Tag Archives: canadian alliance of british pensioners

Ask your federal MP to help end frozen pensions in Canada

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End Frozen Pensions – Canada

The Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP) are asking members to contact their federal MPs to ask if they’re willing to sign a new letter which will be presented to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer this autumn, again asking that he end the frozen pension policy.

The big difference now is that this will have as many signatures as possible from parliamentarians in Canada, Australia and the UK (the former being the two countries most impacted by the UK’s policy).

If you feel impacted by this issue, the CABP asks you send the following letter to your federal MP. If you get any positive responses, please e-mail the CABP office (info@britishpensions.com), so they know which MPs have agreed. Ideally, they need a copy of the email or letter sent from the MP’s office. Thanks!

For the attention of [INSERT YOUR MP’S NAME], MP

UK/Canada Pension Dispute

For over 75 years, the UK has refused to provide annual increases to the state pensions of British pensioners living in Canada; currently numbering 105,000. These retirees contributed mandatory National Insurance payments into the UK pension scheme (similar to CPP) and rightfully expect equal treatment.

There are 12 million British pensioners and over 1 million live outside of the UK. To maintain a standard of living and keep up with inflation, 60% of those living overseas, receive the annual increase while 40% do not! These are the “frozen” pensioners who receive a pension at the same rate they first received upon reaching state pension age, purely because of where they have chosen to live. Most of those affected live in Commonwealth countries, but the UK steadfastly refuses to even enter discussions to end this irrational and immoral policy.

The UK has signed reciprocal social service agreements with 33 countries, including the USA, Israel, the Philippines, Turkey, and, more recently, non-EU countries such as Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein. Yet, repeated requests from longstanding allies like Australia and Canada have been consistently rejected. The most recent request from the Canadian government in November 2024 was again dismissed by the UK Pensions Minister.

The UK cites cost as a barrier. However, the UK Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed that uprating pensions for British pensioners in Canada in 2026/27 would cost just £13 million (approximately CAD $24 million), out of a total pension budget of £146 billion.

Canada, by contrast, annually indexes pensions for its citizens living in the UK. The UK’s refusal to do the same imposes an unfair burden on Canadian taxpayers, who increasingly support British pensioners through Old Age Security (OAS), the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), and health care costs.

The UK is the only OECD country that maintains this discriminatory two-tier pension system. As the UK seeks new trade and defence agreements, we are calling on Canadian, Australian, and UK parliamentarians to support the creation of a truly reciprocal social security agreement to end this longstanding injustice.

May I add your name to the letter below, which will be presented to Sir Keir Starmer during the Autumn sitting of the UK Parliament?

JOINT CANADA/AUSTRALIA/UK PARLIAMENTARIAN LETTER TO SIR KEIR STARMER, PRIME MINISTER.

“We recognise and cherish the deep and enduring relationship between Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, which has been built on shared history, values, and mutual respect.

“As members of our respective Parliaments, we express our concern regarding the United Kingdom’s frozen pensions policy, which treats UK State pensioners residing in Australia and Canada differently from those residing in other overseas countries (such as USA, Philippines, Israel and Türkiye). This policy unfairly denies annual pension uprating to pensioners now living in Australia and Canada, despite them having made contributions to the UK National Insurance system under the same rules as pensioners living elsewhere.

“We urge the British Government to negotiate new reciprocal social security agreements with Australia and with Canada to end this longstanding inequity and ensure fair treatment for all UK pensioners.”

This is a matter of fairness, dignity, and economic justice—long overdue for resolution.

On behalf of all frozen British pensioners in Canada, thank you

Sincerely,

INSERT YOUR NAME HERE

Guest article: End frozen pensions in Canada

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End frozen pensions in Canada

I’m Andrew Stephen, a Scot who has lived in Canada with his wife and daughter since 2017. I’m 59 and still work full time, but I’m increasingly thinking about retirement which I hope will be sometime in my 60s.

Some of you will be aware of the UK’s “frozen” pension policy, and the resulting #EndFrozenPensions campaign. The British government never increases the state pensions of recipients in Canada (and other countries such as Australia and South Africa), while it simultaneously gives annual increases to recipients in many other countries, including our neighbour the USA. Many older frozen pensioners try to get by on a UK state pension which is less than half what it would be if pension freezing didn’t exist. Even if you have other pension savings, the UK state pension is usually a significant part of your retirement income … provided it isn’t frozen.

I found out about frozen pensions in 2018, and was immediately annoyed about the UK government arbitrarily doing this to a significant group of Brits (114,000 in Canada, 450,000 worldwide) who are easy targets, but who all fulfilled their UK National Insurance obligations. Many are armed forces veterans, some of whom served in WW2. So I joined Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP) where I’m now a board member. CABP is the Canadian arm of the #EndFrozenPensions campaign, and exists to publicize the frozen pension issue and to advocate that the UK government change its policy. We’re a Canadian not-for-profit, volunteer-based organization.

For Brits in Canada, it seems to me there is a dividing line somewhere around age 60 …. above that age, people are knowledgeable about the frozen pension issue because they’re about to be, or are already, impacted. But this group has less social media knowledge and tech “savvy,” so if they’re motivated to act it’s usually via e-mails, letters, conversations, phone calls. Below this age, people have more social media skills, and frankly more energy, but much less knowledge of, or interest in, the issue.

Early in my time in Canada, and especially when I found out about frozen pensions, I thought we might only be here for 10 years, then would return to the UK. But the longer I live here the more I realize it’s likely I’ll retire and end my days here. Family takes root here, this is the country my daughter is growing up in, the only one she really knows. You grow into Canada, and gradually start thinking of it as it home. It is a great country.

Maybe many of you are still in the “I’ll return to the UK at some point” phase. Some of you will, but I believe many of you won’t. The longer you live here there’s an ever-increasing chance you’ll not leave. This isn’t a bad thing! But it would be a way better thing if we could persuade the UK to abandon its arbitrary and discriminatory frozen pension policy.

The fact that my UK state pension will be frozen in eight years’ time if nothing changes annoys and motivates me now; I’m not going to suddenly become motivated on my 67th birthday and only then start trying to do something about it. And that’s why I’m reaching out… we need more people to get motivated about this issue now, and to act.

There are many ways you can do this:

  • CABP has a growing presence on X (https://x.com/CABP_News/). We post multiple times a day and reply to pertinent posts from UK politicians and media. Our campaign on X needs more support, so I encourage you to repost, like, reply to, etc. our material there. We’re also on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/frozenbritishpensions/) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/canadian-alliance-of-british-pensioners/).
  • Membership of CABP costs $25 a year. Joining will give you access to lots of information on the UK state pension, and crucially how you can buy National Insurance years of contribution despite not living in the UK, thereby increasing the UK state pension you’ll get at retirement. Our membership fees and action fund support our campaign to #EndFrozenPensions, including lobbying of UK politicians and media on the issue. We’re here (https://britishpensions.com/ and info@britishpensions.com). Website is being redeveloped but it does the job!
  • You can contact your UK MP. British citizens abroad can now vote in UK parliamentary elections no matter how long they’ve been away. CABP can tell you how to register to vote in the UK, and can give advice on messaging to your MP.
  • Get involved with the #EndFrozenPensions campaign. We are always looking for volunteers who can help ignite our campaign in the UK and Canada. Contact us to find out how at info@britishpensions.com.

