Plans for overseas pension claimants
Ministers are calling for a look at certain spouses abroad being able to claim state pension funds
By Nicole Hamer |12:50 07 May 2013
A new proposal has emerged which relates to partners of British people who live abroad being able to claim the state pension.
The new plan comes as some ministers are reportedly worried that some husbands or wives of Britons who live overseas can claim pension funds although they have never been to the UK.
The government’s plan is part of a reform on UK pensions. In a speech on Wednesday, 8th May, it is expected that the Queen will talk of the government’s Pensions Bill.
The Pensions Minister Steve Webb told BBC Radio 4: “I think the fact the we do pay over 200,000 pensions outside the country, many people who may not even have visited the country, would strike most people as not fair.”
There have been some critics who have commented on the matter also.
It is understood that current pensioners would not be affected by the proposal.
There are plans for a single-tier pension to be introduced.
UK Pensions are divided into a number of aspects, mainly State Pensions (Basic State Pension and State Second Pension), Occupational Pensions and Individual or Personal Pensions.