UK Pensioners in Thailand Face New Scrutiny Over Pension Fraud

[baansgr]

17 hours ago, smedly said:

 

weii it is a lot worse than that, there are benefits being claimed using this same method, I don't agree with frozen pensions but  blatant  benefit fraud is another matter, they could easily catch these people by checking passport records, for now they don;t

Exactly, I have lost count of the amount of Eastern Europeans that are claiming child allowance amongst other benefits but the real kicker is, they are renting out their counc il/housing association property and and pocketing the rent..

[baansgr]

6 hours ago, nglodnig said:

First off - is there a system in place for tracking UK citizens leaving and entering the county? I don't believe there is.....

I've been in Philippines 👍

[Luuk Chaai]

22 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

If you do the crime, do the time.

My pension has been frozen for almost nine years. That is one reason why I still work.

Yes, life is a bitch and then we die.

It is how we die that is important.

You're on the "wrong team "

We get our C.O.L.A. increases every year ( Cost of Living Adjustment )

 

[smedly]

1 hour ago, baansgr said:

Exactly, I have lost count of the amount of Eastern Europeans that are claiming child allowance amongst other benefits but the real kicker is, they are renting out their counc il/housing association property and and pocketing the rent..

not to mention winter fuel allowance, lol 

 

the uk government need to clamp down  on this bs,  the money they save can be spent pensioners .

 

first thing I would do -biometric  id cards, absolute id when claiming anything, oh the general public  do not agree -well seriously  it would stop the huge fraud going on in the uk right  now

[BritManToo]

7 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   There is , but all they have to do is to request you provide your passport for them to see and they will see all the Thai entry and exit stamps 

I lost my passport!

Game over.

[bradiston]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I lost my passport!

Game over.

A passport isn't what they would look at. You think they'd rely on that? Your entry and exit time and dates are recorded digitally every time you go through immigration. On my last trip to Philippines I asked the IO there upon leaving, if UK immigration could access my data on their system. She confirmed it but said it very rarely happens. So, safe to assume they can track you. Out of 500,000 OAPs living abroad, some will have notified HMRC or the DWP that they were leaving, in order to cancel tax returns or whatever, and maybe where they living thereafter. No idea of numbers. Others won't have bothered and either accept their pensions will be frozen if the DWP find out where they're living and it doesn't have an agreement, or it does. I guess just an exit from the UK as recorded at UK immigration would be enough to alert them. But I imagine it would be hugely time consuming trying to track possibly 100s of thousands of suspected non change of circumstances notifiers. Most benefit fraud in the UK is committed by Universal Credit applicants. Us OAPs probably pale into tiny insignificance compared. And if you do get caught, I think the only penalty would be to freeze your pension until you meet the requirements for the annual raise. This last item has been the subject of much heated discussion over the years. Some claim they, or a mate, had to pay back the excess payments. Others who claim they were incarcerated. Others that they were fined. And so it goes on. Information is thin on the ground. YMMV.

[quake]

23 minutes ago, bradiston said:

A passport isn't what they would look at. You think they'd rely on that? Your entry and exit time and dates are recorded digitally every time you go through immigration. On my last trip to Philippines I asked the IO there upon leaving, if UK immigration could access my data on their system. She confirmed it but said it very rarely happens. So, safe to assume they can track you. Out of 500,000 OAPs living abroad, some will have notified HMRC or the DWP that they were leaving, in order to cancel tax returns or whatever, and maybe where they living thereafter. No idea of numbers. Others won't have bothered and either accept their pensions will be frozen if the DWP find out where they're living and it doesn't have an agreement, or it does. I guess just an exit from the UK as recorded at UK immigration would be enough to alert them. But I imagine it would be hugely time consuming trying to track possibly 100s of thousands of suspected non change of circumstances notifiers. Most benefit fraud in the UK is committed by Universal Credit applicants. Us OAPs probably pale into tiny insignificance compared. And if you do get caught, I think the only penalty would be to freeze your pension until you meet the requirements for the annual raise. This last item has been the subject of much heated discussion over the years. Some claim they, or a mate, had to pay back the excess payments. Others who claim they were incarcerated. Others that they were fined. And so it goes on. Information is thin on the ground. YMMV.

 

Airlines in the uk submit information about people to uk boarder force.

They know, when you left and come back in to the uk, 

if they wanted to look.

 

 

 

 

Edited 31 minutes ago by quake

[nausea]

I don't know, maybe the UK authorities will never pick up on all these guys living in Thailand and claiming UK residence. But it's a bit like living with the Sword of Damocles hanging over your head, rather you than me; though I can sorta understand it for those totally dependent on the State Pension, they've no choice really, if they want to stay here.

[sandyf]

18 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Those would be the people who chose to live in a country in which UK state pension increases are not payable, a downside that is well-known and addressed openly on government websites and it has been that way for more than 70 years.   Perhaps those people should have gone to a different country where their increases would be available.

You are wrong, it has not been that way for more than 70 years.

Reciprocal agreements are nothing more than a government smokescreen to cover up incompetance and legalised fraud. Who decides if there should be a reciprocal agreement or not?

When brexit came along the reciprocal agreement with the EU came to an end, what happened?

The government claim the policy has been successfully challenged in court, that is a distortion of the facts. The 2002 court case was brought about under human rights legislation, the policy has never been challenged in court under current equality laws.

The government published the equality act and dealt with the fallout as it arose, the trans community probably the most notable.

The problem with frozen pensioners is that they are not in the UK, spread around the world with no unified voice and the government relies on the unlikelyhood of a legal challenge. Also a large percentage of the UK population has benefitted significantly from state pension discrimination so they will tend to defend the government position.

Only last week in one of the annual events MPs from across the political spectrum quite rightly vocalised their praise and gratitude to the armed forces.

Every year when the Social Security Act comes before parliament those hypocrites vote for an arrangement that denies military veterans a full state pension. Over the years there has been attempts during the debate to address the discriminatory policy, but that has been suppressed by the government of the day.

In 2019 the Labour Party stated the discrimination was unacceptable and gave their support to the APPG recomendations and included proposed changes in their manifesto. Now in power they now believe the discrimination is no longer unacceptable, and like yourself and others quite happy to continue the perpretation.

[Russell17au]

18 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Those pensions would be superannuation occupational pensions (or whatever is the proper term for them), they would not be able to receive the state pensions if they resided overseas.   Other people with occupational pension schemes can also receive them abroad.  

Sorry but you are incorrect because I get my Australian Government Pension paid directly into my Thai bank account and I have lived in Thailand for 12 years

[sandyf]

7 hours ago, bristolgeoff said:

My friend in cnx got his pension 14 yrs ago now and it has stayed at £100 a week since day 1.he lives in cnx and is happy so no issue.but i never understood why phillipines gets the extra but not thailand

Believe it or not, but there are several different circumstances that apply to pensioners in Thailand.

From what you said, it is quite likely that he benefitted from a discriminatory policy within the state pension arrangement, losing much less than those in other circumstances.

[sandyf]

14 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

£10 yes but the big one had to be applied for at some stage by someone in your household in the UK!

That used to be the case but it did became automatic, possibly during covid.