Emigrating But Still Claiming Full UK Old Age Pension?

[irc]

The Sunday Times has an article about how many old age pensioners have moved abroad do not get their pension index linked.

Leaving that issue aside they refer to a couple, now aged 62, who emigrated to South Africa 29 years ago but carried on paying UK Nation Insurance and so will qualify for full OAP pensions. Is this correct? Obviously if you have a certain number of years you will get a part pension but go and live abroad and still get a full pension at retirement?

I would have thought once you are permanently no longer a UK resident for tax purposes you would not accrue pension years?

[E63eeeeee...]

Surely that's why you keep making the NI contributions.

[InitialDave]

My understanding is you still get the state pension when you reach the eligible age (assuming you've met the criteria in terms of accrued NI years and so on), it's just that it only gets the annual increases after that date if you living in certain countries

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-if-you-retire-abr...

[OldSkoolRS]

This is a sore point with my brother in law as his pension is frozen at the rate it was at 10 years ago when he moved to Australia after he'd retired. I wasn't aware of it until he mentioned it. Not sure what the idea behind it is since he must have paid his NI contributions in full, it's just the location he is in to spend it. Perhaps the view is that he won't be spending it in the UK, so any benefit to the economy is lost?

[E63eeeeee...]

OldSkoolRS said:

This is a sore point with my brother in law as his pension is frozen at the rate it was at 10 years ago when he moved to Australia after he'd retired. I wasn't aware of it until he mentioned it. Not sure what the idea behind it is since he must have paid his NI contributions in full, it's just the location he is in to spend it. Perhaps the view is that he won't be spending it in the UK, so any benefit to the economy is lost?

I assume part of the point is that if you're living in the UK, then the inflation you're being subjected to is the UK govt's fault, and therefore it's reasonable to use public money to indemnify you against it. If you're living somewhere else, then you're not subject to the same rate of inflation, and in any case the UK government isn't affecting inflation in another country.

[Car bon]

It's even worse than you think..... if you were working in the UK & then move abroad to work, you only pay class 2 contributions which are lower than the class 3 most people have to pay for missing years.

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-co...

[Michael_B]

We left the United Kingdom to live/work in Switzerland in 2000, and were not aware of the Class 2 possibility until I read about it on this forum during the first Covid lockdown. Both of us had 13 years paid up when we left, so we swiftly bought back the 15 years from 2006 to 2021, for the princely sum of ~£160/year each, so about £4'800 in all. We shall continue to do so each year until we reach UK retirement age in 2032/2033, and will then receive a full index-linked UK SP from then on.

We will also both have 31 of a possible 44 years of Swiss state pension. so will receive 70.45% of that (full entitlement is £765/week for a couple.) The UK pensions will be paid gross by DWP then but taxed here as part of our worldwide income.

[PositronicRay]

irc said:

The Sunday Times has an article about how many old age pensioners have moved abroad do not get their pension index linked.

Leaving that issue aside they refer to a couple, now aged 62, who emigrated to South Africa 29 years ago but carried on paying UK Nation Insurance and so will qualify for full OAP pensions. Is this correct? Obviously if you have a certain number of years you will get a part pension but go and live abroad and still get a full pension at retirement?

I would have thought once you are permanently no longer a UK resident for tax purposes you would not accrue pension years?

Don't they get winter fuel allowance too?

[irc]

Car bon said:

It's even worse than you think..... if you were working in the UK & then move abroad to work, you only pay class 2 contributions which are lower than the class 3 most people have to pay for missing years.

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-co...

Huge bargain!