I am wondering if anyone has received the DWP Proof of Life letter that was supposed to be sent to of us in the Philippines during October.
Secondly now that Skype is no longer available is there a similar low cost way of making calls to the UK?

As I was going to the UK I got a Proof of Life form witnessed here and saved on the expensive courier postage from here by sending it in from the UK list month.
I can't receive the DWP mailings where I live but I assume from the silence here they aren't sending them out before Xmas.
Though I think they will come out in the early New Year as for me, and probably others, that would be about a two year interval from last time.
They must do estimates of how much they may loose by checking much longer than every two years so I am confident it will be soon.
They warn you about not doing one unless they request it but this ignores the problem of finding out if requests have gone out if you are in a slow or no Philpost area.here.
If they stop my pension I will just have to repeat the exercise...but I doubt they will.

The DWP have updated the form you can get below with minor changes on who can witness and witness details.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...update-history

Good update Raffin. and thanks for shating the form. Ive been checking my mail box but nothing yet. Hopefully not till next year but as im away first 3 months of next year........problems ahead perhaps

Nope, not a whisper. I'll likely email them in a few days to see if POL has been requested. I notice in your post of Mar11 that the lady said they would send updates by SMS... Ho Hum.
Not found an alternative to Skype really other than apps like Messenger etc but these rely on who you are calling having the app as well...

Ah well ,back to sleep. We finally got power back about 36 hrs off , well done to VECO as here in Consolacion and Liloan it's utter devastation.Our househelp house was under 4ft of water. Now they've got to tackle all the mud left behind.

For those who are interested I have just received from DWP the Proof of Life documentation. The letter was dated 13 October 2025.
For me this must be a world record!

Apply to the Guinness book of Records for quickest mail from UK to here! Had nothing yet , nor reply to my email asking if POL has been sent.
Still, if nothing by end of this week I'll just get our forms filled in, notarised and DHL to Wolverhampton , hopefully this year BEFORE they stop payment!

What happened to the SMS notification? Silly question, it's the Government................................

I don't know if this is of use but I used it earlier this year as my pension was stopped due to not having received a POL form. Tthey sent me the form by email which I completed and returned by mail. The time from me emailing them to receiving the form by email was 7 days, then a further 15 days from date of posting the form to receive confirmation of receipt (I emailed and asked if they had received it). I received payment 10 days later.

[email protected]


(this thread came up in 'new posts' - I don't live in the Philippines)

Just did my POL. Took 6 weeks for the mail to get to Makati..but thankfully the form now says you have 16 weeks to respond. My kindly BPI bank lady did the approval bit , DHL took my P4400, and hopefully all good

Wow DHL P4400! My package cost P2945. perhaps there is a surcharge for the more affluent areas of NCR. LOL

Not sure how you get that price... I did mine in a shop that acts for DHL but the price is just P1000 more than the official DHL shop price thats always less organized. Wish I could get your price. Having said that the price I paid today is same as last years price.

Well I had prepaid online and the DHL courier collected it from my residence. Easy peasy.

Mine arrived Saturday thirteenth December, along with other mail, it has been weeks since our last mail delivery. Now to get it authenticated, I am overdue a doctor's visit. So two birds, one stone, and all that.

sent POL via DHL on November 26th and received my UK pension today so I guess Im good for another year.

My experience so far.. ..

I received my POL in mid February which was completed and sent back two days later via Philpost.

I didn't receive my pension ( as expected) on 3 March.

I enquired at the post office and was told that my letter arrived in the UK on the same date..3 March.

I sent an email on 6 March with a copy I had made to DWP (International Enquiries) requesting advice and had no reply.

Sent another email requesting acknowledgement of the first email on 10 march... Still no reply.

Today, I received my RAF pension although I haven't received my POL for that and don't ever remember having to complete one previously, unless the POL is linked to both government pensions.

Read somewhere that one has to wait 10 working days before the pension is finally paid once the POL is received.

But I guess my "beef" is really about the lack of interest by the DWP to it's customers.

Phil 11
You have my sympathy. POF letters for the Philippines were sent during October 2025 .It seems that October is the month that POL are posted to the Philippines. I received mine two weeks after the date on the covering letter, a world record ! I always send my notorised POF via DHL as I have proof of receipt. A few years ago I used Philpost's recorded delivery which proved be a complete waste of money. I keep a hard copy of the paperwork in the event I do not receive POL correspondence by early January,
For the life of me I cannot understand why DWP does not update its monitoring systems to the 21st Century. All my three other private pension providers are now using face recognition and AI. More efficient and cost effective for all.
Rant over time to enjoy the weekend