Pension cuts could affect future claimaints

[Khundon1975]

If this goes through, it will affect any future claims on their partners UK state pension, by a Thai spouse.
It seems that existing claimants will not be touched, just future claimants.

http://money.uk.msn.com/curb-on-overseas-pension-claims

[musungu]

If this goes through, it will affect any future claims on their partners UK state pension, by a Thai spouse.
It seems that existing claimants will not be touched, just future claimants.

http://money.uk.msn.com/curb-on-overseas-pension-claims

The possibility of a ( say Thai ) dependant claiming extra money on the back of a UK Nationals pension was stopped in April 2010 - I believe it was called Adult Dependancy Increase ( ADI ). Prior to that date many Thais married to UK pensioners were able to claim about £100+ per month as a type of pension

[margaretcarnes]

Yes the ADI did stop, but that was an increase on the actual claimants' pension - not a seperate pension for the spouse in their own right.
I have little doubt that it will go through though, possibly as part of the single tier state pension which is due to begin in April 2016.
'The individualised pension will reflect the lives and working patterns of todays working age population blah blah etc'.
But to be honest the Government has moved the goalposts on Welfare Reform so many times in the last few months no-one believes a thing until it actually begins now. The current list of changes for this years' 'timeline' alone totals 15, and I'm afraid this proposal about pensions for spouses who are resident abroad is a minor issue in the great scheme of things. Very unlikely that there will be enough opposition for another U Turn.

[capt]

There is to be an announcement in the queens speech this Wednesday in the uk , Regards ex pats claiming pensions abroad.

[Bristolian]

Bangkok Post

Thai women married to retired British men could be deprived of their pension income, under proposals to cut pension payments to foreigners.

Steve Webb, the British pensions minister, said too many foreign citizens who have “never set foot in Britain at all” are receiving UK pensions.

Under current law, the spouses of British men or women are entitled to claim a “married person’s allowance” based on their partner’s history of National Insurance contributions.

But legislation to be announced on Wednesday will include proposals to end claims for such allowances and introduce a new flat-rate state pension, based on individual contributions paid to the UK government during a person’s working life.

According to government statistics, married person’s pensions are paid to 220,000 people living outside the UK, half of whom are foreign citizens who have never been to Britain.

Mr Webb told the Daily Telegraphthat the current situation, in which foreigners receive pension payments based solely on their spouse’s British work history, is “unacceptable”.

Spouses who qualify under the current rules can receive as much as £3,500 a year, or more than 160,000 baht.

“Most people would think, you pay National Insurance, you get a pension. But folk who have never been here but happen to be married to someone who has are getting pensions," he said.

“There are women who have never been to Britain claiming on their husband’s record. There are also men who have never been to Britain claiming on their wife’s record.”

According to a separate story in the Daily Telegraph, a British government source claimed that a rise in online match-making sites could be to blame for the increase in foreign claims for married person’s pensions.

Claims have been falling in Britain, because both partners in couples increasingly go out to work, but the number of allowances paid to the spouses of people living abroad has risen steadily.

“Technology facilitates relationships across the continents in a way that wasn’t the case 20 years ago,” the source said. There are “more people using the net and pairing up” and this is likely to be having some impact on the figures, the source added.

But Tom McPhail, head of pensions research at Hargreaves Lansdown, told the BBC that the proposals could cause an administrative “nightmare”, in terms of working out which current claimants should or should not continue receiving payments.

Though all new claims for the allowances will be stopped eventually, interim arrangements are likely to mean that payments are stopped for foreign spouses who have never been to the UK, while retired British stay-at-home mothers, for example, continue to receive cash.

“The government is going to face some interesting challenges in terms of administering this distinction they are seeking to make between UK recipients of this married person’s pension and people living abroad,” McPhail said.

“Trying to disentangle these different categories of people and determine who is a deserving recipient to inherit the pension under these transitional rules and who isn’t, looks to me like a recipe for a very heavy, bureaucratic nightmare.”

Norman Cudmore, who served in the British Royal Airforce for 22 years and worked overseas for another 16 years, lives in the Philippines with his Filipina wife. He criticised the plans.

