Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

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Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby galexinda » 24 Dec 2016 13:15

Petition

Maintain Pension increases for British pensioners living in the EU.

Depending on what treaties are agreed for Britain's exit from the EU, some British pensioners living in the EU may lose their annual State pension increases. We call upon the Government of the United Kingdom to commit to maintaining these increases for all British pensioners living in the EU.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/161717
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Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby lincoln » 24 Dec 2016 13:48

Signed and shared on facebook. :-bd
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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby Kia Picanto » 24 Dec 2016 14:09

As Cyprus and the U.K. had a reciprocal agreement in place, long before Cyprus joined the EU, I'd expect your UK SP will continue to rise as before.
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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby Happy in Cyprus » 24 Dec 2016 14:40

That might be the case KP, but it doesn't mean the government won't have a change of heart considering all the turmoil which lies ahead.
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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby juliesewell » 24 Dec 2016 14:53

If there's a way the UK Government can save on costs..... you can bet your bottom dollar, they will :(
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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby galexinda » 24 Dec 2016 15:42

juliesewell wrote:If there's a way the UK Government can save on costs..... you can bet your bottom dollar, they will :(


I agree - until 2013 my state pension forecast stated I would receive a full pension based on my husband's contributions. Only for the government to rule differently later in the year. So I am not going to assume that any agreements between the UK and Cyprus prior to joining the EU will remain in place.
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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby Kia Picanto » 24 Dec 2016 16:06

galexinda wrote:
juliesewell wrote:If there's a way the UK Government can save on costs..... you can bet your bottom dollar, they will :(


I agree - until 2013 my state pension forecast stated I would receive a full pension based on my husband's contributions. Only for the government to rule differently later in the year. So I am not going to assume that any agreements between the UK and Cyprus prior to joining the EU will remain in place.


Galexinda, sadly, those rules changed in the 2011 Act. I agree with you, HiC and Juliesewell that the Gov't will always try to save costs. Sadly, often to the detriment of people (like most expats) who've 'paid into the system' all of their working lives. Like you, I was expecting a (albeit reduced) pension based on my OH's NI Conts. And you know what? I got it in July this year, when I qualified for the SP. (Worked all my life since age 15, but stupidly, took bad advice re the 'married woman's' NICs). Anyway, what I was going to say, what year will you qualify for the SP? It might be worth getting another SP Statement (formerly the Forecast), as there were some 'subtle' changes to the interpretation of the rules - sort of a transitional period. I'm currently campaigning for the Gov't to revisit the whole SP debacle - have a look at WASPI on Facebook, or visit the WASPI website.

I still think the SPs for expats in EU countries (and a few others, like Switzerland.....) will continue to receive the annual uprating of the SP. To be honest, I feel more sorry though, for pensioners in countries like Australia, who have their SP frozen once they move there.
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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby Wee Stumpy » 24 Dec 2016 19:28

Although I agree Ex Pats moving to Australia have their pensions frozen I believe that they only have to come back to the UK for a couple of weeks holiday and they then get the rise. Now admittedly not everyone will probably be able to afford to return from OZ but if the same applied to Cyprus, Spain etc then I am sure most people would be able to return for a couple of weeks.
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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby keving » 24 Dec 2016 21:07

Wee Stumpy

I think you are half right. Your pension is only uplifted to today's level and only payable for the 2 weeks that you are in the UK ( or indeed the Bahamas or any other country that has uprating). The pension reverts back to its original frozen level when you return home.
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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby Wee Stumpy » 25 Dec 2016 06:38

You are of course right Keving- I had always thought a quick visit would gain you the increase but now I see it is only whilst you are in the UK
I apologise if I have misled anyone!
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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby TonyJ » 25 Dec 2016 07:22

I would be interested to know how the British Government justified that decision with regard to exPats in Australia's pensions. It's not as if inflation does not occur in Australia as it does everywhere else, so why remove the CPI uplift? "To save money" is not a valid answer - if it was they would have simply removed it from all pensions. The amount they "save" from doing this for those in Australia must be tiny. My assumption is that the Australian government makes up the differential in some way. If they want to do the same thing to ExPats in Cyprus then they will need to provide some valid justification for doing so - or they will be open to legal action.
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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby Wee Stumpy » 25 Dec 2016 08:54

I very much doubt that the Australian Government will make it up in any way! Our friends are Australian and neither of them receive any pension at all even though they have worked all their lives - the reason is that the Australian pension I believe is means tested - our friends have shares and income from a family owned Hotel and also their savings.
There are very few benefits in Australia.
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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby Jim B » 25 Dec 2016 09:19

Shelagh
You are correct, it is means tested in Australia, many of my workmates are Australian and they were telling me as well as it being very expensive they will not qualify for a Pension when they retire.

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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby juliesewell » 25 Dec 2016 10:46

Reading these latest posts today on my phone I did a quick Google search as to why the social insurance agreement is no longer in place between UK and Australia

Link to article here:
https://www.dss.gov.au/about-the-depart ... e-migrants

I also found this article, which is far more interesting:
http://www.britishpensions.org.au/froze ... _myths.htm
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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby keving » 25 Dec 2016 15:17

juliesewell wrote:Reading these latest posts today on my phone I did a quick Google search as to why the social insurance agreement is no longer in place between UK and Australia

Link to article here:
https://www.dss.gov.au/about-the-depart ... e-migrants

I also found this article, which is far more interesting:
http://www.britishpensions.org.au/froze ... _myths.htm


The whole thing is unjust and discriminatory. I particularly like this from your second link:

"In July 1994, Winston Churchill asked why the pensions of British pensioners living in the Falklands were frozen when Thatcher had spent so much money reclaiming these islands as British sovereign territory"
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Re: Petition to maintain UK State Pension increases

Postby Al & Sue » 26 Dec 2016 11:49

Signed and shared X 2
...and then one day you find, ten years have got behind you, no-one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.
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