Jimbo9

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4583027.stm

Wol

As one who has more than a passing interest in this one, I have had a quick look at their lordships' opinions and am flabberghasted at some of their comments. For example, "Ms Carson knew before she went to South Africa that she would be treated this way".

I would guess thattheir lordships fall into that elite category that are treated differently on frozen pensions - MPs, Civil Servants and Judges being the three most prominent groups!

JAJ

A question like this - irrespective of its merits - should be decided by Parliament.
Not by judges, and definitely not by unelected foreign judges.


Jeremy

Wol

I'm afraid that parliament has put us in this positon to start with! I believe that the Carson case will be appealed to the European lot but have no confidence that they will overturn the status quo.

For those who haven't followed the story, brits who have paid their NI over their working life in the UK receive the state pension if they retire abroad, updated just as if they had stayed in the UK.

UNLESS they retire to Australia, Canada, S Africa or one or two other places. Then, their pension is frozen at the level they had when they left.

The same applies to their SERPS minimum guaranteed part of a private pension - that is also frozen.

UNLESS they are an ex MP, Judge or other civil servant! In their case, the treasury instructs their pension provider to make up the difference out of public funds!

We have no issue with their good fortune, but it does rather rankle that those who draft and enact the immoral legislation do not themselves have to suffer the inconvenience of a diminishing income for the rest of their lives....

"What is morally wrong cannot be economically right"
(Gordon Brown, in a speech a fw months ago, but talking about overseas aid, I believe)

JAJ

I didn't for one moment say the current pension law 'moral' but running off to foreigners asking them to put right something is even less moral.

Jeremy

Malcontent

I did not know about the exempred categories until this post. Maybe if every expat told all his friends and relatives that might get it picjed up by a politician looking for the ever increasing grey vote.

JAJ

British citizens can keep the vote for 15 years after leaving the UK. I wonder how many expats affected by this actually voted at the most recent British election.


Jeremy

sj oldfield

I have an elderly uncle living here in Perth. He was sadly widowed a few years ago.
He lives on just £110.00 per week. He is not eligible for any concessions here, as he has only been here 9 years.
His british pension froze the day he left the UK shores.
He even fought in the war......but his pension will remain at the same rate.
It does make you understamnd the reason why some poeple leave 'care of' addresses in the UK!!!!

Megalania

Is it not possible to cash out the UK pension and roll it into and Aus one?

JAJ

Not possible for a state pension.


Jeremy

JAJ

Even if he's not eligible for the age pension, can he not get Special Benefit or other assistance from Centrelink?

Is he an Australian citizen?

The other thought that comes to mind is that if he emigrated to Australia before 1 March 2001, the old Social Security agreement should still apply to him.

If enough people make a fuss over this, then MPs will listen or get voted out at the next election. That's the right way to sort out this issue - the wrong way, needless to say, is to ask foreigners (through the so-called "European courts") to interfere in an essentially British matter.

Jeremy

Sue from Manchester

If enough people make a fuss over this, then MPs will listen or get voted out at the next election. That's the right way to sort out this issue - the wrong way, needless to say, is to ask foreigners (through the so-called "European courts") to interfere in an essentially British matter.

Jeremy[/QUOTE]

I did contact my MP about this before the recent election as I figured that may be the one time in 4 years he would definitely listen to me! He agrees it's immoral but says the Conservative party has no plans to do anything about it. In my opinion there's no votes in it for them so they don't care.

OzTennis

The illogical nature of the current rules was pointed out in the case of a man who fought in WW2. If he retired to Germany he will draw an index-linked pension; if he retires to an ally nation such as Australia his pension will be frozen.

The onus is not on a foreign government but the UK government to put the anomaly right. They basically say, but so many people have/will retire to these countries, it will cost us too much ... not a consideration when billions were wasted on bringing about a regime change in a foreign country (sorry, getting rid of WMD's).

http://www.britishpensions.org.au/

OzTennis

Wol

I don't quite follow.........?

If you mean the European Court of Human Rights then I agree with you - but then the UK parliament is only a rubber-stamping exercise for the EU nowadays anyway.

Wol

They are not exempted: it's just that these people - those who dream up the legislation, those who draft and administer it and those who may be called upon to sit in judgement should it be objected to in court: all those worthies - have their own frozen minimum guaranteed pensions made up from public funds.

There is a whole raft of forums for expats which deal with this issue and the nauseating hypocrisy surrounding it. It took several people many months to wring the admission out of the government that the above is what actually happens. They kept getting answers that avoided the question, such as "civil servants public pensions are treated just like everyone else's" - which is half-true. The actual enabling legislation is buried deep in an order and requires a lawyer's contorted mind to digest, but it IS there! It's just that few people are interested.