Archive – 2022

16-Oct-22: HaveAGoNews: British pension updates for UK expats in Australia

4-Oct-22: Scottish Daily Record: State Pension to increase in line with inflation next April but other DWP benefits still to be confirmed

29-Sep-22: The Telegraph: Liz Truss has shocked her own allies and is dangerously close to the edge

29-Sep-22: The Mirror: Pension triple lock fears as campaigners warn Tory promise could be broken

29-Sep-22: The Express: Comment by Dennis Reed, Silver Voices: Pensions inferno leaves our OAPs facing golden years in poverty

20-Sep-22: FT Adviser: Govt appoints Alex Burghart as the new pensions minister

20-Sep-22: The Sun: When will I get the £300 winter fuel discount?

[No “Pensioner Cost of Living Payment” for retirees in Canada; No annual cost-of-living (State Pension) increase either. How on earth are the 125,000 UK pensioners in Canada expected to manage?]

20-Sep-22: FT Adviser: What advisers can expect from Friday’s mini-budget

20-Sep-22: Pensions Age: Opperman leaves role as Pensions Minister

It has been the honour of my life to serve as a government minister for the last seven years,”

– Guy Opperman, former Pensions Minister

20-Sep-22: Pensions Expert: Guy Opperman removed as pensions minister

Sir Steve Webb welcomed the stability that the MP for Hexham had provided “after years of a revolving door”. So, in Opperman’s time as pensions minister, he has had as his boss: Iain Duncan Smith, Stephen Crabb, Damian Green, David Gauke, Esther McVey, Amber Rudd, and Thérèse Coffey. If you were unkind, you could tack on Chloe Smith as well. If that represents stability, I would hate to think what represents volatility.

What did Opperman achieve for Frozen Pensioners in his 7 years?

N-O-T-H-I-N-G

19-Sep-22: Westminster Confidential: Adding Insult to Injury: How another regulator dumped on 50’s women pensions complaints

18-Sep-22: The Express: State pensioners could get £5,000 for only £800 – contributions may be ‘very good deal’

10-Sep-22: The Express:‘Disappointing!’ DWP has ‘no plans’ to increase speed of changes to state pension rates

9-Sep-22: The Express: State pensioners may be subject to tax on the sum

9-Sep-22: The Express: State pensioners may be subject to tax on the sum – what are the implications?

9-Sep-22: The Express: Stay at home mums may be owed thousands in historic state pension back payments

[…were you one?….]

9-Sep-22: The Telegraph: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – 1926 — 2022 – a complete obituary

8-Sep-22: Somerset Live: DWP State Pension: Six groups of women could be owed nearly £10,000 in backdated payments

YOU may be affected; Does the DWP owe you MONEY? If you are in one of these categories, then contact the DWP NOW!!

Married women whose husband turned 65 before March 17, 2008, and who have never claimed an uplift to the 60% rate
Widows whose pension was not increased when their husband died
Widows whose pension is now correct, but who think they may have been underpaid while their late husband was still alive, particularly if he reached the age of 65 after March 17, 2008
Over-80s who are receiving a basic State Pension of less than £80.45
Widowers and heirs of married women, where the woman has now died but was underpaid state pension during her lifetime
Divorced women, particularly those who divorced after retirement, to check that they are benefiting from the contributions of their ex-husband

8-Sep-22: This is Money (Daily Mail): Steve Webb’s inside story of the £1.5bn state pension scandal

[…if you feel that [Sir] Steve Webb has badly served ‘Frozen pensioners] go onto this page, click here, and add your comments…]

8-Sep-22: The BBC: Obituary for HRH Queen Elizabeth II

[For many of us, this is the only Monarch that we have ever known]

8-Sep-22: The Telegraph: HRH Queen Elizabeth II – Obituary

7-Sep-22: Pensions Expert: Chloe Smith appointed work and pensions secretary

2-Sep-22: International Adviser: How will change in UK prime minister impact tax and pensions?

[…it is fair to say that pensioners living in countries where the State Pension is not indexed (it is “frozen” at the level first received), will not be the beneficiary of any inflationary increase. What this means is that if you were to retire in, say, Australia or Canada, then you are expected to absorb higher grocery bills and higher energy bills with NO increase to the State Pension. What this will do is drive more and more pensioners into poverty, and they will become dependent on the largesse of the country where they retire. They are old, fragile, and forgotten by the country where they worked all of their lives. For the incoming Prime Minister – please hear our voice, and please help us.]

1-Sep-22: CNN: ‘Starve or freeze to death’: Millions of elderly Brits fear a grim choice this winter as costs spiral

1-Sep-22: The Telegraph: Retirees owed thousands in fresh state pension scandal

30-Aug-22: The Telegraph: Women will receive a higher state pension than men by 2030, former minister says

29-Aug-22: This is Money (Daily Mail): A third of over 55s struggling financially, study shows

28-Aug-22: The Telegraph: Taxpayers face £5bn inflation bill for topping up gold-plated civil service pensions

….or, ‘ow the other half live, Guv….

