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

[Wobblybob]

27 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

That is part of the requirements that were explained in the video that you posted - did you not watch it?...

 https://youtu.be/LfJcTLIMsUA

 

If you do not believe it, you can call the IPC on the number that was provided in the video and get the verification from them yourself but maybe you'd still refer to that as hearsay.

 

 

I did watch it and every operative he spoke to gave him a different answer, nobody knows for sure it would appear. I have searched the internet to find an answer to your post that you cannot find a link to and all to no avail. 

But as soon as these British pension threads arise it ends in a bickerfest and all we end with is no useful links but a lot of he said she said and misinformation being banded about like confetti at a Royal wedding.

[Wobblybob]

1 minute ago, NoshowJones said:

"Surely finding a Philippine address can't be that difficult."  It would need to be a real one for the DWP to send the Proof of Life forms. 

Where there's a will, there's a way.

[thesetat]

17 hours ago, orchis said:

I think 2000.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_state_pension

So I have to call B.S. on this OP and on the Brits claiming they suffer financially now with this. Since the law to freeze those types of people specifically in those countries. The Brits complaining actually and knowingly put themselves into a position that is causing duress. That is 24 years this law was implemented. Surely the Brits did not move here expecting more than what was given by law then.. 

 

[Neeranam]

8 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

Could you leave the UK on a Thai Passport if you didn't enter using it? 

Actually, last year I never needed to show a passport when leaving the UK. Maybe a one way flight to Thailand would just require showing Thai passport/ID.

[Liverpool Lou]

3 minutes ago, Wobblybob said:

38 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

That is part of the requirements that were explained in the video that you posted - did you not watch it?...

 https://youtu.be/LfJcTLIMsUA

 

If you do not believe it, you can call the IPC on the number that was provided in the video and get the verification from them yourself but maybe you'd still refer to that as hearsay.

 

 

Expand  

I did watch it and every operative he spoke to gave him a different answer, nobody knows for sure it would appear. I have searched the internet to find an answer to your post that you cannot find a link to and all to no avail. 

I got the answer from your post - the video - I did not post that I had a link; you know how to get confirmation, call them.   Not every IPC requirement has to be on the internet, when you speak to them you can ask them why.  You should also ask yourself if it is not unreasonable to assume that the IPC would require evidence of Philippine residency from someone who is suddenly trying to claim an increasing pension that they have not been entitled to for years.

[Nick Carter icp]

2 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Actually, last year I never needed to show a passport when leaving the UK. 

 

   What, you just walked onto an airplane without going through immigration or anything like that ?

How was you able to do that ?

[Cabradelmar]

2 hours ago, sometime said:

When we moved from the UK to Thailand in 2005 we had no idea of the frozen pension,it wasn't forecast far and wide
 Its only because of the Thaivisa forum that most people are now aware of the situation.

We are lucky we have other means.

People asleep at the switch regarding their own finances. 

[Liverpool Lou]

7 minutes ago, thesetat said:

17 hours ago, orchis said:

I think 2000.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_state_pension

So I have to call B.S. on this OP and on the Brits claiming they suffer financially now with this. Since the law to freeze those types of people specifically in those countries. The Brits complaining actually and knowingly put themselves into a position that is causing duress. That is 24 years this law was implemented. Surely the Brits did not move here expecting more than what was given by law then.. 

Yes it was bullshlt, the policy has been in force with every government for over 70 years, not just since 2000!

[Chivas]

15 hours ago, kickstart said:

We know they is no money in the pot, but as for paying taxes, like most Brits living out of they own country and have been paying the NI tax for 35 years, so surly they should be able to get the increase.

Note, with the triple lock coming into force in the UK pensions have gone up, but more than one person has said it is now going beyond they 12000 GBP personnel allowance, and they are saying they could well be having to pay tax, after paying tax they could be down more money than before the increase. 

