Hi all,

My partner has received a letter stating he can continue to pay contributions and receive a (class 2?) u.k state pension.

But over the weekend family have been saying they heard on the news you can no longer claim both a Canadian and a U.K state pension it has to be one or the other whether you have paid in or not?

Have the rules changed since we received the letter (he has 9 years left to pay)

Thanks

As far as I know you can take both. Why ever not?

There is a clause in the Canada / UK social security treaty that says, words to the effect of, any year a person is covered by UK NI does not count towards accruing Old Age Security in Canada.

I understand the intent of this clause is so that someone who is temporarily posted to Canada by their UK employer, who carries on paying their NI, can not also claim OAS in Canada. Taken literally, this would mean that any years for which you make voluntary NI contributions would also not count for OAS. I.e. you would be paying for a pension that is not index linked and giving up a free pension that is.

It seems that in practice this is not how Service Canada administers OAS in Canada and the UK pensions people do not tell Service Canada if you have made voluntary NI contributions. However, the clause is still there ...

But on claiming both, I have many clients who receive CPP and OAS based on their earnings/residence in Canada, and a UK state pension based on their NI contributions.

As time goes by one wonders if this might be a money saver for Canada. Especially as it wouldn't need a change in rules when it's already there.

Sod's Law says that if I make voluntary NI contributions Service Canada will realize what has been going on and start enforcing this rule the day before I retire.

So, as a service to all the other British expats in Canada, I am not. Which is a shame because class 2 NI contributions are very good value.

That's the kind of luck I get too.

When I moved here I was okay with missing a few years of the full pension. Then when they dropped it to 30 years it meant I'd have got a full one after all.

Then it was upped to 35 but the rate is to be quite a bit more.

So I'm back to being a little short again but on a much higher rate.

Still time for other changes I suppose.

They upped it to 35years? Nooo. I despair of ever getting a pension. Once upon a time it was to start at 60, then it was 62 and a bit, now i have to wait til i am 65 and you are saying it won't be s full pension then?

I wouldn't worry about it. You'll need 35 years of NI to get the full rate instead of 30 but the full rate will be higher.

If you were expecting to get 30 years in and get a full pension of £110, the new full pension will be £144. So you'll get 30/35 of it. Or £123.

Th DWP/Pension sites have a calculation feature to see likely RP date and amount. But so far I've only seen one for the 30 year version.

It tells me i am due a full pension of 110. No new info on there. Do you know if the years worked have to be full years from April to April or just part of a year? How are part time jobs included? I might have more than thirty then.

I dunno. Maybe best to get an official pension forecast.

They now call it a pension statement.

Oh i have that, when they told me I had a full pension due at age 62 and a bit. Then they moved it to 66. Bloody infuriating. Do they really expect me to be able to push people on stretchers around when I am 65? Ugh.

My work pension doesn't kick in until I'm 68!!

its costing government on both sides of the pond too much money to have folks collecting old age pension.

In time I can see it going back to the way it was in 1951 Canada - wouldn't that be nice

"In 1951, following an amendment to the British North America Act to permit the federal government to operate a pension plan, the Canadian Parliament passed the Old Age Security Act, which provided a universal pension, or demogrant, of $40 per month financed and administered by the federal government. All Canadians aged 70 and over who could meet the more liberal residence requirements were eligible, regardless of their other income or assets. Pension payments began in 1952 and were taxable."

You should get the annual "stating the bloody obvious " award.

UK NI Contribution Years run from April to April - like the tax year. You have to have made a certain minimum payment for each year for it to count. This is the LOL or Lower Earnings Level. It goes up in line with inflation.

Something no one ever learns about in school !