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British Pensioners in Oz

British Pensioners in Oz

Old Jun 25th 2007, 10:22 am
  #1  
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Default British Pensioners in Oz

Hi,
My Dad came over a couple of years ago on a contributory parent visa. He was told at the time he was not entitled to an Australian pension for 10 years.
He received a letter today saying he may be entitled to an Australian pension if he meets the means testing criteria (which he does). Does anyone know if the rules have changed for new residents or perhaps Centrelink are unaware of this & he does not really qualify. He currently recieves a UK state pension which is frozen so it would be great if he got a top up in the form of an Australian pension.
Cheers
Mark
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Old Jun 25th 2007, 10:21 pm
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Default Re: British Pensioners in Oz

Originally Posted by wortho
Hi,
My Dad came over a couple of years ago on a contributory parent visa. He was told at the time he was not entitled to an Australian pension for 10 years.
He received a letter today saying he may be entitled to an Australian pension if he meets the means testing criteria (which he does). Does anyone know if the rules have changed for new residents or perhaps Centrelink are unaware of this & he does not really qualify. He currently recieves a UK state pension which is frozen so it would be great if he got a top up in the form of an Australian pension.
Cheers
Mark
Hi Mark
Sorry I dony know the answer to your question just wanted to bump the thread up,we are on a cpv but not pensioners yet, hubby gets a army pension so doesnt apply to us,hope your dad gets the top up,it seems a bit unfair that you can go live in spain and other places and your pension isnt frozen and youve paid your taxes all your working life.
regards Janet
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Old Jun 25th 2007, 10:38 pm
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Default Re: British Pensioners in Oz

Originally Posted by wortho
Hi,
My Dad came over a couple of years ago on a contributory parent visa. He was told at the time he was not entitled to an Australian pension for 10 years.
He received a letter today saying he may be entitled to an Australian pension if he meets the means testing criteria (which he does). Does anyone know if the rules have changed for new residents or perhaps Centrelink are unaware of this & he does not really qualify. He currently recieves a UK state pension which is frozen so it would be great if he got a top up in the form of an Australian pension.
Cheers
Mark
hi mark, i dont know the answer to this, sorry. i just wanted to tag on the end, as my parents are due to come over on a CPV. how does your dad go about getting his uk pension (albeit frozen )?
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Old Jun 25th 2007, 10:53 pm
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Default Re: British Pensioners in Oz

Originally Posted by Sleeping Beauty
hi mark, i dont know the answer to this, sorry. i just wanted to tag on the end, as my parents are due to come over on a CPV. how does your dad go about getting his uk pension (albeit frozen )?
Hi Sleeping Beauty,
Dad just gets his pension sent straight to his Aussie bank account from the UK State pension people, they seem to get a good rate as they probably convert a large amount in one hit. It's taken nearly two years to sort out the Tax on his UK pension, the UK tax office are a nightmare & even though he has now has a code NT (No Tax) on his UK tax record they continue to take tax off one of his smaller Pru pensions. I would suggest you advise your parent to do as much as they can before leaving as its not easy sorting this stuff out over the phone as well as expensive.
Cheers
Mark
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Old Jun 25th 2007, 11:32 pm
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Default Re: British Pensioners in Oz

Originally Posted by wortho
Hi Sleeping Beauty,
Dad just gets his pension sent straight to his Aussie bank account from the UK State pension people, they seem to get a good rate as they probably convert a large amount in one hit. It's taken nearly two years to sort out the Tax on his UK pension, the UK tax office are a nightmare & even though he has now has a code NT (No Tax) on his UK tax record they continue to take tax off one of his smaller Pru pensions. I would suggest you advise your parent to do as much as they can before leaving as its not easy sorting this stuff out over the phone as well as expensive.
Cheers
Mark
thanks mark. dad has several small pensions, mum has none, but they both get state pensions (which will be frozen at th date they leave). do you think they should start to contact their pension people now, and start to advise the tax office? they are looking to come over hopefully about christmas time.

did your dad's letter come off centrelink? have you tried calling them to clarify that he is allowed it? i hope he does get it, every little helps. how is he finding the cost of living over here living off his pensions?
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Old Jun 26th 2007, 4:28 am
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Default Re: British Pensioners in Oz

Originally Posted by wortho
Hi,
My Dad came over a couple of years ago on a contributory parent visa. He was told at the time he was not entitled to an Australian pension for 10 years.
He received a letter today saying he may be entitled to an Australian pension if he meets the means testing criteria (which he does). Does anyone know if the rules have changed for new residents or perhaps Centrelink are unaware of this & he does not really qualify. He currently recieves a UK state pension which is frozen so it would be great if he got a top up in the form of an Australian pension.
Cheers
Mark
This page suggests a 10 year waiting period for age pension:
http://myaccount.centrelink.gov.au/w...QuaHRt#7_0_40S
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Old Jun 28th 2007, 10:49 am
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Default Re: British Pensioners in Oz

Thanks JAJ,

Dad went into Centrelink & they confirmed the letter had been sent by mistake. Apparently they just sent the letter to all Senior card holders.

Regards
Mark
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Old Jun 28th 2007, 11:02 am
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Default Re: British Pensioners in Oz

Originally Posted by Sleeping Beauty
thanks mark. dad has several small pensions, mum has none, but they both get state pensions (which will be frozen at th date they leave). do you think they should start to contact their pension people now, and start to advise the tax office? they are looking to come over hopefully about christmas time.

did your dad's letter come off centrelink? have you tried calling them to clarify that he is allowed it? i hope he does get it, every little helps. how is he finding the cost of living over here living off his pensions?
I would recommend they make enquiries with the UK Tax before they leave after our experience. They won't be able to fill all the forms in as I believe they will require an Australian tax file number before they can fill in the form that informs the UK tax that they are now resident for tax purposes in Oz.

Dad went into Centrelink & they confirmed it was a mistake to send him the letter
He's managing ok on his state pension & SERP's (about 25k) & now he's been here 2 years he has a Seniors card that gives him certain benefits such as help with his phonebill & a bonus payment of $500 to assist with utilities bills.
Also gets discount with train travel etc, so it all helps. Its a worry about the frozen pension though, as CPI rises he will get poorer every year. Maybe the new UK PM will sort this out
Cheers
Mark
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Old Jun 28th 2007, 10:11 pm
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Default Re: British Pensioners in Oz

Originally Posted by wortho
I would recommend they make enquiries with the UK Tax before they leave after our experience. They won't be able to fill all the forms in as I believe they will require an Australian tax file number before they can fill in the form that informs the UK tax that they are now resident for tax purposes in Oz.

Dad went into Centrelink & they confirmed it was a mistake to send him the letter
He's managing ok on his state pension & SERP's (about 25k) & now he's been here 2 years he has a Seniors card that gives him certain benefits such as help with his phonebill & a bonus payment of $500 to assist with utilities bills.
Also gets discount with train travel etc, so it all helps. Its a worry about the frozen pension though, as CPI rises he will get poorer every year. Maybe the new UK PM will sort this out
Cheers
Mark
thanks mark. shame about the letter being sent out by mistake, but at least you know now.

i will tell them to start the ball rolling with contacting people, as i can imagine the last few months will fly by with not enough hours in the day for them.
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