If frozen UK state pensions weren’t on your radar before reading this, I hope they are now. There is a new government in Westminster, and we’re hopeful that they’ll treat this issue differently to their predecessors. But be in no doubt, if they hear no complaints they will change nothing, and British pensioners who paid what was required of them will continue to be discriminated against. Don’t wait until you’re in your 60s to become motivated, because that will be too late; the earlier you act the better.

Thanks.

Andrew Stephen

500,000 frozen overseas British pensioners

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Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners

Nigel Nelson from the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners reached out to Brits in Toronto with his latest thoughts. He mentioned stepping back from fighting the “frozen British State Pension” issue and sent in the following article. Thanks and all the best, Nigel.

Anne Puckridge is 98 years old, and served in all of the armed forces, in India during WWII. She receives a weekly pension of £72.50, far below the current basic state pension, which by April will reach £156.20 per week.

Why? Because at the age of 76, Anne moved to Canada to be closer to her family in old age. In doing so, she inadvertently became one of 500,000 Britons, and one of 60,000 military veterans, who are cruelly denied their full UK state pension by the British Government.

Canada is one of 106 countries that British pensioners can retire to and their British State Pension is “frozen” at the level first received. Countries that have the most “frozen” British Pensioners include Australia with 225,000, Canada with 126,000, New Zealand with 64,000 and South Africa with over 30,000.

Other “frozen” countries include Japan (7,000), Thailand (Over 5,000), India (over 4,000) and Pakistan (over 2,500).

Have you noticed how much food prices have gone up in the last year? Around 14%, that is how much.

How are pensioners like Anne expected to manage when their British State Pension doesn’t increase year on year; exchange rates are also falling, so, in real terms Anne is getting less each year, yet food and heating prices are going through the roof.

How is she, and 126,000 like her expected to manage?

The non-indexation of the British Government pension is costing the Canadian economy $450 million a year.

Can we please highlight the plight of Anne, and the other half a million “frozen” British Pensioners, in articles and interviews, by signing this petition and also encouraging your audience to do so also.

If you would like to read more details on how indefensible the UK’s “frozen” pensions policy is, please read this article: “Indefensible!”: Pensioners join forces to stop 500,000 people receiving “poverty pension.”

Thanks very much.

Kind regards,
Nigel Nelson
Previous Chair of the International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP)

Request from the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners

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Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners

Got an e-mail today from Ian Andexser, Chairman, Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners, an organization we’ve featured extensively on Brits in Toronto mainly via postings by Nigel Nelson (if you want to search back).

Ian has requested some support from British expats living in Canada, so here it is as written …

“As many of you know I am very involved in trying to get British pensions indexed in Canada and regardless of whether you are a member of our association or not, you can support a very important action about to take place.

“First of all you should be aware that our pressure on the Canadian government has resulted in them recently sending an official request to the UK to enter into a social security agreement to cover pensions. This is HUGE!

“The UK have recently signed 23 new agreements with EU countries because of Brexit, and it will be very difficult for them to refuse Canada’s request.

“I have been able to arrange (through our lobbyists in London) for a ‘virtual’ Zoom video meeting next month between British MPs and Canadian MPs to discuss the issue and we have [a] newspaper in the UK prepared to write a story leading up to this important meeting, but they want the headline to be … ‘Thousands of expats in Canada ask PM Boris’ … etc.

“So I am pleading with you to go to this link and add your name to the letter.

“You should also send this e-mail [blog post] to every British person you know living in Canada regardless of them being a pensioner or not (they will be some day) and ask them to do the same thing.”

Did you ever work in the UK?

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Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners

The following is sponsored content.

If you worked in the UK, then chances are that you might one day be eligible to receive a British pension, even though you are now living in Canada.

There are some criteria that you have to meet, but if you worked there for as little as one year, you could still be eligible when you reach retirement age. Click here to find out when that will be www.gov.uk/state-pension-age.

The Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP) is a not-for-profit group that provides all sorts of useful and knowledgeable information that can assist you in determining your future pension entitlement.

Example #1: Our current chairman emigrated to Canada in 1976 after only working six years in the UK. With the help of CABP pension experts, he is now getting almost $10,000 every year from his UK pension!

Example #2: A 75-year-old lady emigrated to Canada after working in the UK for 12 years. She was entitled to a UK pension 10 years ago but didn’t know it.

CABP recently helped her apply for her pension and when she receives it, she will get her annual amount going forward plus 10 years of uncollected pension! The amount that she will receive is still being calculated but it will be a significant sum of unexpected money.

It is hard to believe but it is true! Perhaps a pension is possible for you and if you join us we will help you find out.

Regardless of your age, now is the time to be looking into your British pension eligibility because every year that you delay might reduce your future amount.

Check out CABP’s website www.britishpensions.com or call the Toronto office at 416-253-6402.

It could be the smartest financial decision you have ever made.

Canada is being left out in the cold … again

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Tracy Gray and Nigel Nelson

Conservative MP Tracy Gray (Kelowna and Lake County) and Nigel Nelson (previous chair of the International Consortium of British Pensioners)

Nigel Nelson is a regular contributor to Brits in Toronto, and is a member of the non-profit Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP), and Previous Chair of the (also) non profit International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP).

Here are his latest thoughts on British pensioners in Canada who are in receipt of a UK state pension. All views are the CABP’s and Brits in Toronto does not endorse them and is not held liable in any way. As always, do your due diligence.

All it took was a referendum, three Prime Ministers and a general election to finally get Brexit over the line — well, that was easy, wasn’t it?

Now that the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement has been signed the UK is in what is called the “transition period” for the rest of this calendar year. During this period, lawmakers in the UK and the EU are agreeing the nitty gritty details of the Withdrawal Agreement.

UK pensioners living in the EU have already been promised the annual increase to their UK state pension for the next three years should negotiating bilateral agreements extend beyond the end of the transition period (if the UK wants to extend the transition period, they have until July 1 to do so).

Meanwhile, there are 498,000 pensioners globally in receipt of a UK state pension who never receive the annual increase, and their UK state pension remains “frozen” at the level first paid. 91% of these pensioners have retired to live in the Commonwealth countries of Australia (228,000), Canada (128,000), New Zealand (65,000) and South Africa (32,000). They will remain out in the cold since the UK government is not offering them bilateral agreements and so their UK state pensions remain “frozen.”

Of the pensioners in Canada who have retired and are in receipt of a UK state pension, around 56% of them live in Ontario and another quarter live in BC.

My wife and I (who both receive frozen UK state pensions) recently had the opportunity to meet with our newly elected MP, Tracy Gray. Tracy has hit the ground running in her first term as an MP and is proud to be Shadow Minister for Interprovincial Trade as well as a Member of the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).

Tracy is one of the most engaged MPs that I have had the privilege of meeting, both in Canada and the UK. She had a lot of questions, so it was a good job I went well prepared!

