Age Pensioner

[Guest chopendoz]

I am considering moving back to the UK after an absence of over 40 years. It seems that my Australian Age Pension is more that twice as much as the current rate of State Pension. I am aware that my part UK Pension is frozen while I am in Australia but if/when I return, I can apply for a reassessment which stays in place as long as I stay in the UK or move to some God forsaken place like Turkey or Bosnia. My question is, given that the State Pension has increased by £20 since my date of claim, does my part Pension increase by that amount ? That would be an added incentive. I might add that I am not a property owner hoping to cash in on the fluctautions of the real estate market/exchange rate. I am just a poor old man wanting to go home and hoping that I can survive in the UK.

[scousers]

Wow, 40 years? Can't answer your question, hope someone else can, but why go home after 40 years? Only asking because i have been here just over 20 years and feel it is time for me to go. But 40 wow thats something.

[Guest chopendoz]

I was in the UK last September to visit my sister in Scotland and do some family history research. I realized that I missed it even though practically everyone I knew is gone. I came to Australia in 1968 but in the years since have lived for various periods in South Africa, Thailand, New Zealand, USA and a few place in between, before basing myself in Tasmania. I could drone on and on about the aspects of Australia life that I find myself less able to tolerate, but I won't. I'm tired of that too. Suffice it to say, even though Australia has provided me with a decent life, there's no place like home.

[ramot]

I am considering moving back to the UK after an absence of over 40 years. It seems that my Australian Age Pension is more that twice as much as the current rate of State Pension. I am aware that my part UK Pension is frozen while I am in Australia but if/when I return, I can apply for a reassessment which stays in place as long as I stay in the UK or move to some God forsaken place like Turkey or Bosnia. My question is, given that the State Pension has increased by £20 since my date of claim, does my part Pension increase by that amount ? That would be an added incentive. I might add that I am not a property owner hoping to cash in on the fluctautions of the real estate market/exchange rate. I am just a poor old man wanting to go home and hoping that I can survive in the UK.

 

Hi, I have a frozen UK state pension, when I visit UK, I tell the appropriate dept. the date of my arrival and then date of departure. While back my pension is increased to what it should be had I never left, and then returns back to original frozen amount when I leave.

So probably if you contact the appropriate dept. before you return, it should all be sorted out for you.

I only have a part pension, and it only rises in proportion, not the full amount. Hope that makes sense.

Hope this helps.

[Mongrel]

The rules now are you only need thirty years contributions

[Guest gratom]

Though you have stated that discussing your reasons for returning to UK after so long arenot worth going over, I would be deeply interested to see if they coincide with a friend of mine who did something very similar to that which you are contemplating.His reasons[very quickly]were a long suppressed sense of not belonging,family difficulties and a growing dislike of Australian culture,which he described as socially myopic--sorry he's not on the internet can't connect you and not to well either,but is full of compliments for the treatment he has received on The NHS in comparison to Oz/NZ.Thanks;hope this doesn't cause you any difficulties.

[Guest Guest31881]

HI,

 

The way i understand it, is that your pension will revert to what it would be in the UK, if you only have a part pension due to not having enough contributions, then it will be paid at the appropriate rate for your contributions. The best thing to do is contact the pensions department and ask what you would be paid upon returning to the UK.

 

You will also need to look into what other benifits you may be entitled to if you return perminantly.

[Quoll]

Were you expecting your Australian pension still to be paid when you went? You may want to check that out as I thought it was only paid if you were in Aus or one of the other countries which are signed up to the social security agreement and UK is not one of them (I hope that is a misconception!!!). It says something about your rates of pay being reduced at 13 and 26 weeks absence but I cant find out what the criteria for those reductions are - it would be worth a "what if" call to Centrelink.

 

Good luck with your plans!

