Martin Ness Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 HI all, I am considering the option of continuing my NI State Pension contributions whilst in Aus, in order to maintain my pension payout when I'm REALLY old! If has anyone done this could you please publish your findings/advice. Cheers, Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheArmChairDetective Posted November 7, 2006 Share Posted November 7, 2006 Martin, Thats a good question. I thought there was a pension "exchange" agreement just like the payment of tax agreement. ie your NI payments would be transferred. Am I wrong please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Ness Posted November 7, 2006 Author Share Posted November 7, 2006 Yes mate, There does'nt appear to be an agreement with the Aussies. Go to http://www.hrmc.gov.uk/leaflets no NI 38 for all the info (confusing), and then its form CF 83 (Attached to NI38). I'm unclear as to how much they want in contributions, (although I suspect its salary means tested) and would it not be better invested into something else??? Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nico Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Be a bit careful on this and take some proper advice. At the moment if you want your pension paying to you in various overseas countries, including Oz, it will NOT be index-linked, ie. it will remain at the level it was when you first started getting it overseas, until your death. Which is a pretty crap deal. There has been some publicity about the unfairness of it, for example some pensioners in South Africa who are getting only about £5 a week. In the light of this I will be thinking very hard myself about what to do when the time comes. And maybe starting a pressure group..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Hi Nico & all Nico, if you want to start a pressure group for Contributory Parents about this issue, please count me in! The arrangements are really weird. When Mum is in the UK, we let them know and they instantly up her State Pension. We let them know just before she leaves for Oz and they slash it for as long as she is outside the UK. If she spent a year (I think) in the UK she would be able to get Attendance Allowance, which is not means-tested, because of being disabled. She can't get that because she doesn't ever spend long enough in the UK to qualify for it, and she wouldn't qualify for it in Oz either. From the point of view of the State System, she gets the worst of both worlds. I think this is what you are saying, isn't it? If so, I agree! I feel sure that abuse of this system is rife, precisely because it is unfair. I really do feel that Pensions and means-tested Benefits such as the Dole should not be treated in the same way, but I suspect that they are. Cheers Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nico Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 Hello, Gill Yes, I reckon your mum gets a raw deal from the UK government, but I am surprised she gets anything at all, as my impression is they will wriggle out of anything if at all possible. You might want to enquire (without giving any details) what happens if her official place of residency ceases to be the UK. And bear that in mind if it is not what you want to be told.... Once I have got my visa and my pension I will be ready to wage war on behalf of UK pensioners in Oz! Hope all is well with your mum after all the ups and downs. nico Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest spray21 Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 There is a really good thread on this on Britishexpats.com - on the Australia forum, do a search for pensions. It was explained really well. One point to consider was that you have six years to pay NI contribitions for a particular year, so you can take a few years in Oz to decide whether to pay or not. Also the fact that there is no guarantee of getting any pension whatsoever even if you are in the UK - God knows what the chances are of getting any thing if you're abroad! It might depend how close you are to retirement - if you've been paying for forty years then I'd guess it might be worth the last few years of payment - for me, I don't think I'll bother! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Koala Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 To qualify for your UK pension you have to have paid a minimum full twelve years (for men) Nat Ins stamps, and minimum ten years for women. However they will allow you to make cash payments, if you have a shortfall to qualify. You would then be paid pro rata, of whatever the UK pension is, on the day you qualify for it (at age 65 for men, 60 for women). At this moment in time, living in Oz we don't get the CPI increases that you would get if you were living in UK. But remember also that with a favourable exchange rate, it adds up to approx six hundred dollars per month at this moment in time. There is a fight going on to get us the CPI increases: This is the latest update about the moves being made on behalf of all expats to gain the CPI increases. Ottawa, ON & SYDNEY, NSW– November 25, 2005: British Columbia resident Bernard Jackson today filed an anti-discrimination lawsuit against the UK Government with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Jackson, WWII veteran and vice chair of the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP), is heading an international group of a dozen other applicants named in the lawsuit. They are seeking cost-of-living indexation of British state pensions for the 50% of