State pension warning as 500,000 Britons could miss out on £935 a month triple lock rise next year
![Pensioner couple](https://www.gbnews.com/media-library/pensioner-couple.jpg?id=53137765&width=1200&height=800&quality=90&coordinates=250%2C0%2C0%2C0)
Around 170,000 Britons have had their pension frozen for over 20 years
GETTY
Around 170,000 Britons have had their pension frozen for over 20 years
State pension payments could rise to £935 a week from April next year, but over 500,000 pensioners will miss out on this boost.
Under the triple lock, the state pension increases each year in line with either the rate of inflation in September, average earnings for May to July or 2.5 per cent; whichever is the highest.
However this does not happen for those living overseas unless they are living in a country which has a reciprocal agreement with the UK.
This means British pensioners living in countries including Canada, Australia and Thailand receive much smaller pensions than those living back in the UK.
Around 500,000 pensioners that have had their pensions frozen, and figures show that as of last year, 170,000 of those affected have had their pension frozen for over 20 years – since 2003.
Campaigners have urged to Government to address the frozen pensions issue as thousands of pensioners are struggling to live abroad.
Campaigners have urged to Government to address the frozen pensions issue as thousands of pensioners are struggling to live abroad
GETTYAs it stands, the consumer price index (CPI) is sitting at a rate of two per cent with it being more likely than not that average earnings will be used to determine the increase.
Seven Cameron, the pensions director at Aegon, believes pensioners are in line for a 5.7 per cent rate hike next year.
He said: "The specific figure used for determining the triple lock will be the year-on-year increase in earnings for the period ending May to July 2024, which will be published in September.
"Barring a significant drop in earnings growth over the next few months, this figure will likely determine next year’s triple lock."
If this were to become a reality, the full new state pension would rise to £233.80 weekly or £935.20 a month, the equivalent of £12,157.60 a year.
In comparison, the full basic state pension would become £178.40 each week, which would be around £713.60 monthly or £9,276.80 annually.
In April 2003, the basic state pension was just £77.45 for a single person. Now, it is £169.50, so those pensioners living abroad are getting almost £100 less per week than they would be if they lived in the UK.
Some older people living abroad receive just £24 each week.
Nearly 21,000 people have signed an online petition calling for an end of frozen pensions for retirees living in a country which does not have a reciprocal agreement with the UK Government.
These pensioners feel robbed as they have paid the maximum number of National Insurance qualifying years during their working life, but still don't receive the maximum state pension payments.
The International Consortium of British Pensioners advocates on behalf of around 450,000 expats affected by ‘frozen pensions’ and is behind the ‘End Frozen Pensions’ campaign, which aims to “end the injustice” for Britons who have moved abroad whose state pension does not rise in-line with the Triple Lock every April.
Margaret has a frozen pension as she lives in Australia. She told the end frozen pensions campaign that she receives a weekly state pension of just £24 each week. It has been frozen at this level for 23 years.
Anne Puckidge, 99, served in the Second World War and worked in the UK up until the age of 76. She paid her National Insurance in full, however, when she left the UK and moved to Canada to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren, her state pension was frozen at £72.50 per week.
John Duguid, spokesperson for the End Frozen Pensions campaign, said: “Of the total 450,000 ‘frozen pensioners’, that well over a hundred thousand have been waiting more than twenty years for justice gives resonance to the sheer scale of the issue.
“Seeing one’s often sole source of income fall in value, year after year for over two decades, has both a financial and emotional toll that only grows in proportion the longer this cruel policy goes unaddressed.
A Government spokesperson said: “We understand that people move abroad for many reasons, and we provide clear information on gov.uk about how this can impact their finances in retirement. The International Pension Centre is a source of advice for people who are already retired.
“The Government’s policy on the uprating of the UK state pension for recipients living overseas is a long-standing one of more than 70 years and we continue to uprate state pensions overseas where there is a legal requirement to do so.”