UK Pensioners in Thailand Face New Scrutiny Over Pension Fraud

[The Cyclist]

9 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

And yet again, Thailand is a travel hub for Asia, even knowing you landed here, doesn't mean you stayed here, you might have bought an onward flight to your final destination in Manila.

 

But those passenger manifestos will pinpoint when you left and returned to the UK, and will be kept on file for a number of years.

 

And I will agree with you on the fast passport service. Booked online, 10am appointment, pick new passport at 2pm. I think the fee when I used it was £75.

[NoshowJones]

20 hours ago, hardblogger said:

What do you think about claiming WInter Fuel allowance (bit late now but,........) for the past 4 years and living here for 9 month a year?  Just interested on your view. 

What about MP's and their "expenses"? Accepting full wages while doing two or more jobs like lawyers, company directors etc. Mortgages paid on second homes, all sorts of traveling expenses etc, etc, etc.

Hypocrites, the lot of them.

[BritManToo]

21 hours ago, hardblogger said:

What do you think about claiming WInter Fuel allowance (bit late now but,........) for the past 4 years and living here for 9 month a year?  Just interested on your view. 

Winter fuel was paid without any claim being made.

I don't claim benefits, and wouldn't have claimed it as a pensioner in the UK, but it was sent to me anyway with no option to opt out. I don't really want a Xmas bonus either, I don't want charity, just the state pension I paid for with my NI payments.

[NoshowJones]

20 hours ago, hardblogger said:

We wouldn't get paid, but neither would anyone. BOOOOM!     Same for every pensioner.   Life wouldn't be worth living anyway. 
Relax. 

At least the hypocrites at Downing Street won't have all these expenses any more.

[The Cyclist]

19 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

What about MP's and their "expenses"? Accepting full wages while doing two or more jobs like lawyers, company directors etc. Mortgages paid on second homes, all sorts of traveling expenses etc, etc, etc.

Hypocrites, the lot of them.

 

Whilst you are correct. Politicians are the same the world over.

 

And there is no point in getting stressed and venting about it. It is not going to change until the Public get the legal right to publically execute the biggest freeloader on a monthly basis.

 

The good news is that it would only take one public execution to change mindsets instantly.

 

The bad news is it will never be allowed to happen.

[Keeps]

24 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Winter fuel was paid without any claim being made.

I don't claim benefits, and wouldn't have claimed it as a pensioner in the UK, but it was sent to me anyway with no option to opt out. I don't really want a Xmas bonus either, I don't want charity, just the state pension I paid for with my NI payments.

The £10 Xmas bonus is an absolute insult. It has been at that level since it was introduced in 1972 (when it was actually worth something). It should be around £100 in today's money. Increase it or scrap it. 

[bradiston]

49 minutes ago, quake said:

 

I believe it has been the case for many years.

I have not read all the details in the link, but think the answer is there. 

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/passenger-name-record-data/passenger-name-record-data

 

Much appreciated! I read for 30 minutes including a lot of links, and quit. The stated purpose of PNR collection is for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorism and serious crime - drugs, trafficking, child sexual exploutation and the like. I don't think an OAP claiming to live in one place but actually living in another falls into that category. However, the data is there. But whether it would be legal for say the DWP to access it for checking on a pensioner is highly dubious. It's an EU based law, but the UK seems to have signed up to it. As have the US, Canada and Australia. So they are all sharing PNR, flight details, destination, luggage weight, check in times, ticket numbers and a ton of other data. Beyond that, who knows?

 

When I asked the Philippines IO if the UK government could track my movements in and out of Philippines, she simply said it would be possible, but highly unlikely. So there you have it. YMMV as I always say. Or in Thai "Up to you!".

[Kinok Farang]

1 hour ago, Expat68 said:

I have no sympathy if they get caught 

Tell that to your friend,if you've got one.

[quake]

1 minute ago, bradiston said:

Much appreciated! I read for 30 minutes including a lot of links, and quit. The stated purpose of PNR collection is for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorism and serious crime - drugs, trafficking, child sexual exploutation and the like. I don't think an OAP claiming to live in one place but actually living in another falls into that category. However, the data is there. But whether it would be legal for say the DWP to access it for checking on a pensioner is highly dubious. It's an EU based law, but the UK seems to have signed up to it. As have the US, Canada and Australia. So they are all sharing PNR, flight details, destination, luggage weight, check in times, ticket numbers and a ton of other data. Beyond that, who knows?

 

When I asked the Philippines IO if the UK government could track my movements in and out of Philippines, she simply said it would be possible, but highly unlikely. So there you have it. YMMV as I always say. Or in Thai "Up to you!".

