State pension warning as 450,000 Britons could miss out on extra £460 triple lock boost next year

Average earnings including bonuses in the three months to July, which are used to calculate the state pension triple lock, grew by four per cent, much higher than inflation at 2.2 per cent.

As wage growth sits at four per cent, the new state pension – currently £221.20 per week – should rise to around £230 per week, an increase of almost £9 a week. This would give an extra £460 a year to state pension recipients.

But a recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that at the end of May 2023, some 453,000 expats are in receipt of a frozen state pension.

This means they will miss out on the entire triple lock boost.

Th triple lock agreement does not apply to pensioners 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.

From the data, the full, new flat-rate state pension (for those who reached state pension age after April 2016) is expected to increase to £230.05 a week. That will take it to £11,962.60 a year, a rise of £460 compared with now.

Those on the full, old basic state pension (for those who reached state pension age before April 2016) is expected to go up to £176.30 a week. That will take it to £9,167.60 a year, a rise of £353.60 compared with now.

However for pensioners in countries without a reciprocal agreement with the UK Government, many have their state pension ‘frozen’ at the level it was at when they left the UK.

The average weekly amount of state pension paid to all frozen pensioners was £57. The average weekly amount paid to 114,000 living in Canada was £52, while 208,000 in Australia received £56 per week.

With a better picture of what the state pension could rise to next year, campaigners have urged to Government to address the frozen pensions issue as thousands of pensioners are struggling to live abroad.

Labour MP Kevin Bonavia has urged the UK Government to “widen Bilateral Social Security Agreements including index-linked State Pensions for UK nationals abroad with Commonwealth countries”.

In a written response to Bonavia, Emma Reynolds, the pensions minister said: “The policy on the uprating of UK State Pensions paid overseas is a longstanding one.

“UK State Pensions are payable worldwide, without regard to nationality, and are only uprated abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so - for example in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement that provides for uprating.

“There are no plans to widen Bilateral Social Security Agreements to include the uprating of State Pensions paid to recipients abroad.”

More than 172,400 people have signed an online petition calling for an end to the practice of ‘freezing’ the state pension for British expats as they too have paid National Insurance Contributions during their working life.

The End Frozen Pensions campaign - which aims to 'end the injustice' - explained: “They moved, often to be near family, to live in one of the countries without a reciprocal agreement to inflation link their State Pension, so their pension is ‘frozen’ at the level it was at when they left the UK.

“Those in countries with reciprocal agreements are unaffected so if you were a pensioner in the USA you would continue to get an uprating, but if you lived just across the border in Canada you would not.

“We believe this is deeply unfair and arbitrary and penalises hard working Britons.”

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

• 'Austerity 2.0!' Starmer's vote to axe Winter Fuel Payment lambasted by Labour MP
• Winter Fuel Payment to be means-tested for pensioners, MPs vote
• State pension set to rise by £460 but 'many will not get full amount'

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.”