Claiming pension from time worked in Germany?

wookie6

Hi,

A family member of mine has just moved into pensionable age and has started claiming their UK pension.

They also worked around 20 years of their life in Germany. I am trying to help them find out how they claim their pension from the time worked in Germany however having googled for a long time I can't find an obvious answer, most of the hits are for claiming a UK pension whilst living overseas.

Can anyone provide any advice on how this is done / where to start?

Thanks very much in advance for any help!

Marine_life

wookie6 wrote: »

Hi,

A family member of mine has just moved into pensionable age and has started claiming their UK pension.

They also worked around 20 years of their life in Germany. I am trying to help them find out how they claim their pension from the time worked in Germany however having googled for a long time I can't find an obvious answer, most of the hits are for claiming a UK pension whilst living overseas.

Can anyone provide any advice on how this is done / where to start?

Thanks very much in advance for any help!

Have a look here:

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/retire-abroad/state-pensions-abroad/index_en.htm

That should explain everything you need to know.

wookie6

I did look on that exact page but clicking on 'Pension Authority' it then takes you to a page with flags so I click 'United Kingdom' which then brings up:

International Pension Centre
Tyneview Park
UK - Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE98 1BA
Tel.: +44 191 218 7777
E-mail: [EMAIL="TVP.internationalqueries@thepensionservice.gsi.gov.uk"]TVP.internationalqueries[at]thepensionservice.gsi.gov.uk[/EMAIL]
Website



Then clicking the website link it then brings up a direct.gov page titled:


"State Pension if you retire abroad"


Like I say, they are not looking to retire abroad, they are wanting to claim pension from time worked in Germany when they have worked their last 15+ years of their life in the UK and now wish to retire in the UK.

JezR

The International Pension Centre helps both with international claims for a UK pension and with claims to other EU social security systems from UK residents.

Details of employment outside of the UK including the social security number are included in the application for the State Pension in Part 5.

Also look at

http://www.deutsche-rentenversicherung.de/Allgemein/de/Inhalt/2_Rente_Reha/01_rente/01_grundwissen/05_rente_und_ausland/02a_rente/02_01_rente_anspruch.html

wookie6

Thanks Marine_life and JezR for your replies.

When claiming this German pension do you by chance know if it would be possible to have this paid direct into a German bank account to avoid losing through exchange rate conversions if this were to be paid into a UK bank account?

JezR

Yes it can be paid into a German bank.

The other wrinkle is that there is a need to provide evidence each year of still being alive to continue to receive it.

wookie6

Thanks JezR good to know!

t0rt0ise

wookie6 wrote: »

I did look on that exact page but clicking on 'Pension Authority' it then takes you to a page with flags so I click 'United Kingdom'

You are supposed to click on the German flag for the addresses in Germany that you need to contact.

wookie6

t0rt0ise wrote: »

You are supposed to click on the German flag for the addresses in Germany that you need to contact.

This contradicts JezR's earlier reply in which they said:

The International Pension Centre helps both with international claims for a UK pension and with claims to other EU social security systems from UK residents.

Details of employment outside of the UK including the social security number are included in the application for the State Pension in Part 5.

Can anyone clarify?

woolly_wombat

t0rt0ise wrote: »

You are supposed to click on the German flag for the addresses in Germany that you need to contact.

Not if they're currently living in the UK.

From the link provided by Marine_life:
http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/retire-abroad/state-pensions-abroad/index_en.htm

"If you've worked in several EU countries, you may have accumulated pension rights in each of them.

You'll have to apply to the pension authority in the country where you're living or you last worked. If you've never worked in the country where you're living, your host country will forward your claim to the one you last worked in.

That country is then responsible for processing your claim and bringing together records of your contributions from all the countries you worked in."

They need to ring the International Pension Centre.

woolly_wombat

JezR wrote: »

Yes it can be paid into a German bank.

The other wrinkle is that there is a need to provide evidence each year of still being alive to continue to receive it.

Is it still possible to claim directly from the German authorities JezR?

I have read comments on MSE in the past citing difficulties in providing evidence each year of still being alive.

I thought claiming via the International Pension Centre overcame that difficulty.