Uk Pension Credits

[jcartermad]

Guys - I was speaking to a guy the other night and the subject rolled onto UK Pension Credits. He told me that he had lived in Finland for the last 8 years, married to a Finn, but sadly his marriage failed. He then returned to the UK and went to "sign on." He was amazed to be told "no point in signing on. As you are 61 you qualify for pension credits." Anyway he now gets £133 a week, does not have to sign on and just upp'd and moved to Thailand. His £133 a week works out at an average of 27,000 baht per month...nicely topped up by a small private pension.

others have told me that if you are 60plus then the job centre immediately puts you on pension credits. Is that true? Sadly i just 58 and still working. just dont want to cash early pensions etc. What is the score on these pension credits? Do 58 year old qualify?

Also if you are married to a Thai lady does the credit increase? My wife is 48 and working as a teacher...as I am here. What happens when you reach pensionable age? Do you get UK married or single pension if your wife is foreign or under pensionable age herself. I think that both must be pensionable before the martried allowance kicks in. Am i right?

It is not that i want to sponge but having paid a whopping amount into the UK via tax & NI and never claimed one penny in benefit I would like to get some of my hard earned, taxed to the hilt , wedge back.

Regards - John

[somtampet]

My thoughts

1/ claiming pension credits only allow you 1 month per tax year in a non eu country

2/This is only allowed of you have no money in bank etc

3/claiming for spouce in Thialnd finished april 1st 2010

4/Those already claiming will end in 2020

5/ depends on his small pension,will depend if he gets any deduction from his total pension credits

6/ New laws allow for checking on an individual by his pasport,bank accounts etc etc,to stop fraudulant claims which is costing the uk government billions.

I personaly know of 2 guys who tried to live here/or spend more than 1 month per year,got caught and were fined 20,000gbp and have reduced pension credits now.The credit are designed to increase your money to a liveable wage for ENGLAND.

[Upnotover]

Friend of mine just went back to the UK and got Pension Credit. 1) it is available to over 60's, 2) you have to be UK resident. Quite how they would know if you got it and went away I don't know.

[afarang]

Friend of mine just went back to the UK and got Pension Credit. 1) it is available to over 60's, 2) you have to be UK resident. Quite how they would know if you got it and went away I don't know.

Quite simple ,really. Social services have computer links with Immigration. They know the moment you step on a plane. Sometimes ,they don't take action until you return. But don't bank on it. I found out about this when my Oz old age pension was approved. I was informed I had to wait ,in Oz for 2 years before my pension became portable. I was told that my pension would be stopped the moment I cleared Immigration.If I left. So, I had to do my 2 years hard yakka before I could return here.

[Phatcharanan]

Quite simple ,really. Social services have computer links with Immigration. They know the moment you step on a plane. Sometimes ,they don't take action until you return.

Slightly wrong but never mind.

The only link is for cross referencing non EU Nationals. Certainly does not apply to UK citizens.

[chiang mai]

My thoughts

1/ claiming pension credits only allow you 1 month per tax year in a non eu country

2/This is only allowed of you have no money in bank etc

3/claiming for spouce in Thialnd finished april 1st 2010

4/Those already claiming will end in 2020

5/ depends on his small pension,will depend if he gets any deduction from his total pension credits

6/ New laws allow for checking on an individual by his pasport,bank accounts etc etc,to stop fraudulant claims which is costing the uk government billions.

I personaly know of 2 guys who tried to live here/or spend more than 1 month per year,got caught and were fined 20,000gbp and have reduced pension credits now.The credit are designed to increase your money to a liveable wage for ENGLAND.

Pension Credits are allowed based on either of two possible scenario's, low income or low savings so no money in the bank is only one route. Having said that the threshold for savings is quite high the last time I checked, do a search on the web for something called a UK benefits calculator and give it a test drive to see how much you might get. I played around with it out of interest and then I began to create different scenario's using various savings amounts, I was surprised to see that even if I had £100,000 in savings I was still eligible albeit at the lower end of the scale.

As for the one month in a non-EU country is concerned: I read recently that this was likely to change upwards so as to be standard across the entire benefits front, the discussion paper I read talked of six months outside the UK before losing NHS and other rights.

Edited October 7, 2010 by chiang mai

[MAJIC]

To the OP:

Guys - I was speaking to a guy the other night and the subject rolled onto UK Pension Credits. He told me that he had lived in Finland for the last 8 years, married to a Finn, but sadly his marriage failed. He then returned to the UK and went to "sign on." He was amazed to be told "no point in signing on. As you are 61 you qualify for pension credits." Anyway he now gets £133 a week, does not have to sign on and just upp'd and moved to Thailand. His £133 a week works out at an average of 27,000 baht per month...nicely topped up by a small private pension.

Your Friend is committing Fraud,Pension Credits are for permanent UK residents only, and his wife is not permanently resident either,so she is also party to the Fraud!

Also had he told them, about being resident in Finland for 8 years,he would have had to take something named the..."Habitual Residents Test"....in order to qualify for PC,and prove he was back to stay Permanently in the UK!

According to my information (a highly trusted and informed source),someone on PC can only leave the Country for a total of 13 weeks,in any 1 year period,and when you go,you must notify them of departure and also your return.

58 does not qualify! for Pension Credits!

JOBCENTREPLUS, Do not put you on immediate Pension Credits (they do not have the power to do so),you have to apply to the. DWP.

Edited October 7, 2010 by MAJIC