Living or working abroad does not necessarily exclude you from
building up or receiving a UK State Pension or receiving annual
increases.
Building up a UK State Pension whilst living abroad
National Insurance
contributions paid whilst you are living in Northern
Ireland or the Isle of Man will count towards your State Pension.
Likewise if you live in, or pay into the social security system
of, a European Economic Area (EEA) country*, Switzerland or a
country that has a reciprocal social security agreement with the
UK**, then your contributions there (or residence) may help
you to meet the contribution conditions for a UK State Pension. In
addition, you may be entitled to a State Pension from your country
of residence if you are contributing to its State Pension
scheme.
In some circumstances you may also be able to pay voluntary
NICs.
Receiving the UK State Pension whilst living abroad
The UK State Pension can be paid to you even though you are
living abroad temporarily or permanently. If your payment is made
by direct payment into your bank or building society, this can
continue but you should let the Pension Service know when you are
going to leave the UK.
UK State Pension annual increases
If you are living abroad on a permanent basis you may be
entitled to the annual increase to your State Pension rates if you
live in an EEA country*, Switzerland, or a country that has a
reciprocal social security agreement with the UK**.
If you live abroad in any other country you will not receive an
annual increase.
* The EEA countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech
Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. The UK is
also part of the EEA. UK means England, Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland. Gibraltar is treated as another EEA country by
the UK. Other EEA countries treat Gibraltar as part of the UK.
** The UK has reciprocal social security agreements with
Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Israel (the agreement with Israel
applies to the territory administered by the Government of Israel
on 19 July 1956), Jamaica, Jersey and Guernsey, Isle of Man,
Mauritius, New Zealand, Philippines, Switzerland, Turkey, USA and
the separate republics of the former Yugoslavia that are not EU
Member States (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, the
Republic of Macedonia and Serbia).
Q & A's
The EEA countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech
Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein,
Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. The UK is
also part of the EEA. UK means England, Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland. Gibraltar is treated as another EEA country by
the UK. Other EEA countries treat Gibraltar as part of the UK.
The UK has reciprocal social security agreements with Barbados,
Bermuda, Canada, Israel (the agreement with Israel applies to the
territory administered by the Government of Israel on 19 July
1956), Jamaica, Jersey and Guernsey, Isle of Man, Mauritius, New
Zealand, Philippines, Switzerland, Turkey, USA and the separate
republics of the former Yugoslavia that are not EU Member States
(Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, the Republic of Macedonia
and Serbia).
The social security agreement between the UK and Australia was
terminated by Australia and ended on 28 February 2001. When in
force the agreement allowed periods of Australian residence to
count as periods when UK National Insurance Contributions had been
paid in claims for UK basic State Pension.
The UK Government has made special arrangements to allow periods
of residence in Australia, up to April 2001, to be taken into
account in claims for basic State Pension made after the agreement
ended. Any additional amount of benefit that becomes payable
under the special arrangements remains payable as long as the
person continues to live permanently in the UK or the Isle of
Man.
If you think that this may apply to you, then you must inform
the Pension Service, at the time when you are claiming your State
Pension, about your Australian residence.
The chances are that you may not be able to benefit from any
residency outside the EEA, Switzerland or the countries in the
reciprocal agreement list. If in doubt, then contact the Pension Service.
Yes it can and you will be able to access your account on your
return. However, you cannot access your Post Office card account
from abroad.
If you are living abroad temporarily in any other country
provided that you remain ordinarily resident in the UK then, you
may be entitled to an increase to your State Pension. This would
normally be paid in arrears upon your return to the UK.
Yes you can defer your state pension once you get to pension
age, even if you are non-resident. You can read our overview on
state pension deferral here.
In these circumstances the DWP Pension Service will continue to
add annual increases to your pension even if you do not live in
one of the reciprocal agreements countries referred to
earlier. For those who live in a country where annual
increases are not normally awarded their pension will be flat rated
from the point that they start to collect it. This may seem a
strange approach but the DWP Pension Service has confirmed that
those not normally entitled to annual increases will receive them
if their pension is in deferment for the period of that
deferment.
If you live outside the UK and have already claimed
your State Pension, you will not normally be able to stop your
pension and opt for deferment. You may however have this option if
you live in one of the EEA countries listed above. You should speak
to the International Pension Centre for more details.
Yes. State Pension forecasts are provided by the Pension
Service, the government department responsible for administering
the state pension. Click here to visit their website (part of
Directgov) for instructions on how to request a forecast.
