UK pensions-life certificate

[Kwasaki]

30 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

or it's social security payments and you can't get them abroad.

 

22 minutes ago, transam said:

I know a bloke who does but he "don't"  liv ear.....

People on social security payments can holiday here but I have no idea where they can live and get them, maybe europe.

 

Funny story my dad was UK retired in Sussex in a Littlehampton club he would laugh at two friends that would clash over money,  one had worked all his life just keeping at it for wife & family,  the other was a bit of a jack the lad in and out of jobs paying little N.I., signed on, work cash in hand, all his life etc etc, he got more money from social security that the other on UK gov pension.  ?

[transam]

3 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

 

People on social security payments can holiday here but I have no idea where they can live and get them, maybe europe.

 

Funny story my dad was UK retired in Sussex in a Littlehampton club he would laugh at two friends that would clash over money,  one had worked all his life just keeping at it for wife & family,  the other was a bit of a jack the lad in and out of jobs paying little N.I., signed on, work cash in hand, all his life etc etc, he got more money from social security that the other on UK gov pension.  ?

For sure...I paid all my UK dues, yet retiring in LOS I am chastised regarding my pension, yet folk from LOS in the UK get the works, even those who have committed crime in the UK...I know of a case...

[OJAS]

14 hours ago, mommysboy said:

Having read the briefing papers, I'd say there is little point in continuing to campaign for an uprating.  Successive governments have all come to the same conclusion, and numerous courts decided that their actions are entirely lawful.  If it ever was going to be changed, then that change would have taken place when the new state pension was introduced, and probably would not have been applied to the old state pension anyway imo.

I agree. It is also worth noting in this connection that, rather than entering into new social security agreements to enable increases to be paid in other countries, the government of the day has torn up existing agreements as in the case of Australia, for instance, meaning that state pensions are now frozen there. In any case, "triple-lock" indexing has already been called into question in the UK - and clamours to modify or even scrap this altogether will probably grow even louder over coming years.

Edited September 2, 2018 by OJAS

[Beachcomber]

On 8/30/2018 at 1:39 PM, Jip99 said:

If anyone is stuck, send the completed form, copy of passport  ID page and 500 Baht -  I will sign and send to DWP.

Sounds like a neat business opportunity.

 

A person isn't actually dead until its reported - right!.

 

I'm sure there are lots of local wives that would be happy for their pesky irritating old husbands to simply  "disappear"  and still continue to get the regular pension payments. 

 

Once word gets round expect a surge in the Life Certificate mail order business. 

 

?

[billd766]

I went to the local hospital this morning to get 2 certificate signed.

 

I asked the doctor if he thought I was dead and explained what I needed.

 

He read the paperwork, signed on the line and got them stamped.

 

Cost 100 baht for both.

 

In and out in 15 minutes on my own with no wife attached to translate for me. Another doctor came in and I asked him if he though I was still alive, so got a second opinion for free.

 

I love Thailand.

[Just Weird]

On ‎8‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 8:59 AM, OJAS said:

As an aside, a comparison might be interesting as to how British and Thai perceptions on who constitutes a person "of good standing in the community" for life certificate witnessing purposes differ from each other. For example, while police officers are considered to be of good standing in the UK, I get the impression that this is not necessarily the case here in Thailand. 

The snag is that UK Police officers are not permitted, officially, to witness or approve documents this way.

[Just Weird]

On ‎8‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 1:34 PM, Jip99 said:

<deleted>...... do some groundwork...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/pensions/11194265/State-pension-is-not-a-benefit-says-minister.html

I think you need to read that article!  What the minister and the DWP said are opinions, not law.  Notice the use of the word "should".

[OJAS]

5 hours ago, Just Weird said:

The snag is that UK Police officers are not permitted, officially, to witness or approve documents this way.

Presumably this is equally true of passport countersignatories (who can also witness Life Certificates), despite police officers being included in the list of accepted professions for this purpose:-

 

https://www.gov.uk/countersigning-passport-applications/accepted-occupations-for-countersignatories

 

Looks to me like a case of left and right hands at the Home Office (of which HMPO is a part) not knowing what the other is doing!

[soalbundy]

I use the mayor at the tetsabaan, takes me 10 minuets, it's only 200 meters away and he doesn't charge any money. I tried the police once but that was a theater, had to wait for the top guy who then wanted to know if I was of good character and went to the wat on a regular basis, then he telephoned the village headman to come to the station (17 km away) to interview him about me, after 4 hours I got the stamp that I still exist, never again !

[billd766]

21 minutes ago, soalbundy said:

I use the mayor at the tetsabaan, takes me 10 minuets, it's only 200 meters away and he doesn't charge any money. I tried the police once but that was a theater, had to wait for the top guy who then wanted to know if I was of good character and went to the wat on a regular basis, then he telephoned the village headman to come to the station (17 km away) to interview him about me, after 4 hours I got the stamp that I still exist, never again !

