Expats granted right to pensions appeal
April 14th, 2009 - Chris MarshallA consortium of expat pensioner groups has won the right to continue its campaign to get Britain’s long-standing frozen pensions policy rescinded.
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A consortium of expat pensioner groups has won the right to continue its campaign to get Britain’s long-standing frozen pensions policy rescinded.
British pensions for many expats do not increase in line with inflation. They have been frozen at the rate that was in force when they began drawing their pensions overseas. In some cases, that was 20 years ago when the basic weekly pension was £43.60. It is now nearly twice that sum: £95.25.
The policy affects Britons living in retirement in most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations. Expats in Mexico and a few other non-Commonwealth countries are also affected.
Last November, the pensioners’ consortium took their case for parity to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), seeking to have the policy declared discriminatory and in breach of the Human Rights Act. Their case was dismissed in a six-to-one decision by the ECHR’s chamber.
However, their request for an appeal was granted by the ECHR on April 6. It will be heard by the court’s 17-member grand chamber on Sept 2.
The appeal is widely viewed as their final chance to win the same pension rights as retirees in the majority of non-Commonwealth nations, who receive the same annual cost-of-living increases as pensioners who remain resident in Britain.
The consortium – which is made up of a total of five expat pensioner organisations in Canada, Australia and South Africa – has failed to overturn the policy in the British High Court, Appeal Court and House of Lords. (Via Expat Life Spain)
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