Pension freeze for UK expats
September 03 2009 by Rebekah Nahai
Low pensions for Britons on Australia visas
Britons who move to Australia and some other countries after paying National Insurance in the UK receive lower pensions than those who stay home, recent reports have revealed.
Pension amounts for UK citizens are normally adjusted annually for inflation. But while British expats in Europe and the US have their pensions adjusted for inflation, Britons living in some other countries do not.
The more than 500,000 British expats who have made the move to Australia, Hong Kong, Canada or South Africa have seen a freeze on pension increases in recent years.
After several unsuccessful petitions, pensioners have made an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The appeal may be their last hope for equal pension rights.
The expats argue that the amount of their pensions should not depend on where they live. If they win the case, pensions across the board may be adjusted to £82.05 per week, representing a 50 percent increase for some expats.
The UK Department of Work and Pensions says its focus is on the poorest pensioners living in Britain, and that adjusting all pensions for inflation would cost an extra £500m per year.
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