28-Aug-22: Sky News: Cost of living: State pensioners set to be left with less than £11 a day from April as energy bills soar

28-Aug-22: Daily Mail: Nearly three-quarters of state pension will be swallowed up by energy bills next year

27-Aug-22: The Express: State pensioners income to be slashed by £800 next year amid cost of living crisis

….this is after State Pensioners getting £1,000 increase next April. So, for pensioners living in Canada, this amounts to $3,000. How can they be expected to survive, when inflation is running at 7.6% and rising, and there is no change in the State Pension?

20-Aug-22: CBC: U.K. cut off thousands of pensioners in Canada for failure to provide ‘proof of life’

18-Aug-22: The Independent: State pension to surpass £10,000 a year for first time as inflation soars

18-Aug-22: This is Money (Daily Mail): State pension could hit £10,880 a year if inflation keeps surging

18-Aug-22: The Express: State pension payouts increase as inflation soars

18-Aug-22: The Telegraph: Half a million to be denied record state pension boost

He [John Duffy] said: “It should make no difference whether a pensioner resides in Europe, or the Commonwealth, in Canada or the USA – we have all paid our dues, contributed to British society and deserve the right to live without financial burden in our final years.” – [John is Chair of the ICBP]

Patricia Coulthard, a 101-year-old who lives in Australia said:”“I find it grossly unfair that the UK Government continues to cast aside British pensioners overseas who have contributed to making the UK the nation it is today,” she said.

Peter Sanguinetti,  83, who lives in Canada, said he faced the “terrifying prospect” of further financial hardship as prices are increasing rapidly. “Our living standards in retirement are rapidly diminishing and the Government doesn’t realise the harm it is doing to us,” he said. [Peter is a CABP Board Member]

[If you can, please log onto the Telegraph and add your own comment]

17-Aug-22: The Express: Thousands see state pension STOPPED as Pension Service ‘can’t be sure amount is correct’

THOUSANDS of UK pensioners have had their state pension stopped. The Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners (CABP) says they’ve been “inundated” with pensioners who live in Canada who have had their state pensions stopped. 

“Understandably, this situation is causing significant anguish to a large number of British citizens who should be enjoying their well-deserved and earned retirements. I, like many, have been in contact with your Department’s helplines who have accepted that this is a serious administrative error by the DWP.” – CABP Chairman, Ian Andexser writing to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Thérèse Coffey, asking her to intervene

A DWP spokesperson said: “We understand the frustration of customers affected by Canadian postal delays. – What a cheek, blaming the Canadian postal system, when the problem lies with the Netherlands from where the “life certificate” letter is sent from 

16-Aug-22: The Express: Half a million state pensioners ‘face poverty and hardship’ after payments frozen

16-Aug-22: The Telegraph: How Britain’s pensioners are being left behind other countries

16-Aug-22: The Express: ‘No appeal!’ British expats furious at pension BLUNDER as payments suspended 

16-Aug-22: The Telegraph: British expats hit by state pension blunder

state pension payments had been cancelled and retirees had “no right of appeal against the decision” . It blamed the widespread error on Canadian postal delays, claiming the forms had been lost in the post.

Ian Andexser, chairman of the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners, said this had sparked “anguish” and stress among the 130,000 British retirees living in Canada. The campaign group has been inundated with calls from worried pensioners who have had their state pensions cut. “The anger is palpable, real and justified,” he said. “This egregious error has left our members struggling to pay bills, unable to afford basic necessities and pushed into overdrafts. Many pensioners are unable to sleep or cope with the pressures of a global cost of living crisis,” he added.” 

13-Aug-22: The Express: End ‘shameful pensions policy as Britons living abroad facing ‘life of poverty’

11-Aug-22: Liverpool Echo: DWP issues urgent £650 cost of living payment warning to everyone of State Pension age

11-Aug-22: The Conversation: How to fix the pensions triple lock but still protect pensioners from high inflation

10-Aug-22: Michael Chong, MP: Letter to Minister Joly, Foreign Affairs Minister

8-Aug-22: Daily Express: ‘Pensioners face difficult times so I’m completely committed to triple lock’

8-Aug-22: Nottingham Post: DWP issues urgent £650 cost of living payment warning to everyone of State Pension age

8-Aug-22: Samachar Central: New triple lock threat as State Pension to hit £209 a week but workers get NOTHING

8-Aug-22: The Express: ‘Very concerned!’ State pension payments to be swallowed by energy bills

8-Aug-22: Chronicle Live: State pension is set to top £10k for first time ever next year

8-Aug-22: Daily Mirror: State pension could hit £10,000 a year for the first time ever in huge retirement boost

8-Aug-22: Daily Record: New State Pension petition calling for £200 minimum weekly payment for all awaits official response

7-Aug-22: The Express: New triple lock threat as State Pension to hit £209 a week but workers get NOTHING

7-Aug-22: The Express: ‘Betrayed pensioners’ Retirees to be 8p better off than in 2009 after triple lock decision

4-Aug-22: The Telegraph: Retirees in line for £2,000 state pension windfall

Spiralling price rises could push the weekly stipend on the new state pension from £185.15 to £203.79 in April 2023 and then to £224.10 in April 2024. This represents a jump of nearly £40 a week for more than 12 million pensioners. 

