05 November 2008
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) yesterday ruled in
favour of the UK Government in the case of a group of pensioners
who requested a review into the decision not to increase their
state pensions.
The ECHR ruled that the UK Government is not obliged to pay
annual inflation-linked state pension increases to all expatriates
in a move that will affect around half a million British pensioners
who have retired overseas.
The appeal was taken to the ECHR by a group of 13 expats living
in South Africa who claimed that they were being discriminated
against by the British Government because of their country of
residence. The appeal hinged on the fact that pensioners choosing
to retire in the European Union or America see their pension
increased, whilst those in Commonwealth countries, including
Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa do not.
The ECHR rejected the appeal six to one, stating: "While there
was some force in the applicants' argument, echoed by Age Concern,
that an elderly person's decision to move abroad might be driven by
a number of factors, including the desire to be close to family
members, place of residence was nonetheless a matter of
choice."
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced that as
a result of the ECHR judgement it does not plan to make any changes
to the current arrangements regarding the freezing of state
pensions, meaning that expat pensioners will see their state
pension frozen at the moment they retire, or when they leave
Britain if they are already retired.