We started by looking at the number of pensioners with frozen UK state pensions who live in Canada, then in BC and finally in her constituency here in Kelowna. We discussed the unfair and discriminatory policy the UK government has — you receive the annual state pension increase if you live in the USA, but you don’t if you live in Canada, for example.

We also highlighted how much less money, over time, that state pensioners receive compared to their peers in the UK.

So, for example, if you retired from the UK to Canada in June 2001, on a full UK state pension, you would have received £72.50 per week. Today, nearly 19 years later, you would still be getting £72.50 per week, and, as a result, you would have received £26,500 (C$47,000) less than you would have received if you had remained in the UK.

Tracy was interested in knowing what reasons that the UK government has given for not uprating our pensions. We explained the reasons (or excuses!), including cost and the need for bilateral agreements, which are illogical and discriminatory.

The UK government has estimated that the cost to uprate frozen pensions globally is £600 million a year, which sounds like a lot until you realise that the government is sitting on a state pension surplus of £18 billion, and it has estimated that by 2024-25, the surplus will be an eye-watering £50 billion.

What is even more frustrating is that the UK government has recently negotiated new bilateral agreements with some EEA countries (Norway, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Switzerland and Republic of Ireland) when it has consistently said that no more agreements would be negotiated because they are too expensive; and there are likely to be more agreements to come with the remaining EU countries.

However, Commonwealth countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa are left out in the cold. Again.

In 2013, Freedom of Information Request No. 595 was filed in the UK, requesting clarification regarding the need for reciprocal agreements. The response from the UK government was, “Bilateral agreements are not necessary in order for pensions paid outside Great Britain and the EU to be uprated.”

It is unfortunate that MPs in Canada have been so badly advised in the past. The UK government is disingenuous in that it is still insisting that bilateral agreements are the only solution to providing state pension parity, when clearly, this is not the case.

We then covered the financial effect that the freezing of our state pensions has on the Canadian economy; the effect has been conservatively estimated to be north of half a billion dollars a year, and it impacts significantly on some of the oldest, most vulnerable and frail members of our society: seniors.

According to Statistics Canada, as at 2016, there were 828,000 pensioners living in Canada aged 65 and over on “low income,” and, according to the Canadian government, 10.3% of men and 10.8% of women aged 65 and over were living below the poverty line.

Tracy then asked how she could help, and we explained that a short-term goal was to get frozen state pensions onto the agenda at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in June of this year. Other goals included bringing this to the attention of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, and all ministers whose departments would gain from unfreezing our state pensions.

In addition, we would like to establish a link between:
i) The Canada-United Kingdom Inter-Parliamentary Association (RUUK) and the APPG for Frozen British Pensions in the UK; and
ii) The Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CCOM) and the APPG.

Finally, we said that a key goal was to encourage the Canadian government to ensure that any future trade deals between the UK and Canada are linked to the unfreezing of our state pensions.

The detailed Q&A we had with Tracy can be read here. If you are receiving a frozen British state pension, or you think you will qualify in the future, and you have not met with your MP yet, we would encourage you do so (they don’t bite — honestly!), and you can read the “CABP Talking Points About Our Campaign” notes we used here.

As Tracy is now a member of the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and it is due to meet soon, she will endeavour to get the frozen pensions issue onto the agenda for discussion at that meeting.

Tracy then suggested that we should look at raising a Parliamentary petition since one only needs 25 Canadian citizens and/or permanent residents to sign a petition for it to be debated in the House of Commons.

Our new MP here in Kelowna was very engaged throughout our 45-minute conversation, asking incisive questions and hopefully she will be very supportive of our cause going forwards.

Brexit: Are we over the line yet?

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Brexit door

When one door closes another one stays closed too

Nigel Nelson is a regular contributor to Brits in Toronto, and is a member of the non-profit Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP), and Past Chair of the (also) non-profit International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP).

Here’s his latest thoughts on pinning the tail on the PM, Brexit, pensioners in Canada who receive the UK State Pension, and the upcoming Canadian election. All views are the CABP’s and Brits in Toronto does not endorse them and is not held liable in any way. As always, do your due diligence.

I received an e-mail from British Bloke yesterday and he invited me to write an article on Brexit — he said that I could write something for him this week, or wait until after the weekend.

Did I want to write something now (and look foolish next week) or play it safe and write after the vote. I told him that I was very busy this week, and would next week be OK?

The e-mail from him came at a timely moment as my octogenarian friend James (you may remember that I first introduced you to James in the Ouch! How Brexit is hurting UK pensioners in Canada and in the later article James and I go to London) and I were playing pin the tail on the next PM. Even with a blindfold on, he managed to pin it on Elizabeth May three times out of five — he always has had a penchant for strong women.

I had to explain to him that Elizabeth May was not standing in every constituency, and since he lives in Ontario he will have to choose somebody closer to home …

In a nutshell, where are we with Brexit?

So far, this single issue has blown through two Prime Ministers: David Cameron and Theresa May (who submitted essentially the same “Withdrawal Agreement” to the UK Parliament four times in succession, only to have four resounding defeats, leading to her resignation) and now threatens the short tenure of Boris Johnson.

This last one seems very strange since he easily won the hearts and minds of the Conservative heartlands in becoming PM, and he has been very consistent in saying that the UK is leaving the EU on October 31, come hell or high water, with or without a deal.

But there has still been strong resistance in his own Party, never mind Opposition parties that could see and smell blood in the water already.

In order to avoid a head-on collision, Boris prorogued Parliament which was deemed illegal, then the Benn Act was passed which forbade Parliament from taking the “no deal” route, and, instead Boris would have to agree with the EU a new withdrawal date).

Boris then expelled 23 members of his own Party for voting against him (including a good friend of the “frozen” pensioners, Sir Oliver Letwin (no name dropping, but one of the cleverest men James and I have ever met)), and he has kept plugging away, even issuing a document this week entitled “No-Deal Readiness Report” and agreed a “new” deal with the EU.

This was put before the UK Parliament today (Parliament has only sat three times since 1939 on a Saturday.

What has all the fuss been about, you may ask?

Finding a solution in Ireland that suits Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the UK and the EU — an impossible task you may think. Everyone was agreed that there should not be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (this would be like annulling the “Good Friday Agreement” and nobody wants to go there).

Boris has now agreed with the EU that the whole of the UK will leave the EU customs union. This will allow the UK to negotiate future trade deals with any country in the world. There will be different tax rates for goods that are transported to Northern Ireland, depending on where they are for use in Northern Ireland or whether they will be transported to the Republic of Ireland, and vice versa; goods that arrive in the Republic of Ireland will be taxed differently depending on whether they stay there or whether they are transported to Northern Ireland or the UK. More details of the “deal” can be found here.

Since my main interest in all of this is the impact any Brexit deal has on UK pensioners living in the EU. Essentially, if a Brexit deal is struck with the EU before the end of this month, then the UK pensioners living in the EU (of which, according to data from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) there were 498,000 as at February 2019) will continue to receive the annual increase to their UK State Pension (a bumper 4% next April) for the transition period which ends on December 31, 2020.

The transition period will then be used to negotiate reciprocal social security arrangements between the UK and each of the EU countries such that the UK pensioners living in the EU will continue to receive free healthcare and UK State Pension annual increases.