[and how big an increase will we get? £0pw]

2-Aug-22: The Express: ‘Deserved!’ State pensioners call for ‘at least’ £200 per week for all retirees

2-Aug-22: The Telegraph: Truss to restore the £21bn pension promise Rishi Sunak broke

Next year’s triple-lock rise would cost taxpayers £865 per pensioner, Interactive Investor said. With 12.4 million retirees in the UK, this would total around £10.7bn.

[…..and, again, where are our increases?]

1-Aug-22: The Express: State pension payments could stop for thousands in months – take action

1-Aug-22: Silver Voices: New Pensions Petition Launched

11-Jul-22: Westminster Confidential: DWP in 2021: Record fraud, record management bonuses and record pension underpayments

• Universal Credit was allegedly designed to reduce fraud at the DWP. The latest DWP accounts have just come out, and guess what?

• The big benefit fraud failure is again the government’s flagship Universal Credit. In 2020 it the rate of overpayments increased from 4.4% in 2019-20 to 7.5% in 2020-21. Nearly all of the increase in fraud and error was on Universal Credit. DWP estimates it overpaid £5.5 billion of Universal Credit (14.5%) and underpaid £540 million (1.4%). This finding may also be a Whitehall record – there can hardly be another ministry in Whitehall that has so spectacularly failed to produce accounts with a clean audit sheet. In 2021  it overpaid £8.5 billion of benefits – the highest level recorded. Fraudulent Universal Credit claims account for £5.2 billion of the £8.5 billion overpaid. DWP estimates that it overpaid 14.7% of all Universal Credit payments in 2021-22, compared to 9.4% in 2019-20 (the year preceding the pandemic). DWP paused fraud and error prevention measures due to COVID-19 disruption.”

• The DWP has had its accounts qualified for the 34th year in a row – what this means is that its liabilities have exceeded its assets for 34 years in a row. If they were a private concern, they would have gone bust every year for the last 34 years. What does the Government do? They give their CEO (Permanent Secretary) a knighthood and the biggest gold-plated pension in history……

• Would you like to retire at 60? Work for DWP:You will have to remember some civil servants can retire at 60 depending on what civil service pensions scheme they belong to – 6 years before the public get their state pension – with both high pensions and a generous one-off payment.”

11-Jul-22: Pensions Expert: MP calls for inquiry into war pension claims process

11-Jul-22: Response from the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom

I commend your continued advocacy efforts on behalf of British pensioners living in Canada.”

– Hon. Ralph Goodale, PC, Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom

11-Jul-22: The Express: ‘It saddens me!’ State pensioners living on just £43.60 per week as payments frozen

John Duffy, the chair of the International Consortium of British Pensioners explained: “Although we welcome the rise in UK pensions, we are hugely disappointed that the UK Government is continuing to treat British citizens living in an arbitrary list of countries unfairly. This outrageously cruel policy is excluding pensioners, many of whom spent their working lives in the UK, and leaving them to face poverty and financial hardship. The UK Government could choose to end this policy now but instead continues to treat British pensioners across the world unequally, despite the contributions they have made to the UK.

We hope the Government will engage in future discussions to end this policy and give all UK pensioners the support they are entitled to, no matter where they live.”

Patricia Coulthard shared how she has been impacted by the state pension freeze. The 100-year old said:

“Since I moved to Australia to be closer to my children in my retirement, my pension has been frozen at just £46 per week. I am now nearly 101-years old, having been born in Britain and served as a nurse in World War Two. It saddens me to think the UK Government does not believe I am entitled to the same support as other British pensioners living overseas. Had I moved to a country such as the US, my pension would have increased throughout the years. But as I moved to Australia, I am excluded from these much-needed increases. I hope the Government will finally put an end to this injustice”

8-Jul-22: Pensions Expert: Guy Opperman reappointed pensions minister

[The Chief Whip asks him to stay on until after the appointment of a new Prime Minister. It seems nobody else could possibly implement the DWP’s policies such as regulations for the new DB funding code, auto-enrolment expansion, the single code of practice, and the Pensions Regulator’s notifiable events regime]

“[I] have agreed to help DWP navigate the next few weeks, while we decide the appointment of a new prime minister”

7-Jul-22: The Express: State pension payments may hit over £200 per week next year – but will you get full sum?

7-Jul-22: Investments and Pensions in Europe: UK pensions industry faces instability as pensions minister Guy Opperman resigns

7- Jul-22: iNews: State pension: Surge of underpaid pensions hits £1.46bn as DWP reveals new catalogue of errors

7-Jul-22: GB News: British pensioners due payout after report finds more than £1 billion owed in underpayments

7-Jul-22: Pensions Expert: Opperman resigns as pensions minister

6-Jul-22: The Express: ‘All retirees deserve a guaranteed pension of at least £200 a week’ New campaigner demands

4-Jul-22: Expats furious at pension freeze: Give us more or we’ll make you pay! Warning issued to PM

29-Jun-22: Silver Voices: Minimum £200 Pension Guarantee

29-jun-22: The Express: State pension: Shock figures reveal just ONE in 20 OAPs receive full weekly payment

23-Jun-22: ENDFROZENPENSIONS Tweet: Great to see #frozenpensions raised on @bbcsoutheast last night. Half a mil Brits overseas are trapped on state pensions as little as £22 per week

23-Jun-22: ICBP Press Release: New overseas voters call on Downing Street to end ‘frozen pensions’ as they are given votes for life. 

