More frozen pensions problems

[Chris Evans]

Dear Bapa,

     Just wanted to add yet another problem that may affect some frozen pensioners in Australia or elsewhere. 

     This relates to the possibility of deferring a UK state pension for a year or two, in return for which you receive a higher rate of pension when you finally decide to start drawing  it. This option is quite well-known in pensioner circles, but what is much less well-known is that it does not apply to pensioners living in "frozen" countries like Australia.

     A close friend of mine (living in Australia) recently reached the age  at which she was entitled to draw a UK state pension, based on her contributions made while living and working in the UK. Among the paperwork she received from DWP in reply to her application for the pension was information encouraging her to consider putting off claiming her pension to qualify for a higher rate of pension when she finally drew it. This of course is standard for all applicants, but it was NOT made clear that this option is not available to those living in Australia. She was seriously considering deferring her pension for a couple of years, until she discovered the truth from other UK pensioners in Australia. These people assured her  that if she takes the deferment option  option for (say) two years, then the pension she will receive after that delay would be at the rate prevailing on the date when she reached the qualifying age, and not the date when she starts drawing it, so she would therefore have sacrificed  two year's pension for nothing !

   Something else to watch out for ?

Chris Evans

[Michael Goodall]

Hi Chris,

The note that you have just made is not correct.

Here is the correct ruling which states that you are entitled to defer a pension but that you do not receive the annual increases.

If you move abroad

If you move to any of the countries in this list, the rules for deferring are the same as in the UK:

• European Economic Area (
  EEA

) countries

• Switzerland
• a country that the UK has a social security agreement with (except Canada or New Zealand)

If you move to a country that is not in the list, the extra payment you get will stay the same. It will not go up or down over time.

However, having said that please read the following:-

DEFERRING A STATE PENSION CLAIM

You are able to apply for your UK State Pension 4 months in advance of you reaching UK State Pension Age (SPA). You might notice from the UK pensions web site that you are able to defer claiming you UK State Pension (UKSP) and after deferring for a year they will pay you an interest rate of 1% every 9 weeks (equivalent to 5.8% per annum). This used to sound wonderful when the Bank rate was at 0.25% however, like many scams, even when the Bank Rate was at 0.25%, it is not as good as it appears on the surface because once you claim your pension the back amount is not indexed and only payable as an additional weekly amount and at the rate offered it will take a person 17 year 4 months to recover the deferred amount plus interest. i.e. of you defer until age 70 you would have to live until you were 87 years 4 months to get your money back.

We recommend that a person only delays for a maximum of 1 whole Callander year as the UK can pay back for the whole year provided that on their application they state their claim date as the actual date that they reached State Pension Age.

Best regards,

Mike Goodall

Tel:-     +61 8 6364 0859

Mob:- +61 403 909 865

.

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From: bapa...@googlegroups.com <bapa...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Chris Evans <lornaandchris...@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, 18 May 2025 3:09 PM
To: bapa...@googlegroups.com <bapa...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [bapanews] More frozen pensions problems

 

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[Bruce]

I migrated to Australia from the UK in 2001. I was eligible to draw my UK pension in 2007 but deferred it for three years. I received the going rate at the time (2010) I took my pension. There was never any mention about non entitlement to that value because I lived in Australia. Maybe because the pension was to be paid into my UK bank account it wasn't realized I was in Australia. 

They won’t get it back, they have cheated me, and my wife, enough with the frozen pension rule, which I was never informed about when leaving the UK.

Regards

Dr Bruce Englefield. 

--

[Michael Goodall]

Hi Bruce,

You were OK to defer and claim your pension because you reached your State pension Age before 6^th April 2016 when the rules about deferring were changed so that a person could not claim a lump sum back pay for more than 1 year. If greater than 1 year the extra is only paid as an additional weekly amount and it takes you 17 years 4 months to get your money back.

Best regards,

Mike Goodall

Tel:-     +61 8 6364 0859

Mob:- +61 403 909 865

---

From: 'Bruce' via BAPA <bapa...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, 18 May 2025 4:11 PM
To: bapa...@googlegroups.com <bapa...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [bapanews] More frozen pensions problems

 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bapanews/IipGSPrXc98RkQv25U2zaIbz9JPVBtl9egYzf4oHPs7zmCb4pfvTHYgqm8_HVD21vf6XU4ep6Da7M71epGj0lnP58BrXjsInI2rBYxAxCvo%3D%40protonmail.com.

[Bruce]

Dear Mike,

Thanks for the information. That’s a shame, I thought I had managed to get something from the UK Pension Office by mistake😄. One day when my wife and I pass away it will be with very bad feelings about the country of our birth and 58 years of living there. Forty years of paying National Insurance contributions only to suffer the totally immoral, illogical and downright dishonest frozen pension. We feel there must be many other ex Brits who feel the same.

However, living in beautiful Tasmania, we are happy, contented and grateful the way Australia accepted us, granted us citizenship and constantly beat the Poms at cricket!!!

Regards

Bruce and Maureen.

On Sun, May 18, 2025 at 19:59, Michael Goodall <mikecg...@btconnect.com> wrote:

Hi Bruce,

You were OK to defer and claim your pension because you reached your State pension Age before 6 ^th April 2016 when the rules about deferring were changed so that a person could not claim a lump sum back pay for more than 1 year. If greater than 1 year the extra is only paid as an additional weekly amount and it takes you 17 years 4 months to get your money back.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/bapanews/DB7PR07MB55787EF2427A1550B55AD575D69DA%40DB7PR07MB5578.eurprd07.prod.outlook.com.

[terraine]

Hi all
Disgraceful situation with frozen pension. Wonder if pollies are really interested as they seem to be interested in their own backsides.
One of the disgruntled ones
Regards Terry