quiltman

I haven't seen a thread on this here, so apologies if I am repeating what others have posted.
Just in case some of you are not aware, the international Pensions dept sent out requests for Life Certificates on 10th January. Mine arrived this morning! you have 8 weeks from the date of the letter to get it back before they stop your pension!
you can find out If they sent you a letter by calling them on +44 191 21 87777.Select option 1. If you call them you need your NI number. They will then give you an extra 8 weeks to comply and/or send you an email version you can complete, scan and email back.

I called them this evening, spoke to a lovely guy called liam and all sorted in less than a minute!

mikelincs

It has been discussed in a few threads mainly in the General sections of the Europe, USA and Canada ones. It's just the UK DWP ensuring that they are not paying pensions to people who are dead, as has happened in the past. Not too sure how regularly they will ask, but I do suspect there may be specific times, say every 5 years.

Philosophical 11

I got mine a few days ago. Yes, I noticed the 8 weeks deadline and sent it back duly completed, bonked and signed by the relevant people. The post office said it would take 2 or 3 weeks to be delivered in the UK which might be optimistic but I suspect the worst that would happen is my pension payment will be delayed until such time they have received it.

Thanks for the telephone number which will come in handy if my pension is stopped next month.

Regards

Pete M

quiltman

you're welcome Pete. The guy at International Pensions did say it depends on your age if you get an annual letter or not but wouldn't say what the age is! I know some of our American cousins get something similar most years. I must have missed the other threads - or probably forgot them due to my advanced years!

tropicofcancer

Snap mine arrived yesterday 22nd February, also dated 10th January. I sent a message to their site immediately. So far only an automated acknowledgement of receipt. Good if they do give an extension, as I will be having my quarterly blood test, and will be seeing two doctors in the next few days. Maybe if we all bring the postal delays to the attention of the UK authorities. They might then believe us. Mine showed it was received in the Philippines on 10th February, received at our local PO on 13th February, and signed for on the 22nd.

tropicofcancer

This is the reply I received:Automatic Reply


TVP INTERNATIONAL QUERIES <[email protected]> Thank you for contacting International Pension Queries, via e-mail, we will either reply fully to you within 10 working days or keep you informed of any progress with anything that may take longer. It To My E-mail address is shown here




Feb 22 at 11:12 AM

Thank you for contacting International Pension Queries, via e-mail, we will either reply fully to you within 10 working days or keep you informed of any progress with anything that may take longer.It would be helpful in any future correspondence to include your telephone number on any query, we will then have the option to call you if needed.IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL CUSTOMERS USING E-MAILS1We cannot change personal details via e-mail such as addresses, bank details etc as e-mail is not a secure method of communication2 If you need to update your address or bank details, or any other personal changes to your account telephone us for a “once and done” service on +441912187777 your changes will be completed over the telephone, by one of our advisors.3. Please do not send attachments or electronic copies of forms, these need to be posted4. If you cannot telephone us with your changes please post your details to the following addressThe Pension Service 11Mail Handling Site AWolverhamptonWV98 1LWUnited Kingdom Or our website has useful information, and contact numbers for other queries Please click onto www.gov.uk
Yes my telephone number was shown.

quiltman

Tropic, you're better off calling them. If you use Skype it's 2.9UScents a minute. They do reply to emails - quite good at that actually. At worst, your pension will be suspended until they get the form back. If you call They need various details such as NI number, date of birth, how often pension paid and which Bank it goes to and usually will not accept this info via email. Be interesting to see what they say in due course. Do let us know.

Bealinehx

Received mine on 17th Feb called them (via Skype) informed them about my concerns over the 8 week deadline, and was told of the 8 week extension. If you wish to telephone I suggest try at 16.30 Phil Time they answered my call after two rings.
If any one is interested a Belgian friend of mine has to go through this process every 6 months.

quiltman

I called at 18.00 Phil time and also was answered in two rings. Wish such prompt service was available here!

scot47

A colleague worked in Japan for some years and gets a State Pension from Japan. Periodically he has a request from Tokyo for "A Certificate of Continuing Existence" A sobering thought.

Hovite

My wife, who is in Malaysia, started receiving her pension in January this year and received the letter earlier this week with only about 2 weeks left of the 8 weeks so she is sending it back by DHL. If I recall correctly the letter said they would suspend payments until it was received in which case there would be no loss of pension so long as they received it. I don't know whether there is any end stop date. Maybe they would send out another letter if no reply received.

quiltman

No idea if there is cut off date. you are correct that the pension is suspended until they get the certificate back but says nothing about max time allowed. I got mine with 6 days left for the 8 weeks. Called them and got 8 weeks extension.

tropicofcancer

Still no reply to the e-mail. Perhaps they have been inundated by them.
I couldn't see my doctor till the eighth as she was at a conference. Had the form signed, and sent it by courier on 9th. At 3:09 GMT yesterday the tenth, it was at the East Midlands Distribution Centre. So hopefully it will be delivered today. Five days late!
I did find it strange, that these forms were sent on 10th January, it being a Sunday.

quiltman

I'm surprised they did not email you back asking you to call them.Last time I emailed them - over a year ago - that's what they did. They will not accept security info via email. Still, at least you've sent it back so should be OK. To some extent it depends on when your pension is paid. Mine is every 4 weeks and the due date was 3 days past the deadline for returning it. Made the call and pension paid on time. At worst there will be a short wait to get the pension re-instated if it did get stopped.I assume the payment computer is programmed with the cut off date unless over ridden by the extension. At least we all know what to do next time!

Bealinehx

I understand that DWP does send at least one reminder letter before they temporarily halt pension payments.