MPs discuss the uprating of pensions for UK pensioners living overseas

greenglide

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 )

The Winter Fuel Payment was never meant to be paid to people who were abroad, it was only because of bad drafting of the legislation and getting the qualifying conditions wrong that meant that they had to pay it abroad and to people over female state pension age irrespective of whether they are in receipt of benefits. This has no meant the farce over the temperature link to attempt to stop it.

It was always a political bribe anyway and considering the cost of ongoing administering and payment it should have been subsumed into the various benefits long ago.

The £10 Christmas bonus shold also go along with the age addition payment of 25p for pensioners aged over 80.

The age addition is not being paid with the nSP but nobody will notice this for 15 years!

uk1

missbiggles1 wrote: »

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.

From DWP figures, currently around 34% of expat pensioners live in the EU. Around 68% of those live in Spain. The other 32% ie around 23% of all expat pensioners live in places like France, Germany and Ireland. Depending on your view of what constitutes a warmer rather than colder country, broadly speaking over 60% are in warmer countries most of the rest - except for around 157000 in Canada, are in countries not too dissimilar to the UK. So your generalisation to me seems untrue for most pensioners.

With respect to your last comment, if you are stating this as fact I'd be interested to hear your figures and their source because I do not see how anyone could know what it would cost the NHS if a particular pensioner were living in Oz or Spain compared to what it would have cost if they had been living in the UK instead.

Jeff

greenglide

From DWP figures, currently around 34% of expat pensioners live in the EU.

Is that British citizens retired abroad, non British citizens who have worked here and the returned to their own country or both?

I don't think we should between them in terms of inflation linking but it would put some of the numbers into context.

uk1

greenglide wrote: »

Is that British citizens retired abroad, non British citizens who have worked here and the returned to their own country or both?

I don't think we should between them in terms of inflation linking but it would put some of the numbers into context.

It was British pensioners living abroad. From recall there were even 700 ish pensioners living in UAE!

Jeff

missbiggles1

colsten wrote: »

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

Of course it could but not necessarily - the cost of living rises are totally sepaate from EU membership as you can even receive them in the USA. A bigger, and more immediate, problem will be over healthcare and the costs of taking out private insurance (if it's even possible) or of joining the host country's health scheme.

ETA

And this last point will also affect sick and disabled Brits who claim ESA when living in other EU countries, whose healthcare is also paid for by the UK at present.

missbiggles1

uk1 wrote: »

From DWP figures, currently around 34% of expat pensioners live in the EU. Around 68% of those live in Spain. The other 32% ie around 23% of all expat pensioners live in places like France, Germany and Ireland. Depending on your view of what constitutes a warmer rather than colder country, broadly speaking over 60% are in warmer countries most of the rest - except for around 157000 in Canada, are in countries not too dissimilar to the UK. So your generalisation to me seems untrue for most pensioners.

With respect to your last comment, if you are stating this as fact I'd be interested to hear your figures and their source because I do not see how anyone could know what it would cost the NHS if a particular pensioner were living in Oz or Spain compared to what it would have cost if they had been living in the UK instead.

Jeff

If you've only visited the Spanish costas and the Med coast of France in the summer it's easy to think of them as hot countries but winter night temperatures in many areas are lower than in southern England. Having spent part of many winters in Spain, heating was needed rather more than it was on the IOW and we weren't staying inland where many people actually live.

Re the other issue, many other countries don't ration healthcare for older people the way that happens in the UK which can mean many pensioners can get far more money spent on them when they live abroad than would be the case if they live here. That's certainly the case if a country chooses (as France now does) to bill the UK for healthcare received rather than to accept an annual allowance from the UK. I have friends who've moved to France for exactly that reason.

uk1

missbiggles1 wrote: »

If you've only visited the Spanish costas and the Med coast of France in the summer it's easy to think of them as hot countries but winter night temperatures in many areas are lower than in southern England. Having spent part of many winters in Spain, heating was needed rather more than it was on the IOW and we weren't staying inland where many people actually live.

Re the other issue, many other countries don't ration healthcare for older people the way that happens in the UK which can mean many pensioners can get far more money spent on them when they live abroad than would be the case if they live here. That's certainly the case if a country chooses (as France now does) to bill the UK for healthcare received rather than to accept an annual allowance from the UK. I have friends who've moved to France for exactly that reason.

No, suprisingly I have been to other countries in winter. You continue to make irrational generalisations. Facts would be helpful.

I asked you to back up your earlier counter-intuitive assertions you made as facts.

With respect to your last comment, if you are stating this as fact I'd be interested to hear your figures and their source because I do not see how anyone could know what it would cost the NHS if a particular pensioner were living in Oz or Spain compared to what it would have cost if they had been living in the UK instead.

Let's have some figures please.

Jeff