Retiring abroad could cost UK expats and pensioners an eye-watering £160,000 amid the Cost of Living crisis, it has been warned. Retiring abroad could hit UK expats in the pocket - hard - after they opted to chase their dream of quitting the UK.
The annual full new Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) state pension went up from £10,600 to £11,502 from April 6 for those who made at least 35 years of national insurance contributions. But expats living in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and the Falkland Islands do not benefit from any increase.
Alice Guy from the trading platform Interactive Investor said: "They haven’t benefited from the triple lock or enjoyed a single pay rise since they retired abroad, despite paying into the system for years." Conservative MP Sir Peter Bottomley is part of the all-party parliamentary group on frozen pensions.
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He said: “This is a scandal which is growing. It is unjustified, unfair and intolerable. Until it is put right, MPs’ pension and pay should also be frozen. The people most affected by this live in Australia and Canada. People living in countries that Britain has a close connection with, such as current or former Commonwealth countries, are also losing out.
"The government needs to have a plan.”If you currently live in the EEA or Switzerland and receive a UK State Pension, you will usually get an increase in your pension every year.
The EEA countries are:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
If you live in one of the following countries and receive a UK State Pension, you will usually get an increase in your pension every year:
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Gibraltar
- Guernsey
- the Isle of Man
- Israel
- Jamaica
- Jersey
- Kosovo
- Mauritius
- Montenegro
- North Macedonia
- the Philippines
- Serbia
- Turkey
- USA
The UK has social security agreements with Canada and New Zealand, but you cannot get a yearly increase in your UK State Pension if you live in either of those countries, the government says.
