New Working Group For Frozen Expat Pensions

The UK government has set up a new working group to try and resolve the issue of frozen Expat pensions

London, UK (Pryce Warner International) December 21st, 2011 – At present, British Expats can expect to have their pensions frozen at the rate they are first drawn in over 120 countries.

This has proved highly controversial with Expats as many are struggling on a meagre income while Expats in other countries get their pensions increased in line with the CPI (consumer price index).

Among the countries presently affected are Canada and Australia, two of the most popular destinations for British retirees.

A new working group including treasury officials and members of the International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP) will now look at ways of resolving an issue that affects almost half a million people.

This has partly been in response to an early motion in the house of commons that demanded the government end the practice of freezing state pensions. The motion attracted over 100 MP’s signatures.

The ICBP had previously attempted to take the matter to the courts under the aegis that it was discriminatory to freeze pensions for individuals in some countries and not others. However, after several appeals that went as far as the European Court of Justice, they were unsuccessful.

At present the government refuses to upgrade the pension levels as they claim it is too expensive. Current estimates suggest that it would cost the taxpayer £620m per year to pay unfrozen pensions and an additional £5.5bn to backdate the payments. The ICBP counter this by saying that the cost of having to deal with Expats who return to Britain after no longer being able to afford living overseas is much greater.

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By Aneil Fatania
Financial Editor
Pryce Warner International Group
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