My brother married his Thai girlfriend in November and has claimed the ADULT DEPENDENCY INCREASE, sending all relevant forms which have been acknowledged. He lives in Thailand and UK, and is in Thailand at the moment. I received a rather ominous phone call wanting to speak to him, and because of dealing with another issue for him, I assumed it was the same Scottish woman. Only after I had replied that he was in Thailand did the woman say she was from 'Pensions'. She would give no more info. She asked when he would be back - I told her truthfully it would be in the next 3 weeks. She put the phone down saying "That's all I want to know".

What should I do? If I contact Pensions they are unlikely to even speak to me. Should I write, and if so to whom? Have I blown his chance of receiving the Increased Pension for his Thai wife? Or are they investigating that he may not be eligible for Pension

Increases? I feel duped as she refused to say her name or which Pension office she was from. Any ideas? He is not very patient on the phone, has no computer, so I usually do all the paperwork whilst he is away.

p.s. He has a UK address where he lives when home

Thanks again

Edited May 18, 201016 yr by woodsgill

Your brother is entitled to receive Adult Dependents Increase (ADI) regardless of where he or his wife live. Provided he claimed before the deadline of 5th April this year, the payment, when it eventually commences, will continue until 5th April 2020, unless his wife reaches state pension age before then (or your brother dies)

The complication could be that your brother has claimed his pension from the UK and has not notified the pensions dept that he is living either permanently or semi permanently in Thailand. If he spends more than 3 months a year in Thailand, then he should tell the pensions dept, and his state pension would then be frozen at the current rate.

Most Brits married to Thais (who are not with them in the UK) spend more than 3 months a year in Thailand.

This aspect will need to be sorted with the pensions dept, but it will NOT prevent the payment of ADI. It will however slow things down.

PM me if you require more advice

In your heading you asked how long do you have to live in the UK to get a full pension.

Basically it does not matter where you live - what is important is how many NI contributions have been made.

Prior to 5th April 2010 44 NI contributions were necessary to secure a full pension for men (These could be from working in the UK or voluntary contributions). From 6th April, the number of contributions went down to 30 for both men and women, but only for those reaching retirement age after that date.

If he isnt doing anything wrong, why worry.

One always worries when dealing with UK government departments

It is possible he did not tell them on his pension claim form that he spent more than 3 months a year in Thailand.

In the long run the truth is always best