The news that Britain’s old age pensioners are scheduled to receive an 8.5 percent increase next April, on top of 10.2 percent this year, has staggered foreign expats. Many had their entitlement frozen from the date ceased to be “ordinarily resident” in UK. There are about 500,000 British expats living abroad who are denied annual increases, mostly living in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. But the rule applies to Thailand too.
The good news for British-based seniors only is based on the triple lock policy which means that the annual increase in the state pension is the highest of average earnings, inflation or 2.5 percent. Since the decline of Covid, there have been substantial worker settlements in Britain to counter inflation which have resulted in a higher-than-expected average wage. For those receiving the new flat-rate pension, going to those who reached retirement age after April 2016, the total for the year is fast approaching 12,000 pounds.
It is well known that there are no rational grounds for uprating the state pensions of those expats caught in the freezing process. They paid national insurance in their working lives and should be covered. Although the British government sometimes talks about “reciprocal agreements” there is no sensible rationale why British pensioners living in Turkey or Serbia or parts of the Caribbean should receive increases when those in Thailand do not. The stark reality is a postal lottery pure and simple.
The British Department of Work and Pensions in July 2023 published data which likely explain the political resistance and indifference. The report claims that the cost of uprating the state pension in frozen countries-rate countries is around 4,590 million pounds in the five-year time slot 2023 to 2028. Whilst this is not in fact a huge sum in overall pension expenditure terms, it is designed to be the definitive “sorry folks” argument. Meanwhile, there is a division in the Conservative government whether even the trip-lock should continue as Britain lurches in its post-Brexit financial agony.
The main lobby group in Thailand is End Frozen Pensions Asia (Thailand Branch) which is easily found on Facebook and has a useful chat describing members’ campaigning activities. Local Brits feeling aggrieved by the lack of political will in UK to resolve the blatant discrimination should support this non-profitmaking pressure group. And yes, it’s likely to be a long haul.
