The International Pension Centre deals with Pension Service customers who have lived or worked abroad - including customers who are currently living overseas. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, they are also responsible for overseas customers who have worked the required qualifying years and are entitled to claim a UK state pension.

There are 1068 people based in IPC with a customer base of 1million, serving over 200 countries around the globe. IPC liaises with a number of foreign authorities in the European Union as well as countries with which the UK has Reciprocal and Administrative Agreements – handling claims for Retirement Pension, Widows Benefit and Bereavement Benefit.

Certain units within IPC provide a service to, or on behalf of, other pension centres or other Government departments. Examples are Relationship Validation Unit and Working Age.

They currently administer six different types of benefit totaling in excess of £1.2billion each year.

IPC is also home to the Medical Benefit section, which provides a service on behalf of the Department of Health. They deal with medical cover for people of all ages who decide to work, holiday or live abroad.

The Contact Centre handles on average 44,000 calls per month providing a service from 8am-8pm Monday-Friday. The telephony section is the first point of contact for most customers living overseas. The Contact Centre also offers a Teleclaims service for customers living in over thirty countries around the globe (including Spain). The number to contact is: +44 (0) 191 218 7777

They have reorganised their claims, maintenance and programme protection areas into a geographical structure of 7 processing teams. These teams will each deliver an end-to-end service to customers in a particular range of countries.

This is part of a larger programme of reviewing each part of IPC to ensure that its structure and processes are as efficient as possible.    This will enable IPC to develop a better customer service and a country-specific strategy for protection of public funds. It will also enable IPC to develop even better relationships with foreign authorities, which will also contribute towards improvements in customer service and programme protection.

IPC also provide a full translation service. The translation section can arrange for letters, documents or certificates to be translated from or into any language. This service is available for the whole of the Department for Work and Pensions. The vast majority of translations are returned to the customer in 14 days but really urgent work can be processed in 7 days.