State Pension recipients have been warned over the risk of losing their payments if they move abroad. It comes after thousands of claimants saw their payments suddenly end.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) explained that this move was not down to any administrative errors by officials. Instead, it was due to those involved choosing to go and live overseas.
Failure to follow rules and send a ‘life certificate’ back on time, or return it at all, can lead to State Pension being suspended. The DWP admitted that tens of thousands of people saw their State Pension stopped in 2022 after moving abroad, reports Birmingham Live.
The number of State Pensions stopped in 2022 for those claiming in each country after retiring overseas include:
- Albania 7
- Andorra 51
- Anguilla 74
- Antigua 88
- Antilles (Netherlands) 8
- Armenia 1
- Bahamas 211
- Bangladesh 429
- Barbados 796
- Benin 2
- Bermuda 90
- Brazil 737
- Bulgaria 348
- Burkina Faso 1
- Canada 19,061
- Cayman Islands 42
- Central African Republic 1
- Costa Rica 55
- Croatia 105
- Cyprus 1,831
- Czech Republic 126
- Denmark 525
- Djibouti 1
- Dominican Republic 38
- Egypt 224
- Estonia 18
- Falkland Islands 11
- Fiji 60
- France 1,690
- Gambia 50
- Georgia 12
- Grenada 217
- Guyana 86
- Hong Kong 527
- Hungary 146
- India 1,934
- Indonesia 246
- Israel 426
- Jamaica 2,847
- Jordan 67
- Kenya 234
- Kuwait 17
- Kyrgyzstan 5
- Liberia 2
- Luxembourg 85
- Malawi 33
- Malaysia 74
- Mexico 454
- Monaco 92
- Montserrat 27
- Morocco 7
- Panama 28
- Philippines 1,564
- Puerto Rico 4
- Republic of the Congo 2
- Russia 5
- Saudi Arabia 3
- Serbia & Montenegro 77
- Seychelles 2
- Singapore 191
- Slovakia 8
- Sri Lanka 30
- St Lucia 457
- St Vincent/Grenadines 190
- Sudan 5
- Swaziland 2
- Switzerland 105
- Syria 6
- Taiwan 17
- Tanzania 34
- Trinidad & Tobago 264
- Turks & Caicos Islands 4
- Uganda 49
- United Arab Emirates 50
- Uruguay 22
- Vietnam 88
- Virgin Islands (British) 29
- Virgin Islands (USA) 15
- Zimbabwe 47
The figures showed that no State Pension payments were affected for any ex-pats living in Greenland, Guam, The Maldive Islands, or North Korea.
Guidance from the DWP on GOV.UK for people retiring abroad says: “You may get a ‘life certificate’ form from the Department for Work and Pensions to check you’re still eligible for the State Pension. You need to get the form signed by a witness. The instructions are on the form.
“Your witness does not have to live in the UK or have a passport from any specific country. The people who can sign the form are the same as those who can countersign a passport photo. Your payments may be suspended if you do not send the form back.”
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