“I have contributed to the UK pension scheme for all those years and will qualify for a state pension. I did this so my wife would have some security when I finally pass away,” he said.

Defending the proposals, Mr Webb said the plans had nothing to do with penalising the spouses of different nationalities. “It's about whether they have put into the British system,” he said.

[caller]

The Telegraph article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/pers ... rease.html

The headline has nothing to do with the content of the story and is criticised in the comments at the bottom of the page. The initial announcement about 'foreign wives' now seems little more than a ploy to steal some thunder back from UKIP, whereas in reality this rule change equally affects Born and Bred British wives, whether in the UK or abroad. The Tories, as Mags mentions above, are making so many changes to the welfare system and pensions and having listened to Steve Webb discuss this, its clear that he has no facts to back up his original claims about 'foreign wives'.

This guy is another politician I have little respect for. Not too long ago and before the last election, I took a phone call from this guy who thought I was still on the committee of a professional association I used to sit on. He was seeking support on some changes to legislation they were proposing when in opposition and he seemed amazed when I said the proposals would be fundamentally opposed by everyone in my line of work. Some eventually became coalition policy and have been implemented, others are still works in progress. They're still being opposed.

[Big Boy]

Steve Webb - I voted for that little sh*t.

As a local politician he was good at running interference. However, giving him a real politicians job has put him out of his depth.

[margaretcarnes]

The Telegraph article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/pers ... rease.html


This guy is another politician I have little respect for. Not too long ago and before the last election, I took a phone call from this guy who thought I was still on the committee of a professional association I used to sit on. He was seeking support on some changes to legislation they were proposing when in opposition and he seemed amazed when I said the proposals would be fundamentally opposed by everyone in my line of work. Some eventually became coalition policy and have been implemented, others are still works in progress. They're still being opposed.

I'm not so sure that the policy would affect Brtish Mums as well. For one thing NI credits have been made for years along with Child Benefit payments to 'stay at home Mums' so that's nothing new. Also the minimum guarantee pension will start in 3 or 4 years time anyway (a con if ever there was one because it will be set at just over Pension Credit level.)
I also can't see why there should be a beaurocratric nightmare involved - they already use the Habitual Residence Test to determine entitlement to other benefits.

[tuktukmike]

I remember steve webb when he was standing in the Bristol area as a conservative. Ripped out one of his boards they put outside our local (george and dragon) in winterbourne.

Ambitious little yes man even in them days.

Ttm

[Big Boy]

Conservative? I never realised that. I've only ever known him as a Lib Dem - maybe if I'd known that he'd already changed his allegiance, I'd have had second thoughts about voting for him.

[tuktukmike]

My apologies big boy I seem to remember he may have been lib, even so the prats seem to think they can put their election posters up wherever they want.

Made a great barbecue starter.

Ttm

[Big Boy]

[sargeant]

This raises the spectre of my wife paying tax on my BA private pension and yet not getting a widows pension from the state

Downright racist theft no other way to describe it

Makes me realize how important getting my wife to finish her university degree is for her future (one of my better decisions)

[Khundon1975]

My wife is very canny where money is concerned (like most Thai women) and she took out her own UK private pension way back in 2009 and she also pays her NI stamp. She did this without any prompting from me.

My company pensions are all of the gold plated variety (thank God) and she will benefit from those when I go as well, so, together with savings, investments and property, she is well catered for in her dotage.

When our son was born, we put money in trust for him and will continue to do so every year and when he is old enough, we will convert some of that to start a private pension for him, as he will most likely be living in Thailand then, as he holds both UK and Thai Passports.

As Mags says, the UK state benefit system is gradually being chipped away by governments and I believe, where possible, people must try to provide for their old age themselves.

I was wondering, if there are any Thais in receipt of pension benefits on the back of their spouses contributions to UK state pensions in Thailand, if they have any views on the subject and how it will affect them?

[caller]

For one thing NI credits have been made for years along with Child Benefit payments to 'stay at home Mums'

I didn't know that, when did that start Mags?

Edit - just checked, the credit is awarded for stay at homes until the children reach the age of 12. That will still leave a shortfall for many stay at home mums.