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Indexation of UK State Pension.
Hi All
I'm trying to financially plan ahead.
There is a possibilty that with Brexit the UK might not index link the State Pension as in Canada and Australia after the transition period.
I seem to recall, and it might have been on this website, that when you return to the UK, even for a short period, that you can register and get the indexation re-instated?
Can anyone point me to the relevent piece of legislation that backs that theory up?
Cheers.
Can't point you to actual legislation, but yes your pension is paid at the "correct" rate if you return to reside in the U.K. (i.e. you can't just go back to the U.K. for a holiday, you need to be "ordinarily resident").
A brief google threw this up; see section 3.1 in the following doc published by AgeUK from Dec 2019.
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs25_r...
"If you have not been getting the annual increases, your pension is
increased to the current rate when you return to live in the UK."
You may also want to speak to the UK Government International Pension office here : https://www.gov.uk/international-pension-centre
There is a lot of information here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/benefits-and-pensions-for-uk-nationals-in-th...
However, beyond December 2020, no one actually knows whats going to happen.
The basic answer to your question is yes, the indexation is reinstated if you return to the UK. If you are, or become before the end of the year, a "safeguarded" UK citizen resident in an EU country, your pension will continue to be indexed in perpetuity anyway, that was settled in the UK-EU treaty on the UK leaving the EU.