If the UK has not finalised a deal with the EU by October 31, then things get really interesting. Boris is adamant that the UK will leave by the end of this month, even if that means there is a “no deal,” and the Benn Act of Parliament prevents this from happening. The Benn Act is interesting because the Judiciary usually keeps its nose out of political decision making, but not so on this occasion.

So, if the UK does crash out of the EU on October 31, UK pensioners living in the EU will continue to receive the annual increase to their UK State Pension until 2023 — presumably because it will take much longer to negotiate bilateral social security agreements with each of the EU countries, since they will be really pissed off with the UK.

Also, with a “no deal” it is not clear whether the UK will still have to pay the divorce bill — which, according to the pillar of the British press, The Sun, is an amount “between £35 and £39 billion.”

It has taken a long time to get here, but how does this affect UK pensioners who have come her to Canada to retire?

According to Department for Work & Pensions numbers, there were close to 134,000 UK pensioners living here, and there will be no “bumper 4%” increase for them next April (there are over 26,000 of them who are receiving less than £20 per week (say, CAD 32), and another 50,000 who are receiving between £20 and £40 per week). A UK State Pension is “frozen” at the level at which it is first received, with no annual increase, ever.

So, by way of example, if you had retired from the UK and came here to Canada in 2001, aged 65, on a full UK State Pension, you would have received £72.50 (C$159) per week. You would still be getting £72.50 a week (C$119), but in real terms getting C$40 less per week due to the drop in the £ to CAD exchange rate. Since emigrating here, your peers back in the UK will have received £26,538 (C$47,026) more. If you are a retired UK ex-pat, this chart may help you see how much less you have received.

If you are already affected, or think that you will be affected by the UK “frozen pension” policy, and would like to help us in our fight, please check out the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP) and they may be able to help you.

Once new bilateral social security agreements have been negotiated between the UK and EU countries, then the “frozen” pensioner action groups like CABP will challenge the UK Government on a “why them, and not us?” basis.

Finally (at last, you say), if you were one of the 3.4 million Advanced Poll voters, then congratulations. If you didn’t vote in the Advanced Poll, and you are eligible to vote, I implore you to get out and vote on October 21.

This could be a close federal election, and every vote counts. I have no idea who James will be voting for … he is playing his cards very close to his chest … but, to his chagrin, it won’t be Elizabeth May!

Where do you stand on the “frozen pensions” issue? Nigel can be reached through:

E-mail: theretiree@telus.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011398010359
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/FrozenBritishPensions/

Are the UK pensioners finally coming in from the cold?

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Anne Puckridge

Photo of Anne Puckridge by her daughter, Gillian

Nigel Nelson is a regular contributor to Brits in Toronto, and is a member of the non-profit Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP), and Past Chair of the (also) non-profit International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP).

Here’s his latest thoughts on the “frozen pensions” policy. All views are the CABP’s and Brits in Toronto does not endorse them and is not held liable in any way. As always, do your due diligence.

As regular readers of this column will know, I have a good friend, James (real person but name changed) who is a doting pensioner in his eighties. If I had to describe James, it would be curmudgeonly, but recently he has an almost sickly smile on his face and he is … humming (not exactly in tune, but humming nevertheless), and here is the reason why.

By way of background and, according to the latest figures from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), there are just over 132,000 UK pensioners living in Canada who are in receipt of a UK State Pension. The average amount received by each of these pensioners is just £42.65 per week, or, based on today’s exchange rates, $71.22 a week — some are receiving as little as £20 per week.

By contrast, there are 11.6 million pensioners in the UK and they receive an average of £145.57 per week; admittedly, there are one of two benefits (such as the disability allowance) that are included in the UK figures that UK pensioners living in Canada are not entitled to. But, as you can see, there is a huge discrepancy between the average weekly amounts received based on where you decide to retire to.

Once a pensioner decides to retire to Canada from the UK their UK State Pension is “frozen” at the level first received here. This is known as the UK “frozen pension” policy which has been in existence for over 70 years. In James’s case, he has received nearly £28,000 (over $51,000 using historic exchange rates) less than he would have received if he had remained in the UK.

James lives in Ontario, and, if he had decided to retire south of Niagara Falls (in the US), he would have continued to receive the annual increases to his UK State Pension, but, by living North of the Falls (in Canada), then he does not receive the annual increases — how can that be fair, on any level?

Anyway, today’s story is not about James, but about another of my friends: Anne Puckridge, whose picture is above.

Anne is 93 years old, and she is a former college lecturer. She lived and worked in the UK for 40 years, paying mandatory National Insurance contributions throughout this time. In 2002, aged 77 she finally retired and decided to move to Canada to be with her daughter, Gillian, and grandchildren who had moved to Calgary in the 1990s.

Sixteen years on, Anne, who served as an intelligence officer in the Women’s Royal Navy in the Second World War, is struggling to live on the frozen £72.50 a week rate she was entitled to when she moved abroad. Anne has received around £22,000 less than if she had stayed in the UK, and, in my article in August, I highlighted the fact that Vic Williams, who passed away earlier this year at the grand old age of 96, had received £67,000 (over $129,000) less than his peers in the UK.

Anne now feels that she will be forced to move back to Britain, because her pension will no longer cover day-to-day expenses and she is increasingly reliant on her daughter to get by.

“It’s the small things, and the injustice, that is really getting to me. I value my independence, but I can’t go on living on the breadline and I don’t want to inflict this on my family. As well as ever-increasingly poverty, I feel a sense of stress and shame, which is affecting my health,” she says.

Anne used to be able to go out to lunch and afternoon tea with her friends, but now she must weigh up the cost of this versus spending the same money on Christmas gifts for her grandchildren.

Last year, in a debate in the UK House of Commons on Pensions Uprating, when referring to Anne, Mhairi Black, MP, Scottish National Party had this to say:

“We are saying, ‘We’re not going to give you that money, but you can go and live abroad, make yourself ill through poverty, worry and the stress of having to come home. When you are forced to return to Britain, don’t worry, we’ll foot the bill for the NHS and everything else.’ The argument about cost does not stand up — costs will increase when pensioners who have been made ill through stress or whatever, have to come back in order to survive.”

The cost to uprate the State Pension worldwide has been estimated by the UK Government to be £600 million, and that the country cannot afford it. However, what they forget to tell you is:

1. According to the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR), each pensioner living outside the UK saves the Treasury around £1,500 per pensioner per year. There are 1.2 million UK pensioners living overseas. This means that the UK Government is saving £1.8 billion off the backs of the most vulnerable people in society today – pensioners.

2. All National Insurance Contributions are paid into the National Insurance Fund (NIF), and the State Pension is paid out of the same fund. According to the latest set of NIF accounts (year ended March 31, 2018), there is currently a balance of £24.2 billion (page 13) in the NIF. By law, there must be a “running balance” (or “float”) equal to 1/6th of the Annual Payments from the NIF account (£101.5 billion) which is £16.9 billion, which then leaves an excess of £7.3 billion. Why can the uprating amount of £600 million come from this account? It is also interesting to note that the excess has grown by over £2 billion in the past 12 months. As an aside, this balance of £24.2 billion is used as a UK National Debt offset, rather than distribute it to those who are in most need.

