Expats bemoan frozen pensions

Frozen Pensions

UK pensioners who live abroad and are lumbered with frozen pensions are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the lack of resolution to their situation.

The frozen pension issue leaves expat pensioners with the rate at which they started drawing their pension, and in the worst cases some are given just £6 per week.

The International Consortium of British Pensioners has been attempting to rectify this situation for a number of years now, and they are not happy that Chancellor Osborne ignored their problem in the Budget earlier this year.

John Markham, a chief figure with the Consortium, said: “people need to know that retiring to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and many of the Commonwealth countries means that their pension will not be uprated in line with inflation and will therefore stay frozen at the rate at which you first start drawing it.With recent surveys showing that half of all 45-64 year olds in the UK are considering moving abroad, the government can no longer carry on ignoring this issue. It must act to address the injustice done to those pensioners who have already retired to one of the 146 ‘frozen’ countries and the many millions more planning on doing so in the future.”

While the UK government has so far refused to unfreeze the pensions, something that would cost around £478 million per year, financial experts have claimed that in the long term such a move could actually prove to lower costs.

If you are concerned about your pension abroad, speak to an IFA who can tell you about other options that are available, such as the QROPS.