Labour MP Kevin Bonavia has urged the UK Government to “widen Bilateral Social Security Agreements including index-linked State Pensions for UK nationals abroad with Commonwealth countries”. A recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that at the end of May 2023, some 453,000 expats are in receipt of a frozen UK State Pension.
People who have retired abroad and live in the European Economic Area (EEA) will continue to receive annual increases to their State Pensions under the Triple Lock, as will those in a host of other countries including the Philippines and Turkey. However, those in countries without a reciprocal agreement with the UK Government, including Canada and Australia, have their State Pension ‘frozen’ at the level it was at when they left the UK.
The average weekly amount of State Pension paid to all frozen pensioners was £57. The average weekly amount paid to 114,000 living in Canada was £52, while 208,000 in Australia received £56 per week.
In a written response to Mr Bonavia, pensions Minister Emma Reynolds said: “The policy on the uprating of UK State Pensions paid overseas is a longstanding one.
“UK State Pensions are payable worldwide, without regard to nationality, and are only uprated abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so – for example in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement that provides for uprating.
“There are no plans to widen Bilateral Social Security Agreements to include the uprating of State Pensions paid to recipients abroad.”
End Frozen Pensions Campaign
More than 172,400 people have signed an online petition calling for an end to the practice of ‘freezing’ the State Pension for Brits who have emigrated to countries that do not have a reciprocal agreement with the UK Government – even though they have paid National Insurance Contributions during their working life.
The International Consortium of British Pensioners advocates on behalf of expats affected by ‘frozen pensions’ and is behind the ‘End Frozen Pensions’ campaign, which aims to “end the injustice” for Brits who have moved abroad whose State Pension does not rise in-line with the Triple Lock every April.
The End Frozen Pensions campaign explained: “They moved, often to be near family, to live in one of the countries without a reciprocal agreement to inflation link their State Pension, so their pension is ‘frozen’ at the level it was at when they left the UK.
“Those in countries with reciprocal agreements are unaffected so if you were a pensioner in the USA you would continue to get an uprating, but if you lived just across the border in Canada you would not.
“We believe this is deeply unfair and arbitrary and penalises hard working Britons.”
The International Consortium of British Pensioners added that many of those affected by frozen State Pensions worked as nurses, firemen, police officers and other public servants, some are military veterans.