[Guest chopendoz]

As far as I know, Australian Age Pension is paid up to 26 weeks if the move is temporary but if I indicate that the move is permanent, payment is made to a UK bank for as long as I want. It is also indexed! I would not, of course, receive the additional benefits like rent asistance or pharmaceutical allowance.

[Quoll]

As far as I know, Australian Age Pension is paid up to 26 weeks if the move is temporary but if I indicate that the move is permanent, payment is made to a UK bank for as long as I want. It is also indexed! I would not, of course, receive the additional benefits like rent asistance or pharmaceutical allowance.

 

That's good to know! The site is not very clear on the payment for a permanent departure unless you go to a signatory country.

[Sydney]

Unless you continued to make contributions to NHI, I don't see how you can qualify fora UK pension, and I imagine your OZ pension would be transferrable.

[Cez]

Have a look through this:

 

You and your money

 

You can get a proportion of the UK state pension depending on how many years you've been paying NI contributions. Otherwise it would seem crazy that I could work most of my life in the UK and miss out on receiving any state pension at all because I haven't made up the 30 years...

[Sydney]

Hi Cez. Here's a link to a thread I submitted last year on the subject. Extra info can also be had from British Pensioners in Australia. It's worth persuing for all ex pats who want to continue contributions to the NHI for a full or part UK pension. Cheers,

Syd.

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/brits-oz/62510-changes-uk-pension-entitlements.html

[Cez]

Hey Sydney, cheers for that. I must admit that pensions and superannuation aren't taking up too much of my brain space at the moment, but I hope that the pension indexing thing gets sorted out. It's mad to think there's some people receiving just a few pounds a week from their UK state pension despite having made all the contributions!

[Guest chopendoz]

First I wish to thank the people who replied to my post for their input and their advice. When I was granted an Australian Age Pension, the DSS advised me to claim for a UK DHSS pension. I was blissfully unaware that I had any entitlement to any benefits from the UK so it came as a pleasant surprise. I completed the appropriate forms and was advised that due to my 11 years of contributions had an entitlement of £28.14 a week. A nice bonus!

After some calculation it would seem that moving back to the UK would mean an increase of about £8 a week. Whoopee! I can really live it up on that. At this point I would like to point out that my attitude to benefits and pensions is a little different to some. I view them as just that - benefits, welfare payments, - hand outs.

There are people who manipulate the UK Pension system and ‘buy’ their pension by making extra contributions and there is nothing (legally) wrong with that. Morally is another question. This is no different to increasing superannuation payments as many people do in Australia. However, they may be in for a big surprise.

The Australian government has been quite clever in that they are slowly cutting out Age Pension altogether by forcing people to pay regular superannuation payments. When they turn 65 and claim for a Pension, people may find that they have no entitlement at all to a pension due to their superannuation precluding payment. In other words they are effectively buying their own retirement benefits.

But back to the moral issue. I worked for the Australian DSS for a number of years and was appalled by the attitude of some of the benefit recipients. Benefits & pensions in Australia are not paid on the basis of need - but of legal entitlement. There are really no poor in Australia in my view - only victims of their own financial mismanagement.

I could never quite understand the terms that the welfare organisations bandied about - ‘disadvantaged’ and ‘underprivileged’ - what do they mean? The number and scope of charities is a disgrace in a country so rich. The welfare state is so benevolent that there are people who are better off on the dole than if they were working. It is legally possible to live in a million dollar house and drive a Mercedes - and still claim for the dole or pension. It is possible to live one’s entire life on government benefits and pensions. There is a maternity allowance paid to your mother before you are born and even a funeral allowance paid after you’re dead! And you may have contributed nothing. This is the crux of the matter. Are you the type of person who thinks that the government owes you a living? Just by paying income tax is not buying you a pension. I recall a couple of guys who actually returned the full amount they had been paid in benefit ( to which they were legally entitled) telling me that they were ashamed of taking handouts. But they are rare. Sadly we are a ‘get rich quick’, ‘grab what you can’ society and instead of being grateful to whatever government you have for helping you out when things were tough, many people abuse the system complaining that it’s not enough. There is no shame any more. I have seen a lot of changes in my life and, looking back, I remember when being on the dole was shameful - as was being drunk in the street, single and pregnant (the father was expected to marry the girl), and when being a bastard was a social stigma. What percentage of Australians now are actually bastards? How the wheel has turned!