22-Jun-22: The Telegraph: Windrush generation have been ‘profoundly wronged’, admits Prince William

22-Jun-22: Daily Mail: Boris Johnson under pressure over ‘bonkers’ £1,000-a-year state pension increase

20-Jun-22: Institute of Fiscal Studies: How did increasing the state pension age from 65 to 66 affect household incomes?

• The biggest impact on incomes of the increase in the state pension age from 65 to 66 is simply that 65-year-olds lost – on average – state pension income worth around £142 per week in 2020–21.
• Accounting for all forms of income, including state pensions, earnings, other benefits, private pensions and investment incomes, the increase in the state pension age pushed down the net income of 65-year-olds by an average of £108 per week.
• The reduced payments of state pensions – and the higher direct tax payments resulting from the increase in the state pension age – boosted the public finances by around £4.9 billion per year. 
• The reductions in household incomes have had a particularly important effect on lower-income households: they have caused significant increases in income poverty rates among 65-year-olds.
• For some groups, the increase in the state pension age from 65 to 66 caused absolute income poverty rates among 65-year-olds to rise by much more. 
• This latest increase in the state pension age led to a larger increase in income poverty than that seen following earlier increases in the female state pension age.
• Most of the increase in absolute income poverty for 65-year-olds as a result of the reform has been among people not in paid work.

19-Jun-22: Sunday Express: Boris faces ex-pat fury and punishment if they are denied pension increases

After moving from Scotland to Canada, and spending years campaigning for the end of this discriminatory policy, I am disappointed at the lack of engagement with the issue by the UK Government. We feel we are being treated like second class citizens and are saddened by the continuation of this policy. Now the Government has given Brits living overseas the right of a vote for life, surely the next logical step is to treat all British pensioners living overseas equally, and uprate all UK state pensions, no matter if they live in Canada or the US.”

– Fiona McLeod, CABP Board Member

17-Jun-22: Pensions Experts (FT): DWP to consider remedies after pension mispayments

The Department for Work and Pensions has said it is investigating remedies after millions of people have received the wrong pension for decades due to government IT failures. 

17-Jun-22: The BBC: Pensions: Millions receive wrong amount ‘for decades’

15-Jun-22: The Independent: Fifth of this year’s retirees ‘relying on state pension as main income source’

15-Jun-22: The Express: ‘I fought for my country!’ Falklands war hero, 75, furious as state pension frozen at £106

When I fought for my country, with pride and good faith, I would have never imagined that Great Britain would forget me and leave me without the full pension I deserve and paid for. It is unfathomable to think this has happened to half a million fellow pensioners, including those who have built the Falkland Islands into the thriving community that it is today. As we celebrate the liberation of the Falklands forty years ago this week, I want to remind you that British pensioners living on British land are being abandoned – left to face the uncertainty of retirement on pensions depreciating year by year.”

– Roger Edwards, 75, who lives in The Flakland Islands, in his letter to PM Johnson

7-Jun-22: This is Money/Daily Mail: Women turning 66 wrongly told they were owed ZERO state pension

5-Jun-22: Silver Voices: Cost of Living

Our priorities in the cost-of-living campaign will depend on the majority views of our members. So please fill in the survey on the link below by Sunday 12 June“

If you are a member of Silver Voices, please fill in the survey (by Sunday, 12th June) by clicking here .

If you are not a Member, click here to become one today, and then complete the Survey.

29-May-22: Daily Express: Triple lock on state pension payments to return next year – how much will you be paid?

As the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, this decision is good news for the many people who rely on the state pension to meet their income needs.

– Emma Byron, the managing director for Legal & General Retirement Solutions

[Editors note: There are nearly half a million pensioners living around the world who have their UK State Pension frozen at the level first received. They get exactly 0.000000% increase, year in, year out. How are they expected to manage the raging inflation and the decline in exchange rates? Are you listening Mr Sunak?]

22-May-22: The Telegraph: Australian election 2022: Labor’s Anthony Albanese vows to end ‘climate wars’ after defeating Scott Morrison

15-May-22: The Express: State pension ‘is reducing gender retirement gap’ – changes heralded for women retirees

It seems ridiculous that the UK, which already has one of the lowest state pensions in the developed world, should discriminate between our oldest pensioners and those who retired more recently. Surely all pensioners ought to be treated equally?”

– Jan Shortt, General Secretary of the NPC (National Pensioners Convention)

15-May-22: The Express: State pension: Are you owed £9,506? DWP identifies 14,000 back payments

14-May-22: The Express: ‘Illogical!’ Expats hit back as they have ‘vote for life’ but no state pension increase

British pensioners affected by the frozen pensions policy have spent many years working in the UK, paying National Insurance contributions. The policy also affects around 60,000 British veterans who fought for our country. They now face financial hardship because of where they live”

– ENDFROZENPENSIONS campaign

12-May-22: The Times: Here’s why we’re not protecting our pensions from inflation

11-May-22: The Express: Pensioner, 80s, says he’s cancelling carer as he’d ‘prefer to be warm than clean and cold’

11-May-22: The Express: ‘Consequences!’ State pension blow as 520,000 Britons to continue to have sum frozen

• 73-year-old says frozen pensions are ‘unfair’ and discriminating
• An over 11,000 signature petition says: The frozen pensions policy as “entirely unjust”, describing those impacted as “penalised” by the system.
• Why should we not get equal rights? Pensioners living abroad are less of a strain on the National Health (not using the services of GPs, emergency services etc.), in the vast majority of cases having to fund health care including care homes privately.“It is only fair that the Government treats all its citizens on an equal basis! [Editors Note: We wish the Government would treat all UK pensioners on an equal basis]
• “Paying uprating to UK pension recipients in countries where it is not currently paid would mean an immediate increase in costs.” [Editors Note: This is absurd and disingenious from the Government – there is over £57 BILLION in the National Insurance Fund, meanwhile the cost to uprate our Frozen Pension – just £630 million – nearly enough to uprate Frozen Pensions for the next century] 

10-May-22: The Connexion: Briton in France had pension stopped over life certificate mix-up

Make sure you get your life certificate back in time…

10-May-22: The Express: More than 2m pensioners will struggle to pay their household bills this year

• The amount pensioners will need to spend to cover the rising cost of necessities like food, fuel and energy will jump from 67 per cent of their pensions in 2021/22 to 79 per cent in 2022/23 – Age UK, and according to Age Scotland’s chief executive, Brian Sloan said:
• “With costs continuing to increase and given the UK Government’s decision to pause the triple lock on pensions, the situation is becoming increasingly desperate. It’s scandalous that so many older households are being left with no choice but to switch off their heating and reduce the amount of food they buy or risk falling into debt due to unmanageable bills. Huge numbers of older people are reliant on the State Pension and social security to survive, or live on low and fixed incomes, so the coming months are going to be incredibly tough as the bills keep mounting.”

[Editor’s Note: Imagine how the nearly 500,000 manage when they get NO increase to their State Pension – EVER. Inflation is running at 8.3%, so how are Frozen Pensioners supposed to manage? Are you listening Mr. Sunak? How about you Mr. Johnson? Ms. Coffey?

1-May-22: The Sunday Times: Free-Trade deal between Canada and Britain will set a new benchmark

30-Apr-22: The Mirror: DWP relaxes six-year rule for state pension top-ups – what it means for you

29-Apr-22: Edmonton Journal: Free from the EU, Britain is eager to expand trade relationship with Canada and Alberta

28-Apr-22: Gov.UK – Votes for Life

• British citizens who have moved abroad will be given ‘votes for life’ as the Government scraps the arbitrary 15-year limit on the voting rights.

• New measures announced today will also make it easier for overseas electors to remain registered to vote for longer.

• Together, these changes will empower more British citizens living overseas to participate in our democracy.

28-Apr-22: Greater protections for voters as government’s Elections Bill achieves Royal Assent

27-Apr-22: The Telegraph: Pensioners face ruin over energy bills – but there is a way to help

25-Apr-22: The Mirror: Thousands of retirees excluded from state pension rise – by as much as £110,000

21-Apr-22: The Mirror: State pension falls by up to £8,000 for Brits living overseas despite government top-up

20-Apr-22: The Express: Pension freeze ‘costing expats up to £8k a year’

17-Apr-22: The Express: ‘Fought wars for you!’ Boris Johnson slammed over ‘insulting’ state pension policy

13-Apr-22: Financial Times: As living costs soar, end the £15 bn benefits scandal

• Soaring inflation figures do not yet reflect April’s 54 percent increase to the energy price cap.
• £15 bn of unclaimed benefits, and the UK government still will not uprate our state pension. O-U-T-R-A-G-E-O-U-S.
• And the cost to index the State Pension? Just £630 million….that £15 bn would cover 24 years of indexing…..

13-Apr-22: CNN: Here’s what’s getting more expensive at the grocery store 

ARE YOU ONE? CHECK NOW…….

11-Apr-22: The Express: ‘Triple lock has been taken!’ Pensioners fury ‘I’ve worked hard – I deserve treats now’

“It’s not sufficient to cover the cost of everything going up. The utilities have just gone up, and they’re going up again in October. The triple lock has been taken away from us. I’ve got to an age now where I would like treats. I think I deserve them. I taught for many years, I’m 93, and I think I need it.”

Editor’s Note: Imagine if you had to cover these costs on a State Pension that NEVER changes. Inflation is running at 6.3% and no additional income to meet these increased costs. Gas here is nearly $2 a litre! You are lucky if you can get the basics, never mind treats”

11-Apr-22: The Guardian: UK benefits and pensions: what’s changing?

No increases for “Frozen” pensioners (again) which means that we miss out for another year of State Pension increases. Want to know how much less you will receive compared to your peers “back home”?

Click here if you retired before April 2016 and

click here if you retired after April 2016 if you really want to know….

31-Mar-22 – The Guardian: Britons living overseas for 15 years to get right to vote in UK elections

31-Mar-22 – Petition 441-00189 (Foreign affairs): Canadian Government provides response to paper petition

Big thank you to member Ed Stone and his MP Brad Vis (Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon)

30-Mar-22 – Financial Times: Surging living costs force Britons to work past retirement age

24-Mar-22: – GOV.UK: UK launches negotiations with Canada on a new, modernised trade deal

23-Mar-22 – Globe and Mail: Canada and the United Kingdom beginning negotiations on free-trade agreement

6-Mar-22 – The Express: Retirement warning: Britons left ‘distrustful’ after state pension triple lock freeze

5-Mar-22 – Cambridge Evening News: DWP: State Pension claimants urged to apply for four top-up funds

• PENSION CREDIT – Not available to ‘Frozen’ Pensioners
• WINTER FUEL PAYMENT – Not available to ‘Frozen’ Pensioners
• COLD WEATHER PAYMENT – Not available to ‘Frozen’ Pensioners
• Warm Home Discount Scheme – Not available to ‘Frozen’ Pensioners

4-Mar-22 – The Express: State pensioners set for nasty shock – you may not get full amount at retirement

24-Feb-22 – CTV News: Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners urges locals to check eligibility

One of our main aims is to advise people who’ve worked in the U.K., irrespective of their nationality, that they are, more than likely, entitled to a British state pension when they reach the appropriate age — similar to the CPP”

– Baz Clarke, CABP spokesperson for southeast Alberta, told the News

22-Feb-22 – The Express: State pension: 500,000 Britons will not get increase in April due to frozen pensions

19-Feb-22 – The Express: British expats stitched up by rising costs as UK refuses to top-up pensions ‘It’s immoral’

18-Feb-22 – The Express: State pension triple lock promise ‘unlikely’ to be kept – Sunak faces ‘difficult decision’

15-Feb-22 – Parliament TV: Brad Vis loadges second pensions petition in Parliament

14-Feb-22 – Seniors Minister, Kamal Khera, takes to Facebook and Twitter supporting the annulment of Frozen Pensions

Kamal Khera’s Facebook account. Please Like and Share with all of your friends

Canada’s Seniors Minister Kamal Khera takes to Facebook and Twitter to show support for UK pensioners living in Canada. Please share with all of your friends

12-Feb-22 – BBC Moneybox radio: Ann Puckridge and Sheila Telford on why we should have our pension uprated

8-Feb-22 – Saga Magazine: Money Matters – Frozen solid

‘I’m ashamed of the rejection and the callous attitude of the British government’ – Anne Puckridge, 97, talking to SAGA Magazine. Anne says that she has lost out on over £30,000 since coming to CANADA

7-Feb-22 – The Express: ‘Pay up!’ Man, 85, furious as his state pension is ‘frozen’ at £70 per week

1-Feb-22 – The Express: State pension fury: Johnson and Sunak under fire for ‘awful’ triple lock plan

…inflation hitting levels not seen for almost 30 years. It comes after the official inflation rate reached 5.4 percent in December, the highest level since March 1992

We had a manifesto promise to protect pensioners who are now on the cusp of a cost of living crisis. It is so awful to think that we have so many pensioners now living in poverty. What are they meant to live on?” 

– Baroness Altman, former Pensions Minister in David Cameron’s Conservative Government

Editors Note:…and what about those pensioners living on a “frozen” pension,  Baroness Altmann, how are they expected to make ends meet?

1-Feb-22 – The Telegraph: Five pension mistakes that could cost you thousands – and how to avoid them

1-Feb-22 – Iexpats: State Pension Rule Change: What Expats Should Know

31-Jan-22 – Edinburgh Live: British expat fumes as state pension sum ‘frozen at £80’ due to where he lives

30-Jan-22 – The Sun: Pensioners forced to choose between eating and heating due to rising bills, charity warns

OVER-65s are being forced to choose between keeping their homes warm and buying food, Age UK has warned. Many older people are reliant on the state pension as their main source of income and do not have the flex in their finances to cope with such enormous price rises. Age UK found that 24% of older people say they will be forced to choose between heating their home and the food they buy if their energy bills increase substantially.

29-Jan-22 – Morning Star: Nearly a quarter of pensioners worried they will have to choose between heating and eating ahead of energy bill increases

29-Jan-22 – Independent: Over-65s may go without food or heat to cope with energy bill rises, says Age UK

I am currently in bed keeping warm today as it’s so cold and I can’t afford to have my heating on for the whole day. I’m reduced to showering on alternate days, which I hate, and I’m eating food that’s microwaveable to avoid heating my oven.”

– 69-year-old woman – Age UK

Editor’s Note: If this is happening to pensioners in the UK, imagine how pensioners are trying to cope with a FROZEN pension that never increases. How barbaric can you get?

29-Jan-22 – This is Money: Three out of four older people are afraid about rising food and energy bills

Three-quarters of over-65’s surveyed by Age UK – the equivalent of 9.4million people in the UK – say they are worried and over half plan to heat their home less this winter. A quarter say they will have to choose between heating and the food they buy if their energy bills increase substantially, and two out of five say they will have to cut back, go into debt or simply not pay.

Editors Note: Now, imagine how pensioners feel when they have to make ends meet on a State Pension that NEVER increases…a nightmare, right? This is reality for nearly half a million pensioners living in predominantly Commonwealth countries, but also includes countries like Thailand…

29-Jan-22 – The Telegraph: Millions of pensioners forced to take on debt to cope with food and energy bills

How can pensioners who receive a State Pension that NEVER increases be expected to cope with rampant inflation that means food and energy prices soar?

28-Jan-22 – The Express: ‘So ridiculous!’ Furious Britons hit back as state pensions frozen for 500,000

PENSIONERS have expressed their fury at a rule which means Britons living in certain places overseas will not be entitled to a state pension increase.

