State pension falls by up to £8,000 for Brits living overseas despite government top-up

Half a million retirees living overseas are set to lose up to £8,000 in state pension this year – despite most pensioners getting an increase earlier this month.

The state pension rose by 3.1% a year from earlier this month .

But many British expats living overseas miss out on these increases due to an issue called the frozen pensions policy.

British citizens who live overseas in countries like Australia and Canada have their state pension frozen at the level they had when leaving the UK, the Express reports.

If they had stayed in the UK their state pension would go up every year thanks to a government agreement called the triple lock .

This sees the state pension rise annually by inflation, 2.5% or average wage growth, whichever is highest.

But 492,000 British expats live in countries where their state pension is frozen – that's half of all Brits living overseas.

These include countries like Australia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Africa and many Caribbean islands.

Expat Brits do get a state pension increase if they live in a country with an agreement with the UK on retirement benefits.

These include the US, any country in the European Union, Jamaica, Bermuda, Israel and more.

A 'frozen' pensioner who paid the maximum National Insurance contribution during their working life will miss out on £7,919 if they retired in 1982.

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They will lose £4,040 if they retired in 2012, £5,701 if they retired in 2002 and £6,812 if they retired in 1992.

International Consortium of British Pensioners chairman John Duffy said: "This outrageously cruel policy is excluding pensioners, many of whom spent their working lives in the UK, and leaving them to face poverty."

A spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions said: "We continue to uprate state pensions overseas where there is a legal requirement to do so."

But as the cost of living crisis continues to grip families, even UK pensioners have told The Mirror that the state pension increase isn’t enough .

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Retired teacher Sue, who claims the basic state pension, is going to be 80 in October and called the 3.1% rise “insulting to pensioners”.

“I think the government doesn’t give a damn,” said Sue, who lives with her husband, 81, in North Yorkshire.

“We’ve worked hard and thought we would have a comfortable retirement but everything is going up. Our gas bill is particularly expensive and has gone up a lot.

“We live out of town, so we need a car to go anywhere but petrol is expensive. I need regular checks on my eye. The cost increases are never ending.

“Food has gone up as well – and this all comes at a time when MPs have paid themselves a pay rise. I just feel angry.”

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