A personal message to Sydney. Having read the posts made on the subject of voluntary contributions, I have no wish to reopen that can of worms - suffice it to say that I wish you well with your plan for a comfortable retirement. Having said that, you really should have kept quiet about it. It is only a matter of time before the powers that be learn of, and take steps to close the apparent loophole you have exploited. Any government worth its salt will try to minimise the amount of money it pays out and it is more than possible that long before you retire, legislation will be passed to thwart your plans. It may well be that only contributions made in the UK will be applied to a UK pension or it can only be paid if you reside in the UK (your ill gotten gains being subjected to horrendous tax), or payable only if you reside in Afghanistan, North Korea or the Falklands. There are many ways to make your life difficult. Anyway I hope that get what you deserve.

[Petals]

Sorry op you need to do a lot of financial research before moving over here. We are in UK at present but would not return here to live in retirement. Pensions are not hand outs they are given to us that have paid our taxes all our working life and we are entitled. We never had child support, maternity leave, childcare assistance so if anyone deserves a helping hand its the baby boomers and they are retiring in droves most with no super to speak of but they will be a voting force to be reckoned with. We were fortunate as my oh was well looked after in his occupation however thanks to the Howard gov they looked after us self funded retirees and so they should.

[Zack]

Haveing not long returned to Australia.We went as i had a Battalion reunion i wanted to go to.Plus to find out about my aged pension,and what we are entiteled to,as we want to return home after 24 years here.Everything is done by telephone,to the pensions people in Newcastle-upon -Tyne.Although i come from Newcastle, you can't go to the office.We recieve a part pension from the UK,The Australian gov.make it up so we get just a little bit over the Australian full pension.When we return to the UK permantly our Australian pension STOPS,and we get the full UK pension.As there is a agreement between the UK and Australia regarding aged pensions.The UK pension is 198pounds with credits,and 152pounds without credits P/W thats for a couple. You don't get any credits if you have more than 8000 pounds in saveings.+ if you qualify for credits.And you own your house,you don't pay council tax.If you rent a house you get rent allowance, and pay no council tax.The Australian pension is only paid for 26 weeks if you say you are going on holiday.

[Guest guest30038]

t is only a matter of time before the powers that be learn of, and take steps to close the apparent loophole you have exploited. Any government worth its salt will try to minimise the amount of money it pays out and it is more than possible that long before you retire, legislation will be passed to thwart your plans. It may well be that only contributions made in the UK will be applied to a UK pension or it can only be paid if you reside in the UK (your ill gotten gains being subjected to horrendous tax), or payable only if you reside in Afghanistan, North Korea or the Falklands. There are many ways to make your life difficult. Anyway I hope that get what you deserve.

 

So pray tell me, how is anyone, simply pursuing a pension that they are entitled to under law, any different than someone who attempts to seek council housing on return from their long absence in Australia?

 

From another post of yours: "As a returnee, what would be my standing as an single Age Pensioner in getting a council flat or even a house? Of course it depends on the area but in general what are the criteria?. I would be interested in getting away from the cities."

 

Not only do you seek the luxury of an area of your choosing, but have the temerity to question the N Insurance laws of the UK and criticise those who utilise those laws legally.

 

I have 29 yrs contributions, 22 of them paid whilst serving in HM Forces, both regular and reserve. If ever I returned to the UK, I would like to think that I could pay an additional years contributions to obtain a full state pension without attracting the stigma that you seem to bestow on those that do, whilst at the same time you yourself seek a handout via the council housing system.

 

get real!

 

kev