five minutes.

I thought they were freezing pensions to what they were when you left the country

That's right, if they left fifty years ago the pension is frozen at that level, if they left five minutes ago the pension is frozen at that level...same treatment, different levels.

[delgarcon]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

"Nobody can have their state pension ... stopped..."

 Bollacks.   You might want to check whether refusing to return a life certificate would result in the state pension being stopped!

Ive had my pension stopped and reinstated twice due to late Life Certificate, as you say, chivas is talking his usual bollacks

[delgarcon]

3 hours ago, transam said:

So.........?

Are you looking for.....................Or a pat on the back..?

People like you just don't understand that we ALL know what you can do if you are dodgy and a chancer, but me, I like to sleep at night, not look at the floor under the letterbox every morning..........

If you ever get nabbed, we will never hear about it here..........😋

You should be fully aware that I was answering a question with fact.

[delgarcon]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

He's saying to download the form, if you can, when it is required by the DWP and post it back with original signatures in the provided envelope but I believe that it is only available for download if the pension has stopped because DWP didn't get the completed form and you contact them in a panic.

Not true, they will accept a properly printed download.

[salavan]

Don't forget to vote 🤣

[Chivas]

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

"Nobody can have their state pension ... stopped..."

 Bollacks.   You might want to check whether refusing to return a life certificate would result in the state pension being stopped!

 

lol dont be so stupid !!

If course its stopped if a life certificate is not returned and the recipient is considered dead but that is a totally different issue to an ongoing pension being sanctioned or stopped perhaps for over payments.

 

Try harder fella

[simon43]

2 hours ago, JonnyF said:

 

But you lived in the golden age.

 

I don't think NI is 2 quid a week any more. And the pension age is increasing. The payout is pathetic as well. 

 

The fact it is mandatory is just another big state money grab. 

 

I paid into it for 8 years and then fortunately escaped to Thailand. No national insurance, no tax on company car or fuel, and thanks to the ltr visa a flat rate of 17%. VAT also low. 

 

Viva thailand. 

 

I left the UK about 20 years ago, but I was sensible enough to continue paying my NI via voluntary contributions.  I was/am self-employed, so pay Class 2 NI which is about 3.50 quid a week....  When I reach retirement age (66) next year I will have paid in for 29 years (I missed a few!).  But that will give me about $1,000 USD a month in pension which is quite enough to live in Luang Prabang (Laos), where I have currently settled.

 

Brexit removed the right for British citizens to reside in EU countries without proof of income, and now most of those countries require that you have an income of at least $2,000 USD per month.

 

I did research moving to other countries that do have the UK pension increase, and I lived in those countries for a few months just after Covid. One country is Mauritius -hot, safe, beautiful, but requires a monthly income of $1,500 USD.  The other country that I stayed in was Turkey, which seems the perfect choice if you are retired and living on a UK pension.  There are no income requirements to get your one-year (renewable) residency visa - I was issued with mine after 3 weeks of living in the country and I had to show no proof of income or any other documents in order to get the visa. The cost of living is low and I stayed in the coastal resort of Fethiye, renting a small house just outside the town for about $250 per month.

 

Although I'm very happy in Laos, there is the question of what happens if I live a long time!  A frozen UK pension will have a reducing value every year.  If I retire to Turkey, then my pension will increase and medical facilities in Turkey are quite adequate 🙂

[Martin71]

2 minutes ago, simon43 said:

 

I left the UK about 20 years ago, but I was sensible enough to continue paying my NI via voluntary contributions.  I was/am self-employed, so pay Class 2 NI which is about 3.50 quid a week....  When I reach retirement age (66) next year I will have paid in for 29 years (I missed a few!).  But that will give me about $1,000 USD a month in pension which is quite enough to live in Luang Prabang (Laos), where I have currently settled.

 

Brexit removed the right for British citizens to reside in EU countries without proof of income, and now most of those countries require that you have an income of at least $2,000 USD per month.

 

I did research moving to other countries that do have the UK pension increase, and I lived in those countries for a few months just after Covid. One country is Mauritius -hot, safe, beautiful, but requires a monthly income of $1,500 USD.  The other country that I stayed in was Turkey, which seems the perfect choice if you are retired and living on a UK pension.  There are no income requirements to get your one-year (renewable) residency visa - I was issued with mine after 3 weeks of living in the country and I had to show no proof of income or any other documents in order to get the visa. The cost of living is low and I stayed in the coastal resort of Fethiye, renting a small house just outside the town for about $250 per month.

 

Although I'm very happy in Laos, there is the question of what happens if I live a long time!  A frozen UK pension will have a reducing value every year.  If I retire to Turkey, then my pension will increase and medical facilities in Turkey are quite adequate 🙂

 

You can also pay more and build your qualifying contributions up to the 37 years, I had about 32 years and paid the outstanding amount on what 5 years class 2 voluntary contributions would be ( a few hundred quid but the amount it bumps your pension up is quite considerable and well worth shelling out for).. and now I will receive the full state pension when I come to 67 years old...

[Chongalulu]

20 hours ago, VBF said:

I believe that's wrong - it would be unfrozen when you claimed it (as you say), but then refrozen at the now prevailing rate when you left.

Then your belief is wrong. I know!

[Chongalulu]

22 hours ago, sandyf said:

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

It is not hypothecated,pensions are paid from total taxes, but you do have to contribute NI to qualify. However if unemployed or receiving benefits those contributions are made for you ! 

[transam]

1 hour ago, delgarcon said:

You should be fully aware that I was answering a question with fact.

What fact.......?

[simon43]

30 minutes ago, Martin71 said:

 

You can also pay more and build your qualifying contributions up to the 37 years, I had about 32 years and paid the outstanding amount on what 5 years class 2 voluntary contributions would be ( a few hundred quid but the amount it bumps your pension up is quite considerable and well worth shelling out for).. and now I will receive the full state pension when I come to 67 years old...

Unfortunately I can't do that.  The years that I missed were about 20 years ago, and the NI office/gov website tells me that it is too late to top up for those years.  But 29 years is not bad and quite adequate for a modest retirement 🙂

[Humpy]

Where can I get a copy of the ''reciprocal agreement'' ?

[transam]

5 minutes ago, Humpy said:

Where can I get a copy of the ''reciprocal agreement'' ?

Try Google...........🤭

[Burma Bill]

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

They do get the full pension that they are entitled to when they claim but they do not get any annual increases.  Not every claimant gets "the full pension", including UK residents, it depends on the individual's NI contributions.

 

Thank you - very much so. As I stated elsewhere, my UK State Pension is frozen at 102 GBP per week and is based on the full 40 year's worth of NI contributions. I started contributing at the age of 16 and ceased when I retired at 56. I was always in employment. After retirement I was recalled for contract work. I did not have to pay NI contributions as I had the maximum amount "in the pot".

[jwest10]

3 hours ago, NoshowJones said:

That is true, but what if he did not pay it? I would not have.

qUOTE

Frozen state pensioners beginning to feel the pinch and shocking many with many decades and Asean news and others please get your facts right.
Many of us have been struggling for a few decades and looking after their wonderful Thai families as best that they can.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

[jwest10]

3 hours ago, sandyf said:

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/

NOTHING DONE AGAIN AND AGAIN GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR AND THEY WANT US DEAD ASAP SO NOTHING IS NEW THERE THEN 650 OF THE VERMIN AND SCUM

[FruitPudding]

3 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

That's right, if they left fifty years ago the pension is frozen at that level, if they left five minutes ago the pension is frozen at that level...same treatment, different levels.

 

Suppose they left 40 years ago then hit their pension age, would they be started on the pension rate from 40 years ago?