So, when the UK Government says that they cannot afford it, what they are really saying is that the over 520,000 UK pensioners living in “frozen” countries like Canada and Australia aren’t worth it, even though many, like Anne, fought for their country. In addition, because UK pensioners living in this country do not receive the annual increase, the Canadian government is subsidizing the UK government by providing the extremely poor with cash and housing benefits, which is coming out of taxes you and I pay. In addition, it has been estimated that because these pension increases are not being received by UK pensioners living in Canada, it is costing the Canadian economy more than half a billion dollars a year since, typically, pensioners are spenders and not savers.

Just these past few days, Anne and her daughter Gillian have flown to the UK. The International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP), which is half owned by the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP) has recently set up a new petition, where Anne is our campaign “poster girl.”

If you are a “frozen” pensioner, or if you hope to receive a UK State Pension one day, I would ask you to please check out this petition, add your own name to it, and send the link to everyone in your contact list, both here in Canada and in the UK; this is a global issue. So far, the petition has attracted 218,000 signatures and Anne will be on hand in the Palace of Westminster to answer questions that MPs may have. At the same time, the Chairman of the ICBP will be presenting the petition to 10 Downing Street.

Anne has had a lot of attention recently (which she absolutely hates!), as articles have appeared on both sides of the pond. In the UK, the FT Adviser wrote an article, as did The Guardian and Daily Express, and here, in Canada, the BBC (USA and Canada) and the CBC both have articles on their websites, and there is also an article in the International Adviser.

In addition, Brits in Toronto (hello!) and emigrate.co.uk have also picked up the story.

If there are any questions you have relating to the UK State Pension, you can call the CABP toll-free on 1 888 591 3964 or contact info AT britishpensions DOT COM.

Things the UK government should be ashamed of: Parts I-III

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UK government

Grrrrr! We’re so bloody angry!

Nigel Nelson is a regular contributor to Brits in Toronto, and is a member of the non-profit Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP), and Past Chair of the (also) non-profit International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP).

Here’s his latest thoughts on the “frozen pensions” policy. All views are the CABP’s and Brits in Toronto does not endorse them and is not held liable in any way. As always, do your due diligence.

Things the UK government should be ashamed of – Part I

Millions of you out there viewing this blog (I wish!) will have read several outspoken articles that I have written on the UK government’s “frozen pensions” Policy which has been in existence for over 70 years now.

If you live in one of 120 countries (of which Canada is one) your UK State Pension is “frozen” at the level at which it is first received, and you will not receive the annual increases. This affects the over 133,000 recipients of the UK State Pension who live in Canada. The UK is the only country in the OECD (out of 35) that operates this immoral and discriminatory policy. The Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP) has been lobbying the UK government for over 25 years in an attempt to annul this outdated policy.

I would like to tell you about Vic Williams, one of the strongest CABP supporters, who died a couple of months ago at the tender age of 96. I know that this blog normally tells you about successful Brits living in Ontario. As Vic lived in Mississauga, I think that he would have counted.

Vic Williams

Vic Willams. Photo courtesy of Wendy Williams

Vic passed away at the grand old age of 96, and he was of the old school. Born in the East End of London he was a true Cockney, and, like all Cockneys he was a born storyteller, entertaining all who new him with fascinating (and often hilarious) stories of his rich life, which began in London England, where in his youth he was a talented soccer player.

His service as a young man in the Royal Navy on the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable took him around the world. He joined up because “it was the right thing to do.”

Back in post-war London Vic met Helen, and they were married in 1954. They emigrated to Canada in 1956 and settled in Mississauga in 1958, where their family of three soon grew to five. Vic worked for Alcan for over 25 years, rising to a management position, and in the process teaching his children the values of diligence and hard work. Despite the Cockney accent that never quite left him, he was a proud Canadian, camping with his family and exploring Canada with Helen.

In retirement, Vic and Helen became founding members of the Probus Club of Mississauga Centre which provided them with many opportunities to enjoy activities with new friends. Vic was known as an avid horse-racing enthusiast and a prudent handicapper, who usually came out as a winner upon placing a bet. A generous man, Vic often gave his winnings to family and charities. As a proud WW II veteran, he was a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, participating in Remembrance Day ceremonies each year.

Until recently, a fiercely independent Vic continued to live in the Mississauga house that has been the family home for almost 50 years. Vic was always proud of the fact that, in his youth, he knew Michael Caine. Even when he was in his early nineties, he was still able to attend the CABP AGM’s where I had the honour of meeting him.

In 2013, Vic, in conjunction with the CABP made a Remembrance Day video for the then Prime Minister, David Cameron beseeching him to revoke the unfair, immoral and discriminatory “frozen pensions” policy. I am not sure if Mr. Cameron ever saw the video.

Because of the UK government’s “frozen pensions” policy, UK pensioners living in Canada who retired at the same time as Vic, and who have earned a “full” UK State Pension will have received more than £67,000 less than their peers in the UK, even though they will have made the same level of National Insurance contributions. In Canadian Dollar terms (using historic exchange rates), this amounts to close on CAD 129,500, which is not chump change and is a life-changing amount for many older pensioners who may have become dependent on the Canadian government for handouts and subsidies.

According to Statistics Canada, as at 2016, there were 828,000 pensioners living in Canada aged 65 and over on “low income,” and, according to the Government of Canada, as at 2016, 10.3% of men and 10.8% of women aged 65 and over were living below the poverty line — in terms of UK pensioners, this means over 14,000 of them are living below the poverty line.

According to the UK’s Department for Work & Pensions (DWP), there are 38% of UK pensioners living in “frozen” countries (like Canada) who are receiving a UK State Pension of less than £20 per week (CAD 32 per week), at current exchange rates. Who can live on this?

Things the UK government should be ashamed of – Part II

If you are a regular follower of this column, you will know that I have a good friend, James (real person but name changed) who is a doting pensioner in his eighties (https://britsintoronto.com/2018/03/19/brexit-update-nothing-is-agreed-until-everything-is-agreed/). I usually find him chortling in his G&T, but times are so hard that he has run out of gin. He recently went down to his wine cellar to get a bottle of claret, but he has also run out of that. Times are hard. Things haven’t been helped by what is happening (or not happening) with Brexit.

With the UK Parliament in recess, and no clear way forward in terms of the UK divorcing the EU, it is UK pensioners living overseas who continue to suffer. When the Brexit referendum result was announced there was an immediate fall in the exchange rate:

Exchange rate small
(Larger version here.) Source: https://www.currenciesdirect.com/en/currency-tools/currency-charts

All UK State Pensions are paid in GBP. Most pensioners are living pension cheque to pension cheque. This mean that they are hostages to fortune when it comes to exchange rates, and have to take the rate on the day that they receive their pension cheque.

According to the latest DWP figures, the average UK State Pension received by pensioners living in Canada is just over £41 per week. At the beginning of June 2016 (just before the Brexit referendum), this would have been worth nearly CAD 80 per week. By the middle of July (just after the Brexit referendum) this would only be worth CAD 70 per week. The longer that the UK government prevaricates over the Brexit deal (or no deal) the more jittery the currency exchange markets become, and this means the UK pensioners living abroad will be worse off.

