28 December 2023 , 12:12
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Around half a million older Brits won’t receive an increase to their state pension when payments rise next April.
State pension payments are due to increase by 8.5% thanks to the triple lock promise. The triple lock was introduced in 2010 and makes sure the state pension rises every April by whichever is highest out of: inflation (using the previous September rate of Consumer Prices Index inflation), wages (average growth between May and July), or 2.5%.
The highest of these for this year is average wages, which was confirmed to be 8.5%. It means the full new state pension will rise from £203.85 per week to £221.20, while the full basic state pension will go up from £156.20 per week to £169.50.
But hundreds of thousands of Brits living abroad in retirement will miss out on the 2023/24 state pension uprating. Nigel Green, CEO and founder of deVere Group said an estimated 500,000 older people will "continue to have their pensions frozen in value at the point of retirement date or date of emigration".
Under current rules, the state pension is only increased yearly for someone if they live in the UK, the European Economic Area (EEA), Gibraltar, Switzerland, and countries with a social security agreement with the UK.
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You cannot get increases if you live in Canada or New Zealand. Mr Green said: "An estimated 500,000 retired Brits who live abroad will not receive any boost at all. 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. It seems completely unjust that someone living in the USA will receive an extra £1,000, yet someone just across the border in Canada, in the same situation, will not."
In a statement on frozen state pensions, a DWP spokesperson previously told The Mirror: “The Government’s policy on the up-rating 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.
“We understand that people move abroad for many reasons and that this can impact on their finances. There is information on GOV.UK about what the effect of going abroad will be on entitlement to the UK state pension."