The UK government speaks of court challenges over the years, and yes, the courts have ruled in your favour. However, is the criteria just whether it’s ‘legal’ or not? In days gone by the slave trade was ‘legal’; and in former days it was also deemed ‘legal’ to deny women the right to vote. Instead of focusing on what may or may not be a ‘legal’ obligation, would it not be better to focus on what is the just and fair thing to do?
After finding out in JUSTICE about pensions for spouses who have never lived in the UK, I contacted CABP about my situation. I retired in 2004 at the age of 65. My wife, whom I married in Canada, was also of pensionable age at that time. CABP volunteer Peter Wells not only answered me but went on to calculate that my contