Thousands of British pensioners living abroad will miss out on the financial boost to their pension as part of the government ‘triple lock’ deal, deVere Group CEO Nigel Green has warned.
The triple lock policy, which sees the state pension rise in line with the highest of either 2.5%, inflation or average earnings, is set to hike state pensions by 10% in April in line with last September’s inflation figure.
Green, whose company has more than 80,000 expat clients, said an estimated half a million retired Britons living abroad will not benefit from the significant rise.
Green said: “Outrageously, they will continue to have their pensions frozen in value at the point of retirement date or date of emigration. Having a frozen pension means that your retirement income falls in real terms year on year due to inflation and never has this been more true than as the cost of living has soared.”
Retired expats in the European Economic Area will continue to receive annual increases to their state pensions under the triple lock scheme, as will those in countries including the United States, the Philippines and Turkey. However, pensioners living in Commonwealth countries such as Australia and Canada are set to miss out.
Green said: “Despite paying taxes all their working lives in the UK, and national insurance in full, these Brits will completely miss out on the rise given to others. It seems completely unjust that someone living in the US will receive an extra £1,000 yet someone just across the border in Canada in the same situation will not.”
Green has called for the government to scrap the policy of denying certain pensioners the rise based on where they have chosen to live in retirement.
Green added: “It’s a national scandal that the UK government is intentionally neglecting its older people abroad, pushing many into poverty. These retirees held up their end of the deal by fully contributing to the system when in the UK. The government must now do the right thing and uphold their side too.”
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