In fact, my friend James receives a smaller UK State Pension today in CAD terms than when he first retired. When he first retired in 1998, he was receiving £64.70 per week. The exchange rate in those days was 2.37 CAD to the pound, so he was receiving CAD 153 per week. Today, he is still receiving £64.70 per week, but this is only worth CAD 109 per week — so he is receiving a staggering 29% less now in real terms than when he first retired.

Meanwhile, according to the Bank of Canada, inflation has risen by over 46% since 1998, when James retired. Whilst the UK government cannot be held completely responsible for the changes in exchange rates, it is impossible for UK pensioners living in “frozen” countries to budget when their income base is in decline, and inflation is rising at an average rate of nearly 2% a year (at least, in Canada).

However, the annulment of the “frozen pensions” policy is entirely in the hands of the UK government, and the fund from which the State Pension is paid (the National Insurance Fund) currently has a £6 billion surplus. Meanwhile, to uprate the UK State Pension for all pensioners living in Canada would cost a meagre (in comparison) £159 million per year. Hopefully, Brexit may force their hands, but that is a story for another day.

In the meantime, it is enough to drive James and his pensioner friends to drink … except they can no longer afford it. The gin is all drunk, and so is the wine. All that is left for them is to try their hand at homebrewing.

Things the UK government should be ashamed of – Part III

Prior to the General Election called by Theresa May in June 2017, the then Pensions Minister, Richard Harrington had asked for a meeting with the International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP) — 50% owned by CABP. The CABP flew a Board Member to London for the meeting. Mrs May called a General Election before that meeting could take place, and the meeting was called off at the last minute.

After the General Election, the Pensions Minister role was downgraded to the Parliamentary-Under-Secretary role, and Guy Opperman was appointed. Since then, there has been no contact. There was no apology, no offer to reimburse the ICBP for the costs that they had incurred – nada.

Yet another reason why this current UK government should be ashamed …

If there are any questions you have relating to the UK State Pension, you can call the CABP toll-free on 1-888-591-3964 or contact info AT britishpensions DOT COM.

Brexit update: “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”

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Brexit update

We’ll meeeeet again, don’t know wherrrre, don’t know whe — oh, sorry, we probably won’t

Nigel Nelson is a regular contributor to Brits in Toronto, and is a member of the non-profit Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP), and Past Chair of the (also) non-profit International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP).

Here’s his latest thoughts on Brexit and pensioners in Canada who receive the UK State Pension. All views are the CABP’s and Brits in Toronto does not endorse them and is not held liable in any way. As always, do your due diligence.

I was recently speaking to my octogenarian friend James the other day (you may remember that I first introduced you to James in the Ouch! How Brexit is hurting UK pensioners in Canada and in the later article James and I go to London), and I said to him what a quintessentially European phrase, “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” really is, although its origins seem to come from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2005.

What has this got to do with the UK State Pension which is what James and I always end up talking about? You see, he is a British military chap and he is usually found frothing at the mouth because he has found out that if he had stayed in the UK rather than retiring here to Canada he would be more than £31,000 better off in terms of his UK State Pension; using historic exchange rates, this converts to over $56,000 — not a trifling amount by any means.

If James lived south of the Niagara Falls (in the US) he would have been getting the annual increases to his UK State Pension. Instead, he chose to live north of the Falls, here in Canada and he hasn’t been getting the annual increases, and his UK State Pension has been “frozen.” How unfair is that?

James has been reading about Brexit and that got him thinking about UK pensioners living in Europe. There are 496,000 pensioners living in Europe who are in receipt of a UK State Pension:

Pensioners stats

Source: Dept. of Work and Pensions

Once the UK drops out of Europe, then, technically, the UK government no longer has a legal obligation to continue giving these pensioners the annual inflationary increase. This year the increase is 3%, so, for anyone getting their UK State Pension based on the pre-2016 Pensions Bill, this means an increase of just over £190 per year. Those who have retired after April 2016 will receive up to an estimated £260.

These pensioners are not happy about the possibility of them losing the annual increase, and there are a number of European pension lobby groups who are petitioning the UK Parliament.

The European Parliament and the UK Government have agreed that the UK government will continue to “export benefits” which includes the annual increase to the UK State Pension, and that has been drafted into the Withdrawal Bill which is currently before the UK Parliament. This is fine as long as the Withdrawal Bill is enacted.

However, Brexit negotiations are currently getting bogged down with negotiating a trade agreement. If the negotiations are not all completed by March 27, 2019, then the UK could fall out of the EU, and the Withdrawal Bill could be in limbo. So, where would this leave the pensioners living in Europe who receive a UK State Pension?

There are 540,000 pensioners living in 120 countries who do not receive the annual increase to their UK State Pension (larger image):

Countries affected small

Source: International Consortium of British Pensioners

As you can see, Canada is one of those countries (where there are 144,000 “frozen” pensioners). The pension lobby groups that I represent are watching very carefully to see what Brexit delivers in terms of the annual UK State Pension increase.

Technically, the pensioners living in Europe will be joining all the other “frozen” UK pensioners in the world, and the number would then swell to over one million unhappy pensioners — not a pleasant sight!

The UK Government has said that as part of the Withdrawal Agreement, they will negotiate “bilateral agreements” with European countries such that the pensioners living in Europe will continue to receive their annual UK State Pension increase. What James and many others are asking: “Why them, and not us?”

If you think that you are going to be affected by the UK “frozen” pension policy, and would like to help us in our fight, please check out the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners and they may be able to help you …

Where do you stand on this? Nigel can be reached:

E-mail: nigel AT britishpensions DOT COM

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CABP_News

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011398010359

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nigelnelson7150/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/nigelbritishpensionscom/

James and I go to London

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james-uk

The “constructive boardroom meeting” stock photo actor auditions were very competitive this year

(London, England that is, not London, Ontario. Well played.)

Nigel Nelson is a regular contributor to Brits in Toronto, and is a member of the non-profit Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP), and a Director of the (also) non-profit International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP).

Here’s his latest thoughts on Brexit and pensions in Canada. All views are the CABP’s and Brits in Toronto does not endorse them and is not held liable in any way. As always, do your due diligence.

In my previous article, I introduced you to my friend James (real person, name changed). James is an octogenarian who emigrated from the UK many years ago, and retired in Ontario in 1998. He is what is known as a “frozen” pensioner.

Now, I know he lives in a cold part of Canada, but that is not why he is “frozen”! No, James is one of 144,000 UK pensioners living in Canada who do not receive an annual increase to their UK state pension — whereas pensioners living in the UK, the European Union, and several disparate countries around the world do receive the annual increase.

This is known as the UK “frozen pension” policy. He still cannot understand why, if you live south of the Niagara Falls (in the US) then you get the annual increase, but if you live 500 yards north of the Falls (in Canada) then you don’t.

