DWP has now admitted that some expats can claim the full state pension without ever working a day in Britain.
DWP handing full state pensions to people ‘who’ve never worked in Britain'(Image: )
State pensioners are being given the full state pension – despite NEVER working in the UK. The DWP has now admitted that some expats can claim the full state pension without ever working a day in Britain.
The little-known loophole could be worth almost £12,000 a year. To receive the new state pension, retirees must reach age 66 with at least 10 years of National Insurance contributions through either work or credits for unemployment, sickness and childcare.
To be eligible for the full amount, 35 years are required. Anyone with fewer than 10 years can still qualify using years worked in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland or a country that signed an agreement with the UK
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Andrew Campbell, of law firm Doyle Clayton, said: “Social security agreements in relation to state pension savings protect British nationals who spend part of their working life outside the UK but retain a reasonable expectation of retiring here.
“In this example, there’s a technical argument that someone could meet the criteria for a state pension. What constitutes a ‘genuine and sufficient link’ is unspecified but without a working history in the UK, there may be other ways this could be exhibited, such as frequently visiting and having family or property here.
“Obviously somebody with a very limited history of working or paying tax in the UK isn’t who these arrangements are designed to cater for, even if they can bring a claim. Either way, with life expectancy increasing, savers need to be building up separate private pension provision to guarantee a comfortable retirement.”
A DWP spokesman said: “This is an extreme hypothetical example that doesn’t reflect how the state pension system works in practice for the overwhelming majority of pensioners, whether living abroad or in the UK.
“A person would need to demonstrate genuinely strong links to the UK which are unlikely to exist if they had never worked here.”
You’ll be able to claim the new State Pension when you reach State Pension age if you’re a man born on or after April 6, 1951 or a woman born on or after April 6, 1953.
It has been confirmed that you will need 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get any new State Pension.
A qualifying year is one in which you were working and made National Insurance contributions or getting National Insurance credits for example if you were unemployed, ill or a parent or carer or paying voluntary National Insurance contributions.
You might also qualify if you’ve lived or worked abroad or paid reduced-rate National Insurance for married women.