 

I was talking to some mates at lunch yesterday and this topic came up.

One guy used the main police station in the province and had no problem, another used the local and district police station but they didn't want to know.

One used the main branch of KBank at Khampaeng Phet and there was no problem but branch offices didn't want to know.

The Immigration office at  KPP don't want to know. They should know and sign as we generally go there for an extension renewal and the 90 day reports.

My local post office will sign them and the state pension is OK with that but my RAF pension isn't.

 

In the end I think that it is just pot luck and if you are lucky at one place then stick with them for the next time.

 

[khastan]

Has anybody got the current email address for the Life Certificate team please?

[transam]

3 minutes ago, khastan said:

Has anybody got the current email address for the Life Certificate team please?

They prefer you to phone, they are very helpful, just have your NI number ready...

 

+44 191 218 7777

[jonesthepost]

4 minutes ago, khastan said:

Has anybody got the current email address for the Life Certificate team please?

When I phoned them they told they do not accept e-mails  

[simoh1490]

On 9/6/2018 at 1:04 PM, billd766 said:

I went to the local hospital this morning to get 2 certificate signed.

 

I asked the doctor if he thought I was dead and explained what I needed.

 

He read the paperwork, signed on the line and got them stamped.

 

Cost 100 baht for both.

 

In and out in 15 minutes on my own with no wife attached to translate for me. Another doctor came in and I asked him if he though I was still alive, so got a second opinion for free.

 

I love Thailand.

 

Edited September 21, 2018 by simoh1490

[OJAS]

1 hour ago, khastan said:

Has anybody got the current email address for the Life Certificate team please?

[email protected]

 

1 hour ago, transam said:

They prefer you to phone, they are very helpful, just have your NI number ready...

 

+44 191 218 7777

But note that their phone lines are not open 24/7 but only on Mondays to Fridays between 08:00 & 18:00 UK time (currently 14:00 to 24:00 here in Thailand, but 15:00 to 01:00 after the clocks go back in the UK at the end of next month).

 

1 hour ago, jonesthepost said:

When I phoned them they told they do not accept e-mails  

When did they tell you this? They were certainly prepared to have email exchanges with me as recently as September last year. The only thing they do in my experience is to redact what they consider to be sensitive info (e.g. NI nos) from their replies.

[simoh1490]

I presume this life certificate requirement is only for overseas-based pensioners, is that correct?

[OJAS]

23 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

I presume this life certificate requirement is only for overseas-based pensioners, is that correct?

As stated in the answer to a parliamentary question given by a DWP minister in January 2017, "State Pension customers residing permanently outside the United Kingdom are required to provide independent evidence, in the form of a witness statement, confirming that they are alive."

 

https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2017-01-06/58970/

 

[Jip99]

23 hours ago, simoh1490 said:

I presume this life certificate requirement is only for overseas-based pensioners, is that correct?

 

 

I would have to say “not”....

 

A friend living in Thailand was sent a life certificate request to a UK address (his son).

 

The son had moved property so the form was not completed and my friend’s pension was stopped.

 

 

[OJAS]

11 minutes ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

I would have to say “not”....

 

A friend living in Thailand was sent a life certificate request to a UK address (his son).

 

The son had moved property so the form was not completed and my friend’s pension was stopped.

 

 

But presumably your friend must have informed DWP at some stage that, despite his UK mailing address, he was a resident of Thailand so that they could freeze his pension?

[Jip99]

Just now, OJAS said:

But presumably your friend must have informed DWP at some stage that, despite his UK mailing address, he was a resident of Thailand so that they could freeze his pension?

 

Not up to the point they stopped his pension.

 

He phoned the DWP from Thailand to ask why his pension had been stopped (he was obviously unaware of the life certificate). The pension was immediately reinstated and, at that point, he advised them that he was in Thailand, had recently married and had decided to permantly relocate here. DWP simply advised him that he would not receive future increases.

[transam]

1 minute ago, Jip99 said:

 

Not up to the point they stopped his pension.

 

He phoned the DWP from Thailand to ask why his pension had been stopped (he was obviously unaware of the life certificate). The pension was immediately reinstated and, at that point, he advised them that he was in Thailand, had recently married and had decided to permantly relocate here. DWP simply advised him that he would not receive future increases.

My friend did something similar and then he got a letter ..?

[khastan]

In 2016 the Life Certificate I returned was confirmed received and that my account had been updated by email. I then received a letter much later informing me that my pension had been stopped due to them not receiving the Life Certificate they had informed me previously had been received ! So good luck confirming anything by telephone with them.

[Kwasaki]

5 minutes ago, khastan said:

So good luck confirming anything by telephone with them.

Still best to ring the IPC in UK, not much choice really, never had a problem myself doing so.

