A British pensioner has been left angry and frustrated after his state pension was frozen at £80 due to where he lives, Edinburgh Live reports.
The UK's state pension increases most years but this benefit is not guaranteed to everyone who lives abroad.
Under current UK Government rules, if a person does not live in specified countries they are exempt, according to Express reporting.
As a result, thousands of British expats will miss out on the state pension increases.
They are commonly referred to as “frozen” state pensioners and the End Frozen Pensions campaign estimates that 500,000 people are impacted in this way.
This is the case for Jon Goldman (77) who currently lives in Calgary, Canada.
Mr Goldman was reportedly born in Manchester, and lived and worked in the UK for a total of 15 years.
He and his wife decided to make the move with their children to Canada, at first settling in Edmonton and then making the move to Calgary where Mr Goldman still lives today.
Mr Goldman was dismayed to find his UK state pension was frozen at £80 per week because of the location of his home. He shared his frustrations in a video for the End Frozen Pensions campaign.
He said, “It’s been frozen now for 12 years. It’s already lost a quarter of its value.
“Inflation has picked up now because of the COVID pandemic. It’s currently running at five per cent in Canada.
“You don’t need to be a mathematician to figure out what that is going to do to my pension, and it is certainly not good.”
Mr Goldman described the frozen state pension policy as one which is “extremely unfair” for those who are impacted.
He highlighted the fact that he lives in a Commonwealth country saying, “I thought the Commonwealth had very special ties to the UK, but that is apparently not the case.
“We are singled out for pensions to be frozen, where other people in different parts of the world get full indexing every year.
“In fact, if I only were to move about 200 miles further south across the US border, my pension would be fully indexed.”
Mr Goldman explained that the Canadian government pays out their state pension for all citizens, regardless of their place of residence.
They also offer full increases to those who have chosen to move overseas.
He said, “It would be very nice to see the UK Government do the same.”
The End Frozen Pensions Campaign has described the Government’s policy as an “arbitrary postcode lottery”.
The policy is as a result of historical reciprocal arrangements between a handful of countries and the UK.
The campaign said that over 90 per cent of affected pensioners live in Commonwealth nations with close ties to the UK.
A DWP spokesperson told the Express, “We understand that people move abroad for many reasons and that this can impact on their finances.
“There is information on GOV.UK about what the effect of going abroad will be on entitlement to the UK state pension.
“The Government’s policy on the up-rating of the UK state pension for recipients living overseas is a longstanding one of more than 70 years, and we continue to up-rate state pensions overseas where there is a legal requirement to do so.”
Source: Edinburgh Live
A British pensioner has been left angry and frustrated after his state pension was frozen at £80 due to where he lives, Edinburgh Live reports.
The UK's state pension increases most years but this benefit is not guaranteed to everyone who lives abroad.
Under current UK Government rules, if a person does not live in specified countries they are exempt, according to Express reporting.
As a result, thousands of British expats will miss out on the state pension increases.
They are commonly referred to as “frozen” state pensioners and the End Frozen Pensions campaign estimates that 500,000 people are impacted in this way.
This is the case for Jon Goldman (77) who currently lives in Calgary, Canada.
Mr Goldman was reportedly born in Manchester, and lived and worked in the UK for a total of 15 years.
He and his wife decided to make the move with their children to Canada, at first settling in Edmonton and then making the move to Calgary where Mr Goldman still lives today.
Mr Goldman was dismayed to find his UK state pension was frozen at £80 per week because of the location of his home. He shared his frustrations in a video for the End Frozen Pensions campaign.
He said, “It’s been frozen now for 12 years. It’s already lost a quarter of its value.
“Inflation has picked up now because of the COVID pandemic. It’s currently running at five per cent in Canada.
“You don’t need to be a mathematician to figure out what that is going to do to my pension, and it is certainly not good.”
Mr Goldman described the frozen state pension policy as one which is “extremely unfair” for those who are impacted.
He highlighted the fact that he lives in a Commonwealth country saying, “I thought the Commonwealth had very special ties to the UK, but that is apparently not the case.
“We are singled out for pensions to be frozen, where other people in different parts of the world get full indexing every year.
“In fact, if I only were to move about 200 miles further south across the US border, my pension would be fully indexed.”
Mr Goldman explained that the Canadian government pays out their state pension for all citizens, regardless of their place of residence.
They also offer full increases to those who have chosen to move overseas.
He said, “It would be very nice to see the UK Government do the same.”
The End Frozen Pensions Campaign has described the Government’s policy as an “arbitrary postcode lottery”.
The policy is as a result of historical reciprocal arrangements between a handful of countries and the UK.
The campaign said that over 90 per cent of affected pensioners live in Commonwealth nations with close ties to the UK.
A DWP spokesperson told the Express, “We understand that people move abroad for many reasons and that this can impact on their finances.
“There is information on GOV.UK about what the effect of going abroad will be on entitlement to the UK state pension.
“The Government’s policy on the up-rating of the UK state pension for recipients living overseas is a longstanding one of more than 70 years, and we continue to up-rate state pensions overseas where there is a legal requirement to do so.”
Source: Edinburgh Live