European pension rules could help UK Expats?

Prakhonchai Nick said:
In Asia, only the Phillipine widows can claim bereavement benefits. I imagine the same applies to state pension...no frozen pensions.
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Nick, the above was a topic for conversation last night and wonder if you can confirm what is current.
I have a friend who is regularly in & out of hospital here through smoking all his life. He is married (Thai wife) and they have an 8 year old daughter together. When (not if) he dies, will his daughter get assistance from the government? He was under the impression that she (through wife) will get money until she is 16 years old????
Any facts that I can tell him???


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What s going to happen after March next year,when the UK leaves the EU. The Ex pats living in EU should then have their pensions frzn like ourselves. If that happens &
they cause big problems,the Gov t may give in & let them recve the increases,which is unfair to the rest of us.
Maybe some deal will be done after Brexit to put all pensioners onto the current weekly rate.
 
EnglishAlan said:
What s going to happen after March next year,when the UK leaves the EU. The Ex pats living in EU should then have their pensions frzn like ourselves. If that happens &
they cause big problems,the Gov t may give in & let them recve the increases,which is unfair to the rest of us.
Maybe some deal will be done after Brexit to put all pensioners onto the current weekly rate.
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Alan ....... dream on.


I seriously doubt that there will be any (favourable) change...
 
Ivor the Engine said:
Nick, the above was a topic for conversation last night and wonder if you can confirm what is current.
I have a friend who is regularly in & out of hospital here through smoking all his life. He is married (Thai wife) and they have an 8 year old daughter together. When (not if) he dies, will his daughter get assistance from the government? He was under the impression that she (through wife) will get money until she is 16 years old????
Any facts that I can tell him???

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I think Nick covered that at: https://surinfarang.com/forum/threads/bereavement-info-from-uk-gov.24476/#post-232012 . My understanding is that my wife and two daughters will recieve no benefits from the UK Government when I die.
 
Ivor the Engine said:
So there is no ‘widowed parents allowance’ ?????


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There are no "Bereavement benefits" at all since 6 April 2017.......................unless the widow is residing in the UK.

No Bereavement payment (GBP 2,000)
No Widowed Parent Allowance
No Bereavement Allowance

All replaced by a single "Bereavement Support Payment"...... but the crafty bastards included a condition that the widow had to be in the UK to claim.


What you'll get
You’ll get a first payment and then up to 18 monthly payments. There are 2 rates.


Rate First payment Monthly payment
Higher rate £3,500 £350
Lower rate £2,500 £100
If you get Child Benefit (or if you don’t get it but are entitled to it), you’ll get the higher rate.

If you don’t get Child Benefit, you’ll get the lower rate unless you were pregnant when your husband, wife or civil partner died.

You must claim within 3 months of your husband, wife or civil partner’s death to get the full amount. You can claim up to 21 months after but your payments will be less.
 
As above Ivor..there are now no benefits from the UK for Thai widows or children living in Thailand, regardles of how many years of NI contributions you made.

It was heartbreaking recently to have to tell a young widow with two 4 year old twins that there was no money for her. from anywhere Husband took his occupational pension years earlier in the form of an annuity, and being unmarried at the time, took the whole amount in monthly payments with no provision for a wife. That stopped upon death as did his state pension Too late to change an annuity after having started.
 
robjak said:
Sorry I'm a bit thick, does that mean Thai widows that are British citizens as well?
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Yes I believe it does, unless they happen to be in the UK at the time of their husbands death.

If they are British citizens, they are entitled to claim a state pension at age 66 or whatever the eligible age is when they claim, BUT any pension can only be based on their own NI contributions (ie they would have had to have worked in the UK previously) and a minimum of 10 contributions are required before any pension can be paid. It is no longer possible to receive a pension based upon husbands contributions
 
Thanks for the clear explanation. I better buy him a beer tonight with that news.
Maybe his wife & daughter should become refugee’s and get over to UK???


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I understand that with some annuity providers (perhaps depending on the amount in the annuity pot) it MAY now be possible to sell the annuity to a third party annuity provider - and receive different terms of payment from them in the event of a change in health or marital circumstances. BEWARE of the cost of doing this - it could reduce the value of the new annuity's pot quite significantly, and is almost certain to reduce the annual income derived from the smaller pot. It is very unlikely that a second-life annuity could ever generate a higher income than one purchased for a single-life, and single-life annuities that are guaranteed for 5 years, and/or where payments increase in retirement. In short, it is essential to involve a qualified Independent Financial Adviser to assess the situation before taking any decisions.

At least one provider of new annuities (LV=) can provide one that allows clients to change the terms of its product in payment. It means that there is no need to sell the annuity to a different provider (and incur costs/losses as a result) in the event of a change of circumstances. There is no advice being offered here that you should change your provider though!

Something to consider: annuity rates have been very low for many years, due to the providers' forced reliance on the price of Gilts. In the event that Gilt rates could well increase in future, it might be important for people to take advantage of the potential for such an event to provide a higher pension - notwithstanding the possibility that the annuity pot itself could be smaller if the annuity were to be transferred.

All this is a result of Government recognition that annuities have proved to be a very poor deal for many people in the past, and a search for ways to improve that situation in future.
 
Interesting information Merlin.

Problem is that few people having annuities are aware that they can perhaps renegotiate and for those that are here in Thailand being away from the UK makes it more difficult even if they are aware

Most single life annuities only come to light after death, leaving the widow with nothing.
 
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