European state pensions paid in UK

xylophone

Anything of interest here?


https://transferwise.com/gb/borderless/?utm_expid=32817948-184.nwcfx9WqTgGsHOP9rYv_IQ.0&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk%2F

https://finecobank.com/uk/online/banking.html

Alisonjane1

I can apply for my French pension now but if I wait until next July (66 years + 2 months) it will be double but the Brexit thing is a concern as no-one can tell me what might happen if I wait. I have paid into the system and am entitled to this pension but who knows if they change the rules??
I will post in this forum when I have heard back from the Belgian authorities.
Thanks to everyone for your input.

Alisonjane1

Thanks for this. I will look into it.

Alisonjane1

Hello again. I'm not much further forward with my enquiries apart from discovering that Santander does not charge for receiving payments from abroad (which is an improvement on TSB and Halifax), so it might be worth opening an account just to receive my French and Belgian pensions. Of course I still don't know how they calculate the rate of exchange, and how to compare their rates with other banks.
Still no reply to my email to the Belgian authorities. Guessing that the next step is to phone them but will I get the right person who can answer mny question?? Am conscious of time ticking away and I know that it will take a while to process my pension application so really wish I had soem answers so I can complete the forms and send them off to Newcastle!!
If anyone has soem up-to-date information I'd much appreciate it!

jays48

You can try Instarem service also if it allows to send in specific country

kb92830

Assuming all pensions have been accrued in the EU you do not get paid from each individual country. When you claim your state pension you claim it in the last country of residence assuming that was also the last country you worked in, if you did not work in that country then you need to claim in the last country you worked in

Looking at the OP comments I am assuming you are back in the UK and have worked there since returning, the UK will calculate the entitlement which will include any accruement earned in other EU countries.

In this case there will be no transfer fee as it will be paid from the UK to a UK bank account

See this link

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

deepfat

Hi - I've made a similar enquiry about a French pension.
The Newcastle office said that my french entitlement would be added to the UK one and it would all be paid in the UK. so no ongoing charges it would just be paid as part of the same payment to my bank.
BUT what they were unable to tell me is what exchange rate will be used. A constantly variable one? The one on the day of my retirement setting it in stone for ever?
They also couldn't explain how they will account for the difference in due dates. That's to say I'm entitled to a UK one in April but the French one isn't due until July.
Because my French one is worth as much as the UK one I'm thinking of claiming separately in France. Then at least i know what I'm getting. The French authorities have told me what I will get there, where as in the UK I have to apply for it and see what I get. So if the transfer calculation is disadvantagous - it's too late.
Given that hundreds of thousands of people must have split their working lives across more than one country I'm amazed there's no clear advice on any of this. Newcastle pensions office "don't know" I haven't been able to find any advice in the private sector.

woolly_wombat

deepfat wrote: »

Because my French one is worth as much as the UK one I'm thinking of claiming separately in France. Then at least i know what I'm getting. The French authorities have told me what I will get there, where as in the UK I have to apply for it and see what I get. So if the transfer calculation is disadvantagous - it's too late.

I am sure I have read in the past that people claiming a French pension direct from France have had to produce some sort of certificated proof that they are still alive and kicking, which proves increasingly difficult as one ages. I'm afraid I haven't been able to find a link (it may have been on the now-defunct Motley Fool boards).

Have you tried writing to the International Pension Centre in Newcastle to enquire about the exchange rate?

My OH has been told that he can claim his French pension via Newcastle separately (at age 65 years and 2 months - ie a year earlier than would qualify for full payment) from his UK pension (which he plans to defer for a year and claim at 66).

greenglide

I am sure I have read in the past that people claiming a French pension direct from France have had to produce some sort of certificated proof that they are still alive and kicking,

The UK does exactly this (called a "life certificate") for people resident in certain foreign countries, mainly India, Pakistan and similar but the countries involved has grown in recent years.

I thought that there was EU agreement which meant that we didn't do this for EU countries and there were alternative processes for these countries (data sharing within governments) which obviated the need for the pensioner being involved.