Hi
I have read that in order to receive a pension in spain you need to have paid social security payments for 15 years.
If this is true then will my husband, who is already entitled to a full UK pension, get any extra pension from spain if he makes payments through Autonimo contributions for say 3 years?

A gestor I have consulted seems to think he will but I am not so sure, hopefully someone here will know the answer.

Try Here http://www.seg-social.es/Internet_6/...2778/index.htm

If you have made sufficient contributions in the UK then the 15 year rule does not apply and any contributions made in Spain will count and be added to your UK pension.

However, if you are already entitled to a full UK pension then you may not be allowed to have an increased pension.

I suggest you talk to the DWP in the UK as they will be responsible for coordinating any other pensions from other EU countries and will know if there is a limit to the total amount that you can recieve.

Thanks I will try to find out and if I do then I will post that information
Yvonne

My wife is now 60 and entitled to a U.K. pension. She is employed in Spain paying into the Spanish system. When she wishes to claim her U.K. pension (which she could do now if she wished) she has apply to the Spanish Social Security. The only help we got from U.K. D.W.P was the address of the appropriate government office in Spain.

She actually doesn't intend to claim it yet so we haven't had to start the procedure. Not looking forward to it though! I think I have found the appropriate form to complete and the list of accompanying documents required is endless.......

I would advice you to put all the paperwork in the hands of a gestor who will deal with the whole process for you and have to hand all the forms required. This service will be at a cost of about 40 euros.

This is the reply I received from the UK Pension Service:

If you start work in Spain and pay Spanish social security contributions you should ask the Spanish social security authorities about any Spanish pensions rights you may have from those contributions.

Any pension you may become entitled to from the Spanish authorities would be in addition to your United Kingdom State Pension (i.e you would receive a pension from the UK and a separate pension from Spain).

A friend has a UK pension which includes small payments from Spain, Italy and Switzerland. He only worked in those countries for 3 to 5 years at a time.

He did say it took ages to sort it all out but he did get them all eventually.

There is now a dedicated EU Department and website for social security/pensions within the EU states.EUlisses

There is some useful info but it does not help when it comes to filling in all those forms.

I understand that my wife has to apply through the Spanish system, but it's rather pointless since she definitely is not (at present) entitled to any Spanish pension because a) she's not old enough yet, b) she hasn't been paying in long enough, c) she's still working. Surely if someone is only currently entitled to a U.K. pension it would be sensible for them to apply to the U.K?? Anyway - waste of time moaning..............

I agree with YMF that the easiest way would be to use a gestor if possible.

I seem to remember reading on the DWP website that at the point of retirement anywhere in the EU you apply to that countries Pensions Department if you intend to be resident there. They then add together all your entitlements from each EU member state and pay the pension.

There are two advantages as far as I can see if you intend to stay in Spain. First you would not have to worry about exchange rates and second I do believe that a full pension in Spain is now better than a full pension in UK. However a woman in Spain has to be 65 to draw a state pension.