State pension: Woman, 84, sees sum frozen at just £24 per week | Personal Finance | Finance
The state pension is only uprated in certain places, and so increases should not be seen as a foregone conclusion. In fact, those who are not living in certain countries could see their state pension frozen at the level it was when they left the country.
Countries eligible for increase include:
- The UK
- The European Economic Area (EEA)
- Gibraltar
- Switzerland
- Countries with a social security agreement with the UK – but not Canada or New Zealand.
One woman who has detailed her struggle on a frozen state pension is 84-year-old Margaret Eldridge, who spoke to the End Frozen Pensions Campaign.
Ms Eldridge was born in Sudbury, Middlesex, and worked in the UK for seven years as an infant teacher and youth worker.
However, prior to this, she had worked for a secretarial agency during the school holidays, as well as in the Post Office for three Christmases.
READ MORE: WASPI celebrates step forward in state pension age campaign
“But now, because we live in Australia, we have a frozen pension. This is not the case for non-Commonwealth countries.
“I feel the UK Government should treat all its pensioners in the same way, regardless of where we live. I’d like to see the Government treat us fairly.”
Over the years, Ms Eldridge explained she has returned to the UK on many occasions.
She did so in order to take care of and assist her elderly parents in dealing with the complexities of old age.
However, she argues she was never informed her pension would be frozen due to her decision to move abroad.
This is a sentiment shared by many British expats who have expressed they had no idea of the impacts of leaving the UK.
The End Frozen Pensions Campaign has drawn attention to the matter and has recently called for the support of Britons.
The campaign is asking Britons to invite their former MPs to a Frozen Pensions parliamentary event being held in November.
On their official website, they ask expats to enter their former British postcode to send a draft letter to their ex-MP.
The campaign group hopes to change the policy of frozen pensions which would see hundreds of thousands get a state pension boost.
A DWP spokesperson previously told Express.co.uk: “This year we will spend over £110billion on the state pension and our priority is ensuring every pensioner receives all the financial support to which they are entitled.
“We understand that people move abroad for many reasons and we provide clear information about how this can impact on their finances.
“The Government’s policy on the uprating of the UK state pension for recipients living overseas is a longstanding one of more than 70 years and we continue to uprate state pensions overseas where there is a legal requirement to do so.”
