Expats Fighting For Fair Pensions

British Expats around the world are campaigning to have their state pensions increase in line with the CPI.

London, UK (Pryce Warner International) June 24th, 2011 – At present Expats in 150 countries around the world have their state pensions frozen at the level at which they are first drawn.

This means many Expats around the world are suffering a reduced quality of life as their only source of income is not keeping up with inflation.

Due to this several campaign groups have been set-up to try and lobby the British government to change this rule.

One of these, The International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP) recently took their appeal to the European Court of Justice though they ultimately lost the case.

However, a group of MP’s led by Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt have started a motion in the UK Parliament to ensure that Expat pensions around the world move at the same rate. The motion so far has 38 signatories and has drawn support from all the major political parties.

Several of the countries that presently do not allow pensions to increase are Australia, South Africa and Canada, which have long been very popular destinations for Expats.

Expats campaigning for the changes cite the frozen rates as a form of discrimination, as Expats in the USA and most of Europe are not subject to the same regulations. They also cite the fact that they have paid national insurance contributions their entire working lives and are therefore entitled to the same pensions benefits as anyone else.

This has caused particular problems in Canada, where the Canadian government is having to supplement pension payments at the cost of local tax payers, effectively bailing out the UK government millions of pounds every year.

Expats in Canada are continuing to lobby David Cameron and the coalition government after they promised to change these regulations upon coming into power but they have yet to take any action. Despite the new motion in place many Expats feel that pressure needs to be applied to Westminster to ensure that the changes are ultimately pushed through.

Any affected Expats can visit 38degrees.org.uk, click on “campaign ideas” then “Fairness, Justice and Equality for all British State Pensioners” to register their vote of support for the campaign.

David Harra, a Senior Market & Investment Analyst with Pryce Warner International, a Financial Services Group for Expats commented: “Pryce Warner International strongly supports the campaign to ensure that pensioners around the world receive what they are entitled to. It is a highly unfair law that those in Canada, Australia and elsewhere do not receive the same pension rates as those in Europe or the US. With the strength of the pound and the frozen pension rate it is more vital than ever that this issue be addresses and resolved by the British government.”

Pryce Warner International Group provide International Asset & Investment Management, Independent Financial Advice & QROPS Overseas Pensions.

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By: Aneil Fatania
Financial Editor
Pryce Warner International Group
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