Brexit vote

CLAPTON

LittleVoice wrote: »

I've just listened to the repeat of Saturday's Radio 4 Money Box programme.
It included a section on pensions for our citizens who live abroad in the EU.
I know that currently increases in UK-paid pensions apply to those who are in the EU but not for those outside in, say, New Zealand or Canada. It was suggested that it was the EU which insisted on this link with the home country pension amount.
The programme then went on to say that if we left the EU we would have to have individual agreements with the countries in the EU on what pension could be paid to our citizens. Surely this cannot be true - unless it is not the UK which pays the pensions but the other EU states. Why would we need to agree with another country what we could pay our own citizens who just happen to live in the other country?

it is indeed the UK government that decides whether they uprate the pension for overseas expats;
there are 'reciprocol' arrangement for some countries including all EU countrie and swizterland
the list is here

All EEA Countries and Switzerland
Barbados
Bermuda
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Croatia
Guernsey
Isle of Man
Israel
Jamaica
Jersey
Mauritius
Montenegro
Philippines
Serbia
Turkey
United States of America
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

what happens if brexit occurs will be up to how tight fisted the UK government is

mgdavid

uk1 wrote: »

.........
It is in my view inevitable and simply a matter of time that the EU reverts to a common market.

Jeff

Agree, and it is our privilege to be in a position to hasten it along.
We must not waste the opportunity.
:j :beer:

Malthusian

LittleVoice wrote: »

The programme then went on to say that if we left the EU we would have to have individual agreements with the countries in the EU on what pension could be paid to our citizens. Surely this cannot be true - unless it is not the UK which pays the pensions but the other EU states. Why would we need to agree with another country what we could pay our own citizens who just happen to live in the other country?

As I understand it, the idea is that we pay cost-of-living increases to British State Pension recipients in France, in exchange for the French paying cost-of-living increases to French State Pension recipients in Britain. This saves us from having to pay them Pension Credit and what have you when their French State Pension isn't enough to live on. And the same vice versa.

So while there is nothing to stop us continuing to pay inflation increases to British expats in France, the French may stop paying inflation increases to their expats and tell them to apply for UK Pension Credit which would leave us paying for both. (Unless we came to a bilateral agreement like the ones we have with the US, Barbados, etc.) Of course we could carry on paying for both, but it would be an exceptionally generous thing to do. More likely we would stop inflation increases and tell our pensioners to apply for whatever the equivalent of Pension Credit is in France.

atush

Apart from the fact there will be no pension credit eventually?