The rules are just so ridiculous. Where I live, I am not entitled to any increases….“I get that us expat OAPs are no longer spending in the UK and therefore not contributing VAT. But why are we treated so differently? I’ve paid my whack, just the same as all other OAPs in the UK or abroad. Why does it matter where I live? It is simply NOT a level playing field, is it?” 

– ColoColo, Express reader

27-Jan-22 – Manchester Evening News: Martin Lewis issues State Pension warning as Brits are told to repay the DWP hundreds

If you are not happy doing that then write back asking what statutory power the DWP is relying on to recover the money. It will then respond to say it has no power. You can then confidently ignore the payment demand. The DWP also cannot use common law to recover the debt.” 

– Martin Lewis, a MoneySavingExpert

27-Jan-22 – The Express: Bad news for pensioners as real value of state pension falls – Inflation taking hold

27-Jan-22 – The Express: ‘Unfair!’ Pensioner gets just £24 a week as her state pension stays ‘frozen’

THOUSANDS of pensioners who moved abroad in retirement have seen their pensions frozen in place for years. An estimated half a million pensioners who moved abroad to certain countries in retirement have been impacted by frozen pensions. A videoproduced by the group allowed some such pensioners to tell their stories, including people living in Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and South Africa.

25-Jan-22 – The Express: Boris REFUSES to scrap hated tax rise as thousands sign petition to save pensioners

It comes as a petition calling for an emergency £500 payment for all pensioners has been backed by more than 11,500 people. ‘Silver Voices’ Director, Mr Reed said: “We trust the Government will take note of the main principle behind our petition, namely that any extra cost-of-living support, limited to those on benefits, ignores those millions of older people who survive on their state pension as their main source of income, supplemented by limited savings and perhaps a small private pension. The large majority of older people will struggle to pay the astronomical energy increases being contemplated by the power companies. We are generally living on fixed incomes which cannot cope with an inflationary spiral. The Government has a responsibility to make amends on its premature decision to suspend the triple lock for 2022 and provide emergency support for all pensioners.”

25-Jan-22 – The Express: Pension living costs vs inflation: How the upcoming pension rise won’t help the elderly

We know, for example, that pensioners tend to spend a higher proportion of their overall income on energy and food, so disproportionate price increases in these categories affect them more. It’s clear that the coming 3.1 percent rise in the state pension this April will not be enough to support the basic living cost rises of older households who depend on this benefit, if inflation continues to be significantly higher for the rest of the year” 

– Becky O’Connor, Head of Pensions and Savings

With a rampant inflation increase, it is even tougher to make ends meet when the annual increase for pensioners receiving a FROZEN State Pension is $0.00

23-Jan-22 – Cause 2 B Concerned: Frozen British Pensions – A Morally Bankrupt Policy

22-Jan-22 – The Express: ‘Increase state pension by £500!’ Pensioners demand compensation for ‘triple lock losses’

‘Silver Voices’ action group raises petition on Parliament website: “Increase the basic state pensions by £500 a year as an emergency measure. Both old and new state pensions to be increased by £500 per annum as an emergency measure. This will compensate for the suspension of the triple lock and to help pensioners cope with the cost-of-living crisis, including increases in energy and food prices. The payment to be consolidated into future pension rates. The suspension of the triple lock was agreed by Parliament before the full impact of the energy crisis on prices was known. Silver Voices estimates that the 3.1 percent increase in pensions due in April will be about half the prevailing rate of inflation then.” 

– Please support this petition which can be found here.

22-Jan-22 – The Guardian: UK government [the DWP] faces £150m bill over social welfare discrimination

22-Jan-22 – Ahmedabad Mirror: UK Pensioners Heavily Underpaid: Official Report

DWP estimates that it has underpaid 132,000 pensioners, mostly women, over £1 billion of their state pension entitlement.

18-Jan-22 – The Express: State pension alert as Britons may get ‘less than full amount’ due to pre-2016 rules

18-Jan-22 – The Express: State pension warning: Britons finding their National Insurance contributions don’t count

Employees must earn £120 a week for the 2021/22 tax year in order to be eligible for a qualifying year. Alternatively, they can earn £520 each month or £6,240 for the year.

18-Jan-22 – The Express: UK state pension ‘lagging behind’ in world ranking as ‘spending power’ diminished  

the UK found itself ranked in a humble 25th place, with the pension system flatlining with the global average.

18-Jan-22 – Moneysense: CPP is designed to be there when, and where, you retire

For those whose retirement plans aren’t set in stone, the option to take pension funds, like the CPP, anywhere in Canada or the world is important. It’s convenient, it means freedom, it means you don’t have to worry.

15-Jan-22 – Which? Magazine: Six things to know about your state pension if you want to retire abroad

The state pension is due to go up by 3.1% in April, however it’s estimated that almost half a million people who emigrated or retired to countries such as Australia, Canada and South Africa will never receive an increase.

15-Jan-22 – The Express: Half a million Brits get NO State Pension increase this year – ‘living on just £22 a week’

For humanity’s sake, end this barbaric frozen pension policy – Are you listening, Mr. Johnson???