When I showed him the “Pension Erosion” chart (see below), then he marked on it (in blue) the year in which he retired, and then realized that he had received £25,000 less than his peers in the UK … even though he has made the same National Insurance Contributions as them, and had earned a “full” UK State Pension.

uk-state-pension-erosion

James marked the blue bit

So, James packed his bags, said goodbye to his wife and set off for the UK — and I said goodbye to my wife and went with him. Somebody had to carry his bags!

james-uk

“G-4?” “Hey! You sunk my battleship!”

In the space of eight days, we spoke with 24 Parliamentarians (Members of Parliament and Peers), the UK media, and several other pension organisations. We showed everybody the Pension Erosion chart, and there came a new realization of just how badly UK pensioners living abroad in countries like Australia and Canada are being treated by the UK government.

For example, for those UK pensioners living in Canada who are 85 or over, the accumulated “Pension Erosion” amounts to £669 million. For those UK pensioners living beneath the poverty line, the Canadian government subsidizes them, which comes out of Canadian taxpayers’ pockets, rather than the UK government’s. How can that be right, or fair?

What we learned from our trip to London is that the main issue challenging UK Members of Parliament is Brexit.

Nobody knows what is going to happen with respect to the 488,700 UK pensioners living in the European Union (EU). The table below shows the number of UK pensioners living in each country within the EU.

uk-pensioners-living-in-the-eu

That’s a lot of UK pensioners scattered across the EU

It is not clear whether these pensioners will continue to receive the annual increase to their UK State Pension once the Brexit negotiations have been completed, since the UK government only increases UK State Pensions annually where, “they are legally obliged to.”

Post-Brexit, if the UK is neither part of the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA), then the UK government is no longer legally obliged to annually increase the UK State Pension for UK pensioners living in the EU.

The Telegraph reported in May 2016 that over a 20-year-period, UK pensioners living in the EU would be, “£50,000 poorer.”

Many of the UK pensioners living in the EU fear that they will be a “pawn” in the Brexit negotiations, and their annual UK State Pension increases will be a “bargaining chip.” If this is the case — and their UK State Pension is no longer increased each year — then, for many of them, they will have no option but to sell up and return home to the UK.

If all UK pensioners living in the EU were to return home to the UK, then the additional cost to the NHS has been estimated to be £2 billion per year.

In talking to one MP, we found out that the rural areas may offer the cheapest housing but these houses are in remote locations, far away from medical facilities. NHS hospitals, which are already stretched, will become even more so due to inadequate staffing levels.

Every day seems to bring yet another story of how the UK NHS system is one step closer to breaking point. Pensioners tend to be the greatest users of medical resources, so, if they were to return (from the EU) in significant numbers, they would stretch the NHS to beyond breaking point.

James and I came back from London with new vigour to try and help the UK pensioners living in the EU, by setting up a new petition. We wanted to let Brits in Toronto readers know that the International Consortium of British Pensioners have developed their own petition.

This petition is designed mostly for the nearly half a million UK pensioners living in the EU — but also applies to the 144,000 UK pensioners living in Canada who already have their UK state pension “frozen” — who may lose the annual indexation to their UK State Pension as part of the Brexit negotiations.

We also ask your readers to review the House of Commons Petition. British citizens and UK residents can sign this petition, so please sign this if you can, and ask your family and friends in the UK to sign this petition as well. There are currently just over 4,000 signatures. At 10,000 signatures, the UK government will respond, and if there are 100,000 signatures, then the UK government will debate the petition. Please sign this petition before it expires on 25th January 2017.

We would also like to encourage readers to join in the battle and become members of the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners.

We would also like to wish all Brits in Toronto readers a wonderful holiday season and a healthy and prosperous 2017.

Nigel can be reached via e-mail at nigel AT britishpensions DOT COM.

Ouch! How Brexit is hurting UK pensioners in Canada

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Pensions

File your pension somewhere safe, like in a paper folder with “Pensions” written on it or something

Nigel Nelson is a regular contributor to Brits in Toronto, and is a member of the non-profit Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP), and a Director of the (also) non-profit International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP).

Here’s his latest thoughts on Brexit and pensions in Canada. All views are the CABP’s and Brits in Toronto does not endorse them and is not held liable in any way. As always, do your due diligence.

I was talking with my good friend James (real person, but name changed) the other day and he wasn’t very happy. But first let me tell you a little bit about James. He has spent his whole retirement living here in Ontario — he is 83 and first started drawing his UK State Pension in 1998.

At that time he was paid £64.60/week, which in those days meant he was getting about $150/week; this was when gas cost 52 cents/litre, and a loaf of bread cost just $1.30.

Today, because of the UK’s “frozen” pension policy, James is still getting £64.60/week, which immediately after the Brexit vote converted to $110/week ($40/week less than he was getting in 1998) — the British pound instantly fell 18% against the loonie. Meanwhile the cost of gas has gone up to 94 cents/litre ($1.15/litre in Western Canada), and a loaf of bread is now nearly $3. How can anybody be expected to live on 110 bucks a week?

James’ UK State Pension has fallen in real terms because the UK Government steadfastly refuses to annually uprate pensions for UK pensioners living in Commonwealth countries like Canada and Australia. The rate of inflation in Canada has increased and “frozen” pensioners continue to lose pace with the cost of living. How can that be right?

You can imagine what James said to me the other week when I told him that if he had retired to the southern side of Niagara Falls, in the USA, rather than the northern side in Ontario, or even if he had stayed in the UK, then he would have received about an extra $46,000 in pension money since he retired. What he said to me cannot be printed here!

James is not the only UK pensioner who is feeling the pinch. The CBC Vancouver radio station recently contacted the CABP as part of its research on the immediate effect of Brexit on UK pensioners living in Canada.

The UK State Pension is paid every four weeks and many pensioners cannot afford to pick and choose when they convert their sterling into Canadian dollars. They need the money as soon as possible because for some it is their only source of income. This means that they are hostages to fortune with regard to exchange rates — they have to take what is available on the day.

The graph below shows the fall in the £ against C$ over the last three months, especially the dramatic fall the day after the Brexit vote:

These rates are mid market rates at best; the rate received by pensioners is often a couple of cents less than shown in the graph above. This has hit UK pensioners living in Canada very hard and it’s also a similar story in Australia.

Brexit will have a significant impact on the “frozen” pensions issue. The UK is only legally obliged to pay the annual increase to pensioners who live in the European Economic Area (EEA), Gibraltar or Switzerland or countries that have a social security agreement with the UK that allows for cost of living increases to the State Pension. The EEA includes all EU countries plus three other countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

There are over 400,000 UK Pensioners living in the EU and over half of them live in EU countries that had pre-existing (i.e. prior to them joining the EU) social security agreements with the UK, which may now come back into force post-Brexit.

However, the other half live in EU countries where, like Canada, there have never been social security agreements that facilitate annual uprating of the UK State Pension.

If the UK is able to negotiate to join the EEA, like Norway — without being part of the EU — then one presumes annual uprating will then be restored to all EEA/EU countries.

However, one of the tenets of the EEA is free movement of people and so it is not clear how the UK would be able to join EEA as opposition to free movement of people is thought to be the main reason for the “Leave” vote of Brexit.

