I know if living in Thailand when starting to get the state pension it never increases year by year as it does in other Countries such as if you are in Australia. But what happens if you come back later to live in UK, is it still forever frozen or does it start to get yearly increases from when you return?

For the record I think the British state pension freezes if you move to Australia, South Africa or Canada...

I seem to recall a case were those countires were getting to gether tpo lobby the British Govt as they were having to make up the short fall in Expat pensions

( no doubt I will corrected - if I recall wrongly)

- Skippy

if u later return to the uk, ur pension will start to receive increases.

If you are getting a UK State Pension or bereavement benefit and were living in a country where annual increases are not payable, you will receive the increased rate while you are in the UK. You must tell us within one month of your return to receive the increased rate from the earliest possible date.

You also have the option to defer your State Pension, which simply means putting off claiming your State Pension when you reach State Pension age, or choosing to stop claiming it after you have already claimed it. This allows you to build up extra income or a taxable lump-sum payment.

http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/ipc/country.asp#two

ian.

Well thats something then, thanks. Oz is one of the countries where you do get the increases, South Africa you don't but seems most comonwealth Countries you do. My sis is retirered in Queensland and she gets a yearly increase. Seems a bit unfair that despite paying in, it depends on where you are when it comes to paying out. Hope the next Govt will change this but as there are no votes in it I doubt it.

brian

are u sure that it's ur sister's uk basic state pension that increases every year and not one of her other benefits?

You can be paid a UK State Pension anywhere in the world, but you will only get annual increases if you live in any other EEA country, a country with which the UK has a social security agreement that allows increases, the Isle of Man or Sark. Find out about how much State Pension you might get in the A to Z section or by getting a State Pension forecast from HM Revenue & Customs, who deal with overseas customers.

http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/ipc/faqs.asp#eight

here is a list of non-eea countries that have reciprocal pension agreements with the uk. australia isn't on the list.

Barbados
Bermuda
Bosnia-Hercegovina
Canada
Croatia
Guernsey
Israel
Jamaica
Japan
Jersey
Macedonia
Mauritius
Montenegro
New Zealand
Philippines
Republic of Korea
Serbia
Turkey
USA
Yugoslavia (!)

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/osc.htm#7

ian.