MPs discuss the uprating of pensions for UK pensioners living overseas

atush

What about all the rest?

And why dont commonwealth countries ahve an agreement? I agree the list is strange.

missbiggles1

atush wrote: »

What about all the rest?

And why dont commonwealth countries ahve an agreement? I agree the list is strange.

Well, that's also the case throughout the EU/EEA.

(BTW, Australia and New Zealand are Commonwealth countries.)

uk1

It will continue because these people can no longer vote in UK general elections and are therefore unimportant to UK politicians. And there really isn't anyone left who constitutes a significant voting group that can influence this. So they have been stitched up.

So it will remain to be a totally unjustifiable way of picking on a group of easily targetted vulnerable people who have paid their fair whack but who cannot protect themselves. Of course many people will approve of the practise. We will all have to pay for it. It doesn't make it right to steal the pensions they have paid for. It is simply a shameful way of stealing their pensions under the guise and pretence of it being "justifiable". It isn't.

People need to seperate the two questions.

Q1. Do I really want to pay for it?

Q2. Is it fair that they have been treated in this way?

It is perfectly understandable and consistant to say

A1. No.

A2 No.

I think people mix the two and conclude it is therefore right to steal their pension because they don't want to pay for it.

imho

Jeff

pandora205

I think the issue is that the arrangement varies from country to country without much logic
http://www.britishpensions.org.au/frozenindexed.htm

Having paid over 35 year NI contributions, I was surprised to discover that my state pension rate would be frozen at the time of emigration if I moved to New Zealand (where my elder daughter lives) but not if I went to Greece (where my younger daughter resides). And it's not at simple as EU countries have a reciprocal arrangement and others do not.

uk1

I don't see that at all.

It is how we choose to treat our own elderly who have earned a full pension and choose to live abroad in their retirement years. It has absolutely nothing whatsover to do with how other countries choose to treat their pensioners.

Victimising and punishing pensioners who have paid their full whack and now save us hefty NHS bills is inexcusable.

imho

Jeff

missbiggles1

uk1 wrote: »

I don't see that at all.

It is how we choose to treat our own elderly who have earned a full pension and choose to live abroad in their retirement years. It has absolutely nothing whatsover to do with how other countries choose to treat their pensioners.

Victimising and punishing pensioners who have paid their full whack and now save us hefty NHS bills is inexcusable.

imho

Jeff

You seem to have missed the bit about reciprocal healthcare.

Also, I don't know what you mean about the way other countries treat their pensioners - that's irrelevant.

atush

greenglide wrote: »

But many of these people will not have the right of residency to come back anyway.

Originally it was all down to reciprocal agreements and the level of benefits the people would be entitled to on there country of residency and what their nationals 2 old be entitled to if living here.

The countries who don't get the increases is very strange though.

If you keep your Uk passport and citizenship, surely you dont lose the right to return?

If you are talking about immigrants who have permanently left, there could be a case for that. But as said above, it is supposed to be based on contributions.

uk1

missbiggles1 wrote: »

You seem to have missed the bit about reciprocal healthcare.

Also, I don't know what you mean about the way other countries treat their pensioners - that's irrelevant.

And you seemed to have missed the bit about pensioners moving to the sun and not catching colds and flu over the winter and all that extraordinary load does to the NHS every year.

I do not understand what you do not understand in your second point.

Jeff

missbiggles1

uk1 wrote: »

And you seemed to have missed the bit about pensioners moving to the sun and not catching colds and flu over the winter and all that extraordinary load does to the NHS every year.

I do not understand what you do not understand in your second point.

Jeff

We've been discussing British pensioners so talking about other countries' pensioners is largely irrelevant.

There are precious few EU countries where it isn't cold during the winter (that was why it was such a travesty of justice to withdraw the WFA ) or where people don't get colds and flu. In fact, most other EU countries have vaccination programmes exactly like our own for that reason.

Healthcare for British pensioners living in the EU (and other countries with reciprocal arrangements) costs the government just as much as it does if they're living in the UK, sometimes more.

colsten

The issue could become massively larger if there was a vote for Brexit. The 2 million or so Brits retired throughout the EU could find themselves stranded with stagnating pension payments.

Most of those that lived outside the UK for 15 years won't even have a vote on Brexit.


Above from http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN01457#fullreport