ECHR to rule on UK State Pensions for those retiring to Oz and NZ
There has been a two-hour hearing at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) today of a challenge against the way the UK state pensions legislation penalises those who retire to certain countries.
British state pensions remain payable to those who move to another country after retirement, but it is frozen at the rate it was when they leave Britain unless their destination country has an agreement with the UK.
Around a million British pensioners live overseas; about half of them in the European Economic Area, Switzerland and countries including the US, Jersey and Jamaica that have reciprocal agreements with Britain. Those pensioners benefit from the annual pension increases in line with UK inflation as if they still lived in the UK.
Australia and New Zealand are among those countries with no such agreement, so some half a million retirees do not benefit from any increases in the rates of UK pensions after they retire or, if they have already retired, the day they emigrate.
The UK Department of Work and Pensions says the government is concentrating on the needs of pensioners living in the UK. In 2005 a House of Lords ruling agreed that those migrating abroad do so voluntarily and in doing so put themselves outside the primary scope and purpose of the UK social security system.
The ECHR judgment is not expected until the spring of 2010.
British state pensions remain payable to those who move to another country after retirement, but it is frozen at the rate it was when they leave Britain unless their destination country has an agreement with the UK.
Around a million British pensioners live overseas; about half of them in the European Economic Area, Switzerland and countries including the US, Jersey and Jamaica that have reciprocal agreements with Britain. Those pensioners benefit from the annual pension increases in line with UK inflation as if they still lived in the UK.
Australia and New Zealand are among those countries with no such agreement, so some half a million retirees do not benefit from any increases in the rates of UK pensions after they retire or, if they have already retired, the day they emigrate.
The UK Department of Work and Pensions says the government is concentrating on the needs of pensioners living in the UK. In 2005 a House of Lords ruling agreed that those migrating abroad do so voluntarily and in doing so put themselves outside the primary scope and purpose of the UK social security system.
The ECHR judgment is not expected until the spring of 2010.
Labels: UK pensions overseas
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