CO-CO
Rather wrinkly & occasionally cantankerous member
This subject gets quite a lot of coverage. This is taken from ASEAN NOW:-
A question I have recently asked the DWP.
A person returning to the UK for a period of time can apply to get the full pension entitlement based on contributions whilst in the UK or a country where agreements apply, mainly the EU.
When returning to the original country of residence the pension returns to the original "frozen" amount, that I understand.
The question I asked the DWP was if a person was to return to the UK for a period of say one year and then go to another country where the "freeze" applies would the pension then be frozen at the rate that was received for the one year in the UK or what.
This was the answer "your rate will return to the frozen rate applied when you first left the UK." which was quite a shock and seemed most peculiar but was confirmed by another response from the DWP.
Still sounds wrong has anyone gone through this experience?
Just to rub it in if you return to the UK and expect to receive health care from the NHS you may well find the applies also-
"People who live outside the EEA, including former UK residents, should now make sure they are covered by personal health insurance, unless an exemption applies to them. Anyone who does not have insurance will be charged at 150% of the NHS national tariff for any care they receive."
Later post:-
Answers to two points raise in this thread....
1. The UK state pension is classed as a benefit. Benefit fraud is committed when you deliberately claim benefits you are not entitled to. E.g. by providing false information or by not reporting a change in circumstance. So if you don't inform DWP you are living overseas then you are definitely committing benefit fraud. HOWEVER the laws covering benefit fraud (specifically Social Security Administration Act 1992) EXCLUDE the state pension as a 'Sanctionable Benefit'. This means that if you commit state pension fraud your pension cannot be stopped or reduced. Your pension will simply be adjusted back to the correct 'frozen' level going forward. You will not have to pay anything back. Theoretically, if you go back to UK you could face a court case and fine (in the range £250 - £5000) but in practise that is extremely unlikely to happen because the cost of action would be far greater than the fine income and DWP have much bigger fish to fry. Putting 'forgetful' OAPs through court is not something DWP would want to be seen doing.
At the moment I spend just under 180 days per year in Thailand and don't yet receive the state pension anyway. However if I were to relocate to Thailand I WOULD NOT inform DWP since I feel that the freezing of pensions is unjust and immoral. Especially since nationals of any country can enter the UK and claim Pension Credit (up to about the same amount as a full state pension), plus Housing Benefit and a range of other benefits without having ever paid a penny of UK tax or NI.
2. On the subject of NHS care.. My daughter is a doctor in a UK hospital. In general the medical staff are far too busy to worry about eligibility for treatment. If you turn up speaking with a UK accent of some sort and can quote a NI or NHS number then you are unlikely to face a problem. Obviously don't start talking about your life in Thailand. The government are pressuring the NHS to get tough with 'overseas patients' so larger hospitals may have an 'Overseas Patient Team' - but they are really looking for foreign passport holders who arrive at a UK airport and take a taxi straight to a local hospital (it happens more often than you think - and these people are often seriously ill).
Back in 2018 I assisted a sick expat return to the UK. He arrived immediately at a hospital A&E with about a year's worth of Thai hospital notes. He was immediately admitted and treated, with excellent care. The Overseas Patient Team did visit him after a few days but his sister was able to show them his UK passport and a rental contract for a bedsit and they were satisfied with that.
A question I have recently asked the DWP.
A person returning to the UK for a period of time can apply to get the full pension entitlement based on contributions whilst in the UK or a country where agreements apply, mainly the EU.
When returning to the original country of residence the pension returns to the original "frozen" amount, that I understand.
The question I asked the DWP was if a person was to return to the UK for a period of say one year and then go to another country where the "freeze" applies would the pension then be frozen at the rate that was received for the one year in the UK or what.
This was the answer "your rate will return to the frozen rate applied when you first left the UK." which was quite a shock and seemed most peculiar but was confirmed by another response from the DWP.
Still sounds wrong has anyone gone through this experience?
Just to rub it in if you return to the UK and expect to receive health care from the NHS you may well find the applies also-
"People who live outside the EEA, including former UK residents, should now make sure they are covered by personal health insurance, unless an exemption applies to them. Anyone who does not have insurance will be charged at 150% of the NHS national tariff for any care they receive."
Later post:-
Answers to two points raise in this thread....
1. The UK state pension is classed as a benefit. Benefit fraud is committed when you deliberately claim benefits you are not entitled to. E.g. by providing false information or by not reporting a change in circumstance. So if you don't inform DWP you are living overseas then you are definitely committing benefit fraud. HOWEVER the laws covering benefit fraud (specifically Social Security Administration Act 1992) EXCLUDE the state pension as a 'Sanctionable Benefit'. This means that if you commit state pension fraud your pension cannot be stopped or reduced. Your pension will simply be adjusted back to the correct 'frozen' level going forward. You will not have to pay anything back. Theoretically, if you go back to UK you could face a court case and fine (in the range £250 - £5000) but in practise that is extremely unlikely to happen because the cost of action would be far greater than the fine income and DWP have much bigger fish to fry. Putting 'forgetful' OAPs through court is not something DWP would want to be seen doing.
At the moment I spend just under 180 days per year in Thailand and don't yet receive the state pension anyway. However if I were to relocate to Thailand I WOULD NOT inform DWP since I feel that the freezing of pensions is unjust and immoral. Especially since nationals of any country can enter the UK and claim Pension Credit (up to about the same amount as a full state pension), plus Housing Benefit and a range of other benefits without having ever paid a penny of UK tax or NI.
2. On the subject of NHS care.. My daughter is a doctor in a UK hospital. In general the medical staff are far too busy to worry about eligibility for treatment. If you turn up speaking with a UK accent of some sort and can quote a NI or NHS number then you are unlikely to face a problem. Obviously don't start talking about your life in Thailand. The government are pressuring the NHS to get tough with 'overseas patients' so larger hospitals may have an 'Overseas Patient Team' - but they are really looking for foreign passport holders who arrive at a UK airport and take a taxi straight to a local hospital (it happens more often than you think - and these people are often seriously ill).
Back in 2018 I assisted a sick expat return to the UK. He arrived immediately at a hospital A&E with about a year's worth of Thai hospital notes. He was immediately admitted and treated, with excellent care. The Overseas Patient Team did visit him after a few days but his sister was able to show them his UK passport and a rental contract for a bedsit and they were satisfied with that.