 

Yes, they can find us if they want to.

 

[Thumbs]

Problem i have as ex military we paid into the pot serving in any country the government saw fit to start a war with or we were posted to. Now many want to live overseas and live out retirement years in the sun and they are accused of being thieves. If we weren’t allowed to live overseas then shouldn’t have been getting charged same national insurance while we were out of the country  

[NoshowJones]

17 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I don't have anyone on ignore.

Neither do I. How can you annoy posters you don't like if you put them on ignore? 

[proton]

24 minutes ago, quake said:

 

Yes, they can find us if they want to.

 

 

How come they never found Lord Lucan then?

[Nick Carter icp]

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I lost my passport!

Game over.

 

   They can see when you applied for a new passport .

So, if you lost your passport, you would have had to apply for a new PP

[BritManToo]

8 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

They can see when you applied for a new passport .

So, if you lost your passport, you would have had to apply for a new PP

That doesn't make any sense, there is no compulsion for anyone inside the UK to have a passport. And it seems unlikely that the DWP would send someone overseas to ask to look at one.

 

Do you ever think before you post?

[CharlieKo]

18 hours ago, kwilco said:

What a facile and ignorant comment

You must be pretty ignorant not to see there is a connection between the way illegal scum are treated when British citizens are treated worse. It may be facile ,but I'm not going to elaborate on the subject when it's so easy to make a connection. Whence your ignorance in not seeing it.

[quake]

15 minutes ago, proton said:

 

How come they never found Lord Lucan then?

 

Yes, many supposed sightings over the years.

But they never found him as he jumped in to the sea from the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry.

Well that's what Lady Lucan thought he did.

 

 

[NoshowJones]

17 hours ago, transam said:

State pension IS a benefit.......🙄

Yes Trans thats what the DWP say, but they can say anything they want. The state pension is not a benefit, it is an entitlement which has been paid for. Although the UK government steals these annual increases from us, they cannot truthfully say they are a benefit, but when is the UK government ever truthful?

 

[p414]

2 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

Yes Trans thats what the DWP say, but they can say anything they want. The state pension is not a benefit, it is an entitlement which has been paid for. Although the UK government steals these annual increases from us, they cannot truthfully say they are a benefit, but when is the UK government ever truthful?

 

It was the Court of Human Rights  tat ruled that the pension I paid 44 years for is ..'A government Benefit'.....

I guess this allows the government to stop ALL payments to pensioners.

[Nick Carter icp]

10 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

That doesn't make any sense, there is no compulsion for anyone inside the UK to have a passport. And it seems unlikely that the DWP would send someone overseas to ask to look at one.

 

Do you ever think before you post?

 

   They can see when you arrived back in the U.K and if you arrived back in the UK then you must have been abroad  , they can see all your bank statements and where the withdrawals have been or where money has been sent to and they know how many bank accounts you have got 

[NoshowJones]

16 hours ago, norsurin said:

Im so happy im not a UK pension are.If I move to fex Thailand my pension is not change.

Anyway i choose to stay in my country.I only go for staying abroad few months a year.

I allways inform my government when im leaving and how long time i will be in another country.

As it is now im only allowed to stay abroad 6 months in a calendar year It starts 1st of January.

But i can go to fex Thailand in Augusta and stay rest of the year and start my next 6 months period 1st of January again.A friend of mine tried to fraud the government not follow the rules.Well..one day he get a letter from the government telling him to come to a meeting in the office.He was told to bring his passport with him He get panicked and flew back here the next day.The government reported him to the police and he was charged.

At the police station the police had alot of evidence.His passport stamps..his flight bookings and a bank statement about where he had drawing money.He had to pay back every cent to the government and was sentence to jail for about 20 days.If ur government want to check they will find out everything they want to know.

They cannot take any payments of a British state pension, note STATE PENSION, if you look hard enough at their website you will see for yourself.

[ericbj]

On 11/15/2024 at 10:23 AM, Chivas said:

...

Should be noted that the DWP are not going to go willy nilly into peoples bank accounts who are not in receipt of "state benefits" per se Pension Credit or Housing Benefit blah blah blah

...

Should also be remembered this frozen pension bit has been like it for 70 years.....i

Can you assure us - on authority - that the DWP will not make routine check-ups as to whether pensioners are regularly transferring funds to an overseas destination?