Regardless, the UK will not be able to ignore the new “frozen” pensioners in the EU. There are over 150,000 UK pensioners living in Canada who are hoping that whatever the UK Government does for the new “frozen” pensioners in the EU then they will do the same for those living everywhere in the world.

There can be no just or legal basis for treating the EU “frozen” pensioners any differently from the other “frozen” pensioners around the world! It is time to bring this unfair and immoral practice to an end, and then maybe my friend James can smile again.

Watch this space (as well as the CABP website and Facebook page) for further updates, both on Brexit and on how my friend James is managing to make ends meet.

On a separate issue, the CABP has recently been talking to the folks at CARP with a view to tackling some common issues that we have.

Nigel can be reached via e-mail at nigel AT britishpensions DOT COM.

 

All are welcome at the CABP AGM on June 18, 2016

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Old people silhouette

Are you an ex-pat pensioner living in a black hole that sucks in all light? Help may be at hand from the CABP

Brits in Toronto has been following the issues around freezing of the UK State Pension for ex-pats living abroad, especially in Canada.

We also featured a very popular guest article by Nigel Nelson, a member of the Toronto-based non-profit Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP).

Nigel contacted Brits in Toronto again to let us know about the CABP Annual General Meeting this Saturday, June 18, at the Sir John Colborne Recreation Centre for Seniors, 1565 Old Lakeshore Road West, Oakville, Ontario, L6L 6N1.

The meeting starts at 2:00 p.m., but doors are open for registration at 1:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome.

Nigel writes, “If you’re not a member of the CABP, don’t worry, you’ll still be made to feel welcome and, if you think that this illness, the ‘frozen pensions syndrome’ needs curing, it would be an excellent time to sign-up and help bring this social injustice to an end.

“There will be plenty of opportunities for you to ask about the impacts of the new Single Tier State Pension that came into force in April 2016, which is a new fever that future pensioners might catch!”

So, if you feel strongly about this issue and want to have some say, go along to the AGM, meet Nigel and find out more information.

MP wants to unfreeze state pension for Brits living in Canada

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Ian Blackford

MP Ian Blackford wants to unfreeze British state pensions and also highlight good stucco work

We recently ran an article by the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners entitled “Quirks of the UK State Pension affecting British pensioners living abroad” that really hit a nerve with our readers. It got a ton of traffic.

The main crux of the issue is the fact that UK pensioners living abroad in certain countries — including Canada — have their state pension frozen … but those living elsewhere see the amount they receive uprated annually.

We feel that’s a tad unfair.

Luckily, Ian Blackford, upstanding bloke and MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, is leading the charge to amend things and said, “The Government should reflect on the ‘injustice’ of the current system,” as he highlighted the strength of support for change among a large group of cross-party MPs.

The full story is covered by The National and we at Brits in Toronto think it’s a good read and an issue to keep an eye on.

Quirks of the UK State Pension affecting British pensioners living abroad

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Canadian Alliance Of British Pensioners

Got some UK pension system questions? Give ’em a bell on the dog and bone for a chinwag

This is a free, non-paid-for guest article by Nigel Nelson, a member of the Toronto-based non-profit Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP). All views are the CABP’s and Brits in Toronto does not endorse them and is not held liable in any way. As always, do your due diligence.

Have you ever worked in the UK? Did you make National Insurance contributions (NICs) when you worked? Depending on the number of years of NICs you have to your credit you might qualify for a British state pension. However, if you qualify for a UK State Pension, as long as you live in Canada, you will not receive the annual inflationary increase as given to pensioners in the UK, EU and an obscure list of countries. This is known as the British “frozen pensions” policy.

The Canadian Association of British Pensioners was established in 1991 to help British pensioners living in Canada navigate the UK State Pension system by providing information with respect to eligibility for a British State Pension; keeping current with the successive changes which have been made to the UK State Pension system and lobbying the UK government for parity with all British pensioners living overseas. We can answer your questions about the UK pension system.

CABP is a registered non-profit organisation and all of the directors are volunteers, as are most of the people who work out of the office in Toronto. Anyone who has worked in the UK and has paid National Insurance Contributions may well qualify for a UK State Pension.

Those people in Canada look to organizations like the CABP, which has the experience and understanding of the UK pension system, for advice. There are over 5,000 members in Canada who currently get this support.

According to the 2011 Canadian National Household Survey, there were 125,000 British immigrants over the age of 65 living in Ontario and another 65,000 in the 55-64 age category. In Toronto alone, there are 43,000 and 24,000 respectively.

Many of these immigrants will qualify for a British State Pension, but may not know that; and they’re probably unaware that, once they start to receive a UK State Pension, they will never receive any of the annual increases enjoyed by their peers in the UK … even though they will probably have paid the same level of National Insurance Contributions.

Successive UK governments for over 70 years have followed this “frozen pensions” policy. The policy is based on outdated logic and the UK government has now conceded that the only impediment to eliminating the “frozen pension” policy is cost, accompanied by the “political will” to do so. There are over half a million “frozen” UK pensioners living abroad — 90% of these “frozen” pensioners live in Commonwealth countries such as Australia (45%) and Canada (28%).

CABP provides support to UK pensioners in Canada and they work tirelessly in trying to abolish this unfair and immoral policy. For example if you live on the American side of Niagara Falls you would receive the annual increase; if you live on the Canadian side of the Falls you wouldn’t receive the increase.

If you had retired in 1980 with a full UK State Pension it was just £27.15 per week — slightly over $50 in today’s money. Could you live on that? There will be cases where members, who do not have the full number of years of National Insurance contributions, are living on less.

A UK pensioner retiring on a full State Pension in 1980 will have been underpaid by £80,000 up to the end of April 2016. Today’s UK State Pension, at £119 per week, is 440% more than it was in 1980! CABP believes that this is unfair, discriminatory, and immoral, and they have been campaigning since 1991 to get this policy changed. In comparison, the CPP payment is payable to Canadians globally and is adjusted annually wherever the Canadian pensioner chooses to live.

Sadly, some of these pensioners even have to go back “home” to the UK since they can no longer live on their “frozen pension.” This is causing them considerable angst — leaving behind their loved ones, having to make travel arrangements, and finding accommodation when they get back.

For example, last year alone, there were 2,000 UK pensioners who returned back to the UK, and, for many of them, it will be because they could no longer afford to live in their country of choice, based on the state pension they were receiving. Any returning pensioner to the UK has their pension uplifted to the current rate — the same as all other pensioners living in the UK. They also qualify for other social welfare benefits.

Currently, the UK Treasury saves over £4,300 per year for each pensioner emigrating, so, for returning pensioners, it adds to UK Treasury costs. Given these numbers, you would think that the UK Government would be encouraging pensioners to leave rather than putting barriers in their way.

The good news is that there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. A proposal, with respect to amending the “frozen pension” policy has been submitted to the Cabinet Office in the UK Parliament in London. The proposal is currently under consideration, but is by no means a “done deal” … and so we must keep up the campaign.

If you would like to find out more about your British Pension rights and how you will be affected by a “frozen pension,” or, you would like more general information, you can check out the CABP.

CABP is based in Toronto and can provide a wealth of current and accurate information with respect to British pensions. Contact information is on the website.