AN 87-year-old self-funded British retiree living in Australia has received a lump sum of more than $100,000 from the British government as backpayment of an age pension.
The woman, who does not want to be identified, left the UK when she was 32, having worked there for 16 years.
As well as the backpayment, she now receives $750 a month as a part pension (based on her 16 years of paying national insurance contributions in the UK).
It’s the latest win for not-for-profit group British Pensions in Australia, whose volunteers help people track down their UK pension entitlements and negotiate the often tortuous process of claiming them.
Spokesman Jim Tilley said the woman was nonplused when, after help from the group, she received a letter saying she would receive a pension and back payment.
The result is one of a series of successes for the group, which was originally formed in 2003 to challenge the British government’s “frozen pension policy” that pegs the pension paid to expats in some countries (mostly Commonwealth countries like Australia, New Zealand and Canada) at the rate at which it is first received.
About 250,000 ex-Brits live in Australia and claim a UK pension, but many thousands more have never claimed one because they don’t know they can, have tried and found it too hard, or they don’t know how.
Some also believe that if they claim a British pension they will not be entitled to an Australian pension; however each case is different and many people can claim a pension and/or part pension from both countries.
And it’s not just expats who can claim a British pension.
People who worked in the UK can claim a British pension if they have 10 or more years of national insurance contributions. It is also possible to make up missing contributions by making voluntary lump sum payments.
Mr Tilley said the British system of freezing expat pensions was unfair and discriminatory.
When he first received a British part pension in 2003 it was 40 pounds a week. “It’s still 40 pounds a week,” he said.
“We have an example of a lady who is now 96 and who came to Australia in 1978. Her UK pension was 17 pounds a week. It’s still 17 pounds a week.
“We’re appalled that the British government, which collects more than $100 billion a year in national insurance contributions, penalises expat retirees in this way.”
British Pensions in Australia is part of the International Consortium of British Pensioners, which is lobbying the UK government to index the pensions it pays to all expats. It remains confident of bringing about a change of policy.
Mr Tilley said success would benefit a lot of people but would also benefit Australia, which would save on the amount of pensions it had to pay out.
- BPiA has about 12,000 members. Phone 1300-308-353, www.bpia.org.au
