Search Q&A
Brexit / Pensions / EHIC & S1
Hi All.
I've had a quick search on this site for info on Brexit (as above) to no avail. Is there any dedicated link to the subject?
My primary concern is that the UK could desist paying the index related rise to the UK pension, as in Canada and Australia. At present it's guaranteed for 3yrs after Brexit. Should we be lobbying parliament about health and pensions now ?
Any thoughts?
You can lobby if you want, but the UK will almost certainly stop indexing pensions paid to EU countries as it will save a lot of money and they don't care about pensioners who don't have the vote any more.
And that's not to mention what will happen with health care costs...
At the moment the situation is that UK has one-on-one agreements with countries outside the EU. In some cases, both countries agree mutual indexation of their pension and in others - e.g. Canada and Australia - they don't. There is no way of knowing what will happen with EU countries in 3 years time and it is not a matter for the UK alone as the decision is between the two countries concerned.
That said, like you, I am concerned!
Bob, the conservative government is into saving money so they can cut taxes, and I'm afraid that pensioners without votes will be very low on their priority list come brexit.
Basically, they couldn't give a shit unless it'll win them votes. Welcome to Boris's Britain.
"Would that be a significant enough number of expats to have enough clout?"
I seriously doubt it in Belgium.
Theresa May falsely promised the 15 year limit would be removed. FAt chance of that.
I've just done some research into my own pension over the last 5 years.
On average, my single person's pension has risen by just under £150.00 per annum. I've no idea how many UK pensioners there are in Belgium but for every 1,000, NOT indexing could save the UK government £150,000.00 a year.
I can't see this making a huge difference to the UK budget.
On the other hand, thanks to the exchange rate, I received over €1,100.00 LESS between 2015 and 2017 and things were only slightly better in 2018.
I'm suspect that future exchange rate fluctuations will be far more significant than whether or not the UK indexes our pensions.
Not including Ireland, there are roughly 250,000 British pensioners living in EU countries (unsurprisingly, Spain and France are the biggies here). So over five years, £150 would account for nearly 200 million pounds. And given our penny-pinching government's past record, I wouldn't be holding my breath about them scrapping indexation.
No politician or civil servant or journalist in UK or in Europe knows what will happen yet, so it's pretty much impossible to give any advice at the moment. If it happens, then it will depend on so many different factors. So just stay calm and see what happens. The odds of being able to change any decisions made are virtually zero.
