Ms Alina Khan of The I newspaper is looking for hard luck and other stories from those of us suffering the unfairness of UK frozen state pensions.
I see that she has already posted a request on the 'Media Requests' thread but many don't read this so.....
For anybody that's interested I've received permission from her to broadcast her email address at The I: it's <snip - please PM Dave_j for the email>

Dear Ms. Khan,

The pensions were frozen when I emigrated so I knew what to expect. I could have gone to a country where UK pensions are not frozen but the sums involved are small and I didn't give the matter much thought. The way the pension worked for me was that I had the option to invest about $15,000, in return for which I would be paid about $1,000 a month. Guessing that I would last more than two years after pensionable age, i grabbed that opportunity with both hands. I look periodically at the pension I would be paid in another country and it's never worth moving.

I'm delighted with the pension arrangements as they are. My fear is that a government of unreliability, a Trumpist one, may be elected and cancel the pension entitlement. That would disappoint me, they did enough harm with the Brexit nonsense.

Please tell the moaners to stop bleating about this. They have the option to go home.

Sincerely,

dbd

Dear Ms Khan,

When I decided to emigrate I was at a youngish age where pensions frozen or not did not cross my mind. I was in love and thought I would secure a decent job in Canada and they have a pension system as well. I never looked at the differences between the 2 schemes.

I could have kept contributing to the UK scheme but why do that when I would also be contributing to the Canadian scheme. Nobody knows how long we will live after we reach pensionable age and of course Governments can change the age when you receive such a pension.

I have now reached that magical age and although eligible to receive a UK pension I have decided at this moment not to apply for it. With only about 11 years of full National Insurance contributions and not having lived in the UK since 1988, I believe it would be wrong for me to claim it even if entitled to it.

The Brexit vote has been neither positive or negative to me and the UK voters were given a Democratic choice on either to Remain or Leave and the result was Leave.

If people want to moan about the pension being frozen then that is their right to do so and can lobby the Government or Opposition to change this perceived unfairness. With the UK basically choosing either a Labour or Conservative every time they have a General Election then both have had the opportunity to change this.

I have no idea if this is down to the UK Govt or even the Canadian Govt playing hardball with people in this situation.

Now given that the Winter Olympics have just finished I guess those who still hold the UK deeply in their hearts even though they chose to move to Canada well that elusive Gold Medal cannot be won in the discipline of “Moaning and Bitching”

Sincerely,

FL.

You should claim your 11 years worth and you can still top it up to 17. It is money you're "entitled" to and you can probably put it to better use than any government would.

Interesting stance.

That's about a quarter of your working / contributing years, for which the UK government readily acknowledges your right to that pension.

Would you have said the same if it was 20 years?

And what if you'd worked and contributed in more than one other country?

It’s a stance I have chosen to take at this moment and it appears a number of posters where I have mentioned this in other threads have told me to claim it.

Up until now I have not really looked into it and dug down deep into what I would be receiving.

I basically began full time employment in late Sept 1976 when I joined the Army and with no unemployment gaps as to when I emigrated to Canada in March 1988 that time I believe would be considered for my NI contributions.

Since arriving I did not make any further NI contributions so without topping it up and just going off the just less than 12 years of contributions my impression is that the monthly UK pension would not be that much.

Of course I have the ability to do more research and find out how much I would probably receive per month and if it looks like an amount not to be left on the table then I could always apply.

I am not saying the amount is going to impact my current financial situation and I do appreciate the well you payed into it so why not claim it. Yes any amount would be beneficial on my end and having just retired I can now look at it and make a decision.

Yes to some it might seem strange however how many would also find it strange that on retirement I had banked over 3200 hours of sick time that I did not use and this simply was just my ethical view of if I am not sick then just because I have banked hours doesn’t mean I should start burning it off. I know of organizations that used to pay out unused sick hours or they cap it at a maximum number of hours.

Now of course if a person has made contributions over many years then the amounts would differ and also what financial state are they in now.

If somebody has an idea of how much I would receive then please share that as I don’t know if there is a quick way of calculating it myself or an online calculation available to use.

Fair enough, but there's a world of difference between "I'm not that bothered as it's probably a piddly amount", and "I believe it would be wrong to claim it, even if entitled to it", the latter of which sounds more like a general judgement and one which is completely at odds with government policy.

For the new state pension, a full pension requires 35 years' contributions Anything less will be as a ratio of that, so if, eg, you had 11 qualifying years, you'd get 11/35ths of the full amount, which currently stands at £230.25 per week.

Perhaps a cold view, but I think it is fair to consider the difference living in the country receiving pension, and then spending the money within that country's economy and VAT and other taxes, vs living overseas and none of the pension being clawed back by the government through consumption and no local economic benefit. Just flatly saying you're entitled to the money ignores those kinds of big picture implications. I certainly don't oppose people trying to fight for more, but there's definitely some nuance here.

Assuming you paid 12 years NI contributions then you would get 12/35 of the uk pension in effect at your pensionable age. Current full pension is about 230 pounds a week.

Quick question. Is it possible to get an annual statement of UK state pension amount received, from the HMRC International Pension Centre? Thx in advance.

It's maybe possible as a one off, but they do not like it at all and will ask you to use bank statements to verify.




This was the response to my request placed January 2024.

Usual HMRC helpfulness!

Thanks to all who have given advice.

I did download the required forms, guide for the International Pensions abroad and sent them a query email. Standard 10 working day reply expected.

Some of it is straight forward but there are sections which make you scratch your head.

Why in this day and age why do you need to send an original document. With todays modern technology an almost undetectable forgery of a Birth Certificate (Short Version) can be produced.

Copies of other documents have to be notarized which is much simpler and if sending original documents who is liable for the replacement of such documents should they get lost in transit or as seen in cases where they did receive it and then it got lost by the Pension Office as they have to send the original back.

Yes I appreciate they have to do certain security checks but forged documents today can be very hard to detect and what security features if any does a short Birth Certificate issued in 1976 have?

I will await their reply which I suspect will be a word salad response and be told to basically just follow the guide and not a thought for any common sense solutions.

I will gather the required other information and then send off the application form with required documentation and the International Overseas Direct Payment form and see what happens.

This no reflection on individual workers who work for the DWP but more of the Policies that the higher ups dream up and don't always fully appreciate the frustration caused to many.

Have you got a UK Government Gateway account?

I found that that's a key that unlocks tons of stuff.

No I don't but would still have to submit original documents. I basically have all the required information but just being a PITA and questioning who is liable and paying associated fees if these documents are lost on the way to the UK or have been received and now lost on the way back as they have to return the originals.

It's the usual bureaucratic nightmare and the language used in guides that can confuse people rather than making things simple. I guess they are keeping the Royal Mail or Couriers in business as you have to send it to them. Not the UK's fault but sending stuff from over here makes you think of taking out a 2nd mortgage