 

(Would have no repercussion on myself, as they have already deemed me a resident of Thailand.  Contrary to my desire to return to France; thwarted firstly by Covid scare-mongering, followed by government lockdowns, followed by ill-health)

 

The death-penalty was in force in the U.K. for centuries, for quite a variety of crimes, some of them quite minor by today's standards.
Perhaps it should never have been abolished?

[BritManToo]

9 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

They can see when you arrived back in the U.K and if you arrived back in the UK then you must have been abroad  , they can see all your bank statements and where the withdrawals have been or where money has been sent to and they know how many bank accounts you have got 

Always amazed at the number of people that think their government is all seeing and all powerful. Mostly government officials are lazy and barely competent, resulting in only the easiest offenders being investigated and caught.

[BritManToo]

10 minutes ago, ericbj said:

Can you assure us - on authority - that the DWP will not make routine check-ups as to whether pensioners are regularly transferring funds to an overseas destination?

If my bank saw regular fund transfers to an overseas destination, they'd probably close my bank account. I'm far more worried about being debanked than being investigated by the DWP. Which is one of the reasons I've never transferred money from my bank account, or used my UK debit/credit cars in Thailand.

[CallumWK]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Mostly government officials are lazy and barely competent

 

It may surprise you that they have competent computer software, which does all the work, while the government officials are laying on their lazy back.

[Nick Carter icp]

16 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Always amazed at the number of people that think their government is all seeing and all powerful. Mostly government officials are lazy and barely competent, resulting in only the easiest offenders being investigated and caught.

 

  I contacted the UK Government recently online  about tax issues and they asked me questions to confirm my identity .

   They asked me how many bank accounts I had , I got that question right , they asked me when I took a UK phone contract out , I got that question right  , they asked me when my Passport expires and I got that question right . 

   Asked a few more questions and confirmed that I was me 

   I hadn't given that information to anyone, yet the Government still knew the answers . 

[jayboy]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

If my bank saw regular fund transfers to an overseas destination, they'd probably close my bank account. I'm far more worried about being debanked than being investigated by the DWP. Which is one of the reasons I've never transferred money from my bank account, or used my UK debit/credit cars in Thailand.

 

I used to worry about being debanked too but mainly in the context of international cooperation on tax transparency.

 

But I don't understand the concern about international transfers (assuming one is not cheating the UK government on the state pension.)

 

There are many very reputable banks, mainly Channel Islands based, which exist to service expatriates and have no problems in regular transfers overseas.

[Nick Carter icp]

6 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

If my bank saw regular fund transfers to an overseas destination, they'd probably close my bank account. I'm far more worried about being debanked than being investigated by the DWP. Which is one of the reasons I've never transferred money from my bank account, or used my UK debit/credit cars in Thailand.

 

   How do you get your UK pension  money to Thailand ?

[PumpkinEater]

UK Blokes don’t feel bad, as a US Social Security recipient, I am looking forward (NOT!) to my 21% reduction in benefits in 2033.

 

The Government is prepping us through media outlets…but still insist on throwing billions at the corrupt war machine, instead of fixing the SS problem.

 

Corrupted F##Ks!

 

Sad!

[transam]

33 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

Yes Trans thats what the DWP say, but they can say anything they want. The state pension is not a benefit, it is an entitlement which has been paid for. Although the UK government steals these annual increases from us, they cannot truthfully say they are a benefit, but when is the UK government ever truthful?

 

Of course, it is unfair to lock pensions, over the reciprocal agreement thingy, and classifying it as a benefit, but we cannot argue that is a pension and not a benefit, because it is written in law that it is a benefit, so those who are using false information to claim more cash from a benefit are committing fraud...........🤔

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Pension_(United_Kingdom)#:~:text=The State Pension is an,of qualifying years of contributions.

[ericbj]

26 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

If my bank saw regular fund transfers to an overseas destination, they'd probably close my bank account. I'm far more worried about being debanked than being investigated by the DWP. Which is one of the reasons I've never transferred money from my bank account, or used my UK debit/credit cars in Thailand.

 

Interesting.  The possible closure of my UK account has worried me since the govt gave the banks the go-ahead to do this without justification.  But so far, all is well.

 

While in Thailand, five years non-stop now, I have had to make regular transfers from UK account to my Thai account.  Not only of my UK pension (98 GBP/week: many years abroad of which 20 paying voluntary contributions) but also proceeds from savings/assets.  Also have a minuscule French pension, but have been denied access to that since 1st January 2021, when the French Post Office Bank utilised a new EU regulation and stipulated that to change my mobile number (for security code) I must present myself in person at the Post Office of my home town!!! [With my UK bank I have always done that over the phone, after answering "security questions"]