expatriate pensioners who are selected for exclusion from such annual upgrades. The lead applicants reside in Canada, Australia and South Africa, which are among the hardest hit of the countries the UK has singled out for pension freezing. With the exception of Mr. Jackson, their identities will remain confidential, in deference to the frailty and advanced age of some. There are 520,000 frozen pensioners around the world, some 150,000 of them in Canada, 240,000 in Australia and 38,000 in South Africa. In May 2005, Britain’s Law Lords rejected the Carson Case in a majority decision, clearing the way for the pension issue to proceed to the ECHR. The lawsuit is being managed by CABP, with the support of the British Pensioners Association of Western Canada, British Pensions in Australia [bPiA] and the South African Alliance of British Pensioners. The Canadian law firm McCarthy Tétrault is providing pro bono legal services and UK human rights barristers Timothy Otty and Ben Olbourne, of 20 Essex Street Barristers, have been retained to represent the plaintiffs at the ECHR. Tony Bockman Jim Tilley Chair, Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners Hon Chairman, British Pensions in Australia Tel: (613) 825-3240 02 9521 7964 http://www.britishpensions.com http://www.bpia.org.au Koala Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nico Posted November 10, 2006 Share Posted November 10, 2006 Thanks Koala, I did wonder if anyone had been campaigning on this issue, so it's excellent to hear that efforts are being made, and no doubt quite a few of us will be following this with interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pewit Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has rejected, by six-to-one, the claim of a consortium of expat pensioner groups, that the UK's frozen pensions policy is discriminatory and in breach of the Human Rights Act. An appeal is expected to be lodged shortly by the consortium, which is financed by contributions from expat "frozen pensioners". Britons who retire to most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations do not have their pensions increased in line with inflation when they leave the UK. The Australian minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, said more than half of the 525,000 British pensioners penalised by the frozen pensions policy are living in Australia. More here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Hello, Gill Yes, I reckon your mum gets a raw deal from the UK government, but I am surprised she gets anything at all, as my impression is they will wriggle out of anything if at all possible. You might want to enquire (without giving any details) what happens if her official place of residency ceases to be the UK. And bear that in mind if it is not what you want to be told.... Once I have got my visa and my pension I will be ready to wage war on behalf of UK pensioners in Oz! Hope all is well with your mum after all the ups and downs. nico Hiya Nico If you are ready to "wage war" on behalf of " frozen" UK state pensioners here in Australia - you will want to check out the British Pensioners in Australia organisation at British Pensions in Australia Regards Jim:smile: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest byo Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Its very unfair that the British Government treats there pensioners like this. My gran had to live on 55 pounds a month. Even though she volunteered during ww2. She always said Britain looks after everyone else other than their own. I hope you all can get this turned around, sadly its too late for my Gran as she passed away two weeks ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Its very unfair that the British Government treats there pensioners like this. My gran had to live on 55 pounds a month. Even though she volunteered during ww2. She always said Britain looks after everyone else other than their own. I hope you all can get this turned around, sadly its too late for my Gran as she passed away two weeks ago. Hi My condolences regarding your Gran. Logically (but governments don't work that way!) either all UK State Pensions should be index-linked or none should - country of residence should be irrelevant. I have paid my full 44 years NI contributions and when the qualification period was recently reduced to 30 years I enquired if I could have my "overpayment" of 14 years returned to me. I did not get a reply - no surprise there then!! :realmad: We will eventually win this battle - but not perhaps in my time ! Regards Jim :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest byo Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Hi My condolences regarding your Gran. Logically (but governments don't work that way!) either all UK State Pensions should be index-linked or none should - country of residence should be irrelevant. I have paid my full 44 years NI contributions and when the qualification period was recently reduced to 30 years I enquired if I could have my "overpayment" of 14 years returned to me. I did not get a reply - no surprise there then!! :realmad: We will eventually win this battle - but not perhaps in my time ! Regards Jim :biggrin: Thanks Yes no surprise you didn't get an answer. If you owed them money they would have replied. Its not fair that only five countries in the world don't have this agreement. My Gran worthed from the age of 15 to 60 so got well and truly ripped off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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