[khastan]

That is exactly what I did initially in 2016 and look where that got me. Copied and pasted below is the reply I received eventually. I have sent several emails to the various addresses I had asking them to confirm receipt of my latest Life Certificate but have had no replies. I think it is quite probable like a previous member has already stated that they are refusing to communicate by email now.


Thank you for your email dated 28 October 2016 which has been passed to the Customer Service Support Team to reply to.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the stress that this has caused you.

A Life certificate form was issued to you on 12 June 2016 ,you promptly returned it to us and it was received in this office on 12 July 2016 and you received confirmation of this on 21 July 2016.
The timescale for receipt of the life Certificate has now been extended to 16 weeks and a prompt will automatically issue a further written request to the customer if we have not received the completed form.
It would appear that as the second request for your life certificate was issued from this office on 04 October 2016 some 16 weeks later, this is what has happened in this instance.

As soon as we processed your Life Certificate in July 2016 measures should have been taken to avoid this further request automatically being made but unfortunately on this occasion it has regrettably been overlooked. I can confirm that there has been no effect on your pension payments which are continuing to be paid as normal . I am very sorry for the inconvenience caused.

[transam]

4 minutes ago, khastan said:

That is exactly what I did initially in 2016 and look where that got me. Copied and pasted below is the reply I received eventually. I have sent several emails to the various addresses I had asking them to confirm receipt of my latest Life Certificate but have had no replies. I think it is quite probable like a previous member has already stated that they are refusing to communicate by email now.


Thank you for your email dated 28 October 2016 which has been passed to the Customer Service Support Team to reply to.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the stress that this has caused you.

A Life certificate form was issued to you on 12 June 2016 ,you promptly returned it to us and it was received in this office on 12 July 2016 and you received confirmation of this on 21 July 2016.
The timescale for receipt of the life Certificate has now been extended to 16 weeks and a prompt will automatically issue a further written request to the customer if we have not received the completed form.
It would appear that as the second request for your life certificate was issued from this office on 04 October 2016 some 16 weeks later, this is what has happened in this instance.

As soon as we processed your Life Certificate in July 2016 measures should have been taken to avoid this further request automatically being made but unfortunately on this occasion it has regrettably been overlooked. I can confirm that there has been no effect on your pension payments which are continuing to be paid as normal . I am very sorry for the inconvenience caused.

I have never received a confirmation notice..But, after phoning them and going through their security stuff the guy said yes we have received it and all OK...?

[khastan]

Exactly what I was told in 2016 but I also asked them to confirm this by email, which at that time they were quite happy to do.

[Kwasaki]

24 minutes ago, transam said:

I have never received a confirmation notice..But, after phoning them and going through their security stuff the guy said yes we have received it and all OK...?

Yeah they don't like emails.

[transam]

Just now, Kwasaki said:

Yeah they don't like emails.

They don't like emails because they don't know who they are "really" talking too...

[Kwasaki]

5 minutes ago, transam said:

They don't like emails because they don't know who they are "really" talking too...

Yes buddy I haven't had a life form for over 3 years, my guess is that it is down to me on facebook with family. 

[OJAS]

29 minutes ago, khastan said:

That is exactly what I did initially in 2016 and look where that got me. Copied and pasted below is the reply I received eventually. I have sent several emails to the various addresses I had asking them to confirm receipt of my latest Life Certificate but have had no replies. I think it is quite probable like a previous member has already stated that they are refusing to communicate by email now.


Thank you for your email dated 28 October 2016 which has been passed to the Customer Service Support Team to reply to.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the stress that this has caused you.

A Life certificate form was issued to you on 12 June 2016 ,you promptly returned it to us and it was received in this office on 12 July 2016 and you received confirmation of this on 21 July 2016.
The timescale for receipt of the life Certificate has now been extended to 16 weeks and a prompt will automatically issue a further written request to the customer if we have not received the completed form.
It would appear that as the second request for your life certificate was issued from this office on 04 October 2016 some 16 weeks later, this is what has happened in this instance.

As soon as we processed your Life Certificate in July 2016 measures should have been taken to avoid this further request automatically being made but unfortunately on this occasion it has regrettably been overlooked. I can confirm that there has been no effect on your pension payments which are continuing to be paid as normal . I am very sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Absolutely amazing, but probably not surprising!

 

We can make all the phone calls to DWP we want or need to in order to check whether our witnessed life certificates have been safely received at their end. Alternatively we can use costly delivery tracking services for this purpose. But, at the end of the day, as your experience graphically illustrates, there is absolutely nothing at all that we can do about The Classic DWP Cock-Up.

 

What I find particularly puzzling in this connection, is that, whereas the IPC are located in Newcastle upon Tyne, we are required to send our witnessed life certificates to some address in Wolverhampton for some ridiculous reason. And, since the crucial date as far as IPC are concerned is presumably when these certificates actually show up in their in-trays, the unknown quantity as far as we are concerned is the length of time which is takes for them to wend their merry way from Wolverhampton to Newcastle upon Tyne