14-Jan-22 – The Express: ‘Entirely unjust’ Outrage as thousands of Britons miss out on state pension increase

Many of them [pensioners] have to choose whether they should turn on the heating or whether they can afford to eat. I am sure you will have seen in the press how much pensioners in the UK are struggling to make ends meet – imagine how UK pensioners living here in Canada are suffering given that their UK state pension is NEVER increased, despite the fact that they have the same number of National Insurance contribution years.”

PLEASE SIGN OUR PETITION TODAY – THERE ARE 2,600 SIGNATURES ALREADY – OUR TARGET IS 10,000 AT LEAST

12-Jan-22 – Mirror Online – 10 million people on benefits facing poverty as payments to rise by just half of inflation

Households with typical energy usage face a £700 rise in annual bills without government intervention. That would put a typical annual energy bill close to £2,000.

Editor’s Note: Open question to THIS UK Government: How on earth are UK pensioners living on a Frozen State Pension expected to cope with this level of increase in energy and food prices when their State Pension NEVER increases?

– Thérèse Coffey can CONTACT US anytime she likes to explain how we are expected to manage

12-Jan-22 – The Express: State pension will rise this year but you could miss out based on where you live

Petition: Give U.K. pensioners living abroad increases with parity as those in the U.K. – Sign this petition now!

12-Jan-22 – The Express: State pension age in UK one of oldest in Europe – and it’s set to rise again

12-Jan-22 – iNews: State pension age changes: DWP under pressure to rethink increases as life expectancy declines

12-Jan-22 – BBC News: Pensions and benefits will not keep up with cost of living, warns think tank

lower-income households spend almost three times as much of their budgets on gas and electricity”

– Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS)

12-Jan-22 – Actuarial Post: Rethink needed on SPA after new life expectation figures

12-Jan-22 – PensionsAge: Govt facing ‘tricky balancing act’ on state pension policy

…an estimated 13.6% of boys and 19% of girls born in the UK in 2020 are expected to live to at least 100 years of age. 

7-Jan-22 – The Express: ‘Con of the century!’ – Pensioners rage as state pension triple lock scrap looms

“The biggest con of the century” – User ??????s

“Unfortunately, the Government doesn’t give a toss about the elderly in this country.” – User DavidCohen2

“3.1 percent is almost half the real rate of inflation. As inflation goes ever higher we will continue to be out of pocket.” – User AlistairMilton

“Many pensioners have to decide on eating or heating. Totally unacceptable and disgusting.” – User RED CHENGDU

“Shame on you, Boris and Sunak”, while ‘Made in Britain’ said: “The Tories will pay for how they have treated pensioners!” – User Sdemnips 

6-Jan-22 – The Express: Pensioners face dire winter emergency – Government MUST help. ‘Tens of thousands will die’

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PENSIONERS will die this winter because they cannot afford to heat their homes or eat properly as energy and food prices soar, campaigners warn. The Government must take action now.

5-Jan-22 – The National: One million pensioners in Scotland hit by Tories removing ‘triple lock’

After a decade of Tory austerity, millions of pensioners across Scotland currently find themselves living in poverty”.

– David Linden, MP for the Scottish National Party (SNP)

5-Jan-22 – News Network: ‘Show a little humanity!’ Outcry as 500,000 British pensioners hit by state pension freeze

Due to my age and financial situation, I am unable to afford to return to UK to enjoy the fruits that I thought I would enjoy when I retired 26 years ago. Instead, my wife and I will carry on suffering the consequences of living a sub-standard life, such as water and electricity restrictions and the price of foodstuffs that keep on increasing, not to mention the medical prices.”

– David March (88 years old) and his wife Pam (81- years-old) receive just £61 per week because they now live in South Africa

4-Jan-22 – This is Money: We need a Pensioner Winter Manifesto to save lives, says ROS ALTMANN

With the lowest state pension in the developed world and older people needing to keep warmer than the young, the costs of home heating and basic bills mean that the elderly tend to succumb to bad weather in large numbers, even in a normal year.

4-Jan-22 – The Express: State pension crisis: Britons warned of ‘terrible time ahead’ in 2022

We all knew that higher inflation was coming and that 3.1 percent was too low of an increase. But the Government wouldn’t listen. Pensioners have really been short-changed and are facing a terrible time ahead. The fact is the Government has taken money off the poorest people in the country, and I don’t believe that is fair. I believe that is an absolute betrayal, I really do feel this was a very wrong decision. I hope the fuss we make this year will mean that this doesn’t happen again.”

– Baroness Ros Altmann, speaking to the Telegraph

2-Jan-22 – The Express: The state pension will increase by £290 this year, but 500,000 people will be left out.

It is frightening to think about the future as food, rates and taxes, fuel etc are going up all the time, but our income stays the same. We paid National Insurance contributions after leaving the UK, thinking our pension would be secure. We did not realise that it would be frozen.”

– Valerie Hepplestone, a retired pensioner living in South Africa, who receives a state pension of just £43 per week.

1-Jan-22 – Daily Mail: Pensioners at risk of freezing to death this winter because rocketing fuel prices, warns Age UK

The problem for pensioners is that not being able to keep warm costs lives. We’re not just talking about being a bit strapped for cash, we’re talking about health deterioration or death.’

– Baroness Altmann talking to the Mail on Sunday