 

Lol tax would only be payable over and above the personal tax allowance we all enjoy

 

On an aside I've lost count down the years on the forum how many times I have used the term "dont burn your bridges" with your own country as regards "this" topic

 

 

[transam]

6 minutes ago, thesetat said:

So I have to call B.S. on this OP and on the Brits claiming they suffer financially now with this. Since the law to freeze those types of people specifically in those countries. The Brits complaining actually and knowingly put themselves into a position that is causing duress. That is 24 years this law was implemented. Surely the Brits did not move here expecting more than what was given by law then.. 

 

Actually, when I moved here I had no idea my FUTURE state pension would be locked, even my accountant didn't mention it, so it seems not many did at the time.

I retired 8 years early, so only came to my attention later on reading on here, so don't jump to conclusions ol' chum, eh......😉

[Wobblybob]

1 minute ago, Liverpool Lou said:

I got the answer from your post - the video - I did not post that I had a link; you know how to get confirmation, call them.   Not every IPC requirement has to be on the internet, when you speak to them you can ask them why.  You should also ask yourself if it is not unreasonable to assume that the IPC would require evidence of Philippine residency from someone who is suddenly trying to claim an increasing pension that they have not been entitled to for years.

When you posted that statement I trusted you had a valid reason for it to be accurate, but never mind that piece of the jigsaw shall have to remain missing for the time being.

 

[Mike Teavee]

1 minute ago, Neeranam said:

Actually, last year I never needed to show a passport when leaving the UK. Maybe a one way flight to Thailand would just require showing Thai passport/ID.

You would have had to show your passport at the check-in desk who would have scanned it & effectively registered your exit from the UK (presumably if you then don't board the flight the records are updated).

 

No idea whether this would flag up the fact that you left on a Passport that didn't give you the right to be in the UK (By this I mean using a Thai Passport that you didn't use to enter on & so doesn't confer automatic right to be in the UK).

[Mike Teavee]

4 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   What, you just walked onto an airplane without going through immigration or anything like that ?

How was you able to do that ?

As a UK Passport holder yes, the passport is scanned at the check-in desk & you only need to show it again at boarding time to prove that your ticket is your ticket & your not using somebody else's ticket to board the plane. 

[Liverpool Lou]

7 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Actually, last year I never needed to show a passport when leaving the UK.

Obviously that it false.  No one can exit the UK without a passport unless it is a UK citizen leaving the UK via Northern Ireland into Ireland .

[Andyfez]

15 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Not if you cannot provide proof of living there, you don't.

What proof do they need?

[NoshowJones]

14 hours ago, AlexRich said:

The only way “around it” in my view is if the UK change the rules. But if they choose not to change the rules I think you won’t find a way around it without getting yourself in a great deal of trouble, and that will be more financially painful than a frozen pension. 

No one has been prosecuted yet for living abroad and "fraudulently" claiming the annual OAP increases.

[Neeranam]

5 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

You would have had to show your passport at the check-in desk who would have scanned it & effectively registered your exit from the UK (presumably if you then don't board the flight the records are updated).

 

No idea whether this would flag up the fact that you left on a Passport that didn't give you the right to be in the UK (By this I mean using a Thai Passport that you didn't use to enter on & so doesn't confer automatic right to be in the UK).

Hmm, Brits can enter the UK with an expired/no UK passport, the issue might be at the Airline check in desk going to the UK. 

[Liverpool Lou]

11 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   What, you just walked onto an airplane without going through immigration or anything like that ?

How was you able to do that ?

He wasn't and he didn't...unless he was a stowaway.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 minute ago, Neeranam said:

Hmm, Brits can enter the UK with an expired/no UK passport, the issue might be at the Airline check in desk going to the UK. 

Hmmm, you claimed that you were able to leave the UK without having to show a passport.

[Chivas]

2 hours ago, maechanman said:

It certainly didn't help the currency exchange rate, £ dropped like a stone after the vote to leave, it has never recovered to pre Brexit levels.

 

True but that had nothing to do with the Baht lol

 

That was entirely down to Sterling/Dollar on one side of the pairings which dipped hugely

[Pumpuynarak]

5 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

No one has been prosecuted yet for living abroad and "fraudulently" claiming the annual OAP increases.

 

Correct but many have had to repay the overpayment and have also been fined.

How do i know, i was one of them.

[Bobthegimp]

28 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

"There isn't the money to pay for overseas pensioners". Really!! There seems to be enough to pay for all these immigrants, legal and illegal, MP's "expenses" etc,etc,etc.

 

The government and those still toiling away see Brits who live outside the country as unwanted filth.  Not even "second class" citizens, but disloyal filth, worthy of contempt and deserving of nothing.

 

They'd happily give you nothing and have you move back, only to die whilst waiting to see a doctor. 

 

It looks like a lost cause. They'll inflate your pensions down to pocket change. 

[transam]

Just now, NoshowJones said:

No one has been prosecuted yet for living abroad and "fraudulently" claiming the annual OAP increases.

I know one bloke who paid the 1000 quid fine and whatever else, never went to court because DWP had the evidence.

My own friend got away with the 1000quid fine by a hospital letter stating he had had brain surgery, which was true, his sister did his paperwork in the UK, because he couldn't, nobody knew about the locked pension like me, they thought they just got it......But he still had to pay the overpayment back, and his pension reduced to the time he left for LOS.........😥

 

[Mike Teavee]

8 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Hmm, Brits can enter the UK with an expired/no UK passport, the issue might be at the Airline check in desk going to the UK. 

I see what you're saying, enter the UK on your expired UK Passport and then leave on your valid Thai Passport... 

 

This Reddit thread seems to suggest that the UK does not have exit border controls save for "Random" checks which it wouldn't surprise me weren't triggered by something like somebody leaving the UK on a Non-UK Passport that they didn't enter with...

 

 

I don't see what they could do to you for doing so except maybe log the fact that you have left the UK.   

[Liverpool Lou]

8 minutes ago, Andyfez said:

15 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Not if you cannot provide proof of living there, you don't.

What proof do they need?

Philippine entry and exit stamps in your passport is one of the  requirements, apparently.

[Andycoops]

17 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Tell them you live in the Philippines then you get full pension!

The only problem there is when they send out the random proof of life form to your registered address in PH and there is no reply, your pension will be stopped.

[Chivas]

17 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

No one has been prosecuted yet for living abroad and "fraudulently" claiming the annual OAP increases.

 

Yep and as I said on different thread few days ago I was reading  the DWP website for other reasons and came across this

 

I was surprised likewise.

 

Nobody can have their state pension sanctioned in otherwards reduced or stopped so anyone claiming otherwise is talking bollacks (not yourself lol)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Andycoops]

25 minutes ago, Andyfez said:

What proof do they need?

When my proof of life form came to me here I had to get signed and with a official stamp.

I went to Pattaya beach road police station where there is a officer who is assigned to do this and paid 200 baht plus a tip.

He duly completed the relevant section on the form in English and plonked the official Thai police stamp under his signature.

Lawyers, doctors etc can also do this if you can find one.

DWP send out the proof of life forms at random to your official address you registered with them, there is a time limit for you to respond, no response and your pension payments are stopped.

[Bobydog]

2 hours ago, Nemises said:

Yes, but only if you tell AU that you’re no longer a resident. Not many do, if any. 
 

 

If one has an age pension and a passport,  within 24 hrs I received an email noting I had left the Country. My passport was flagged so I was done, if my passport failed to pop up as being back in country inside 6 weeks my pension was stopped untill I had satisfied them with an answer. I was stuck in Thailand for 10 weeks because Airport on Koh Samui was closed during early Covid days. Centerlink accepted my reason and noted that I  was registered with Australian Embassy for a flight home.

[Bobydog]

3 hours ago, simple1 said:

 

I believe you're misinformed. Oz Age Pension is payable in full, according to compliance criteria, whilst living in Thailand.

I actually found it on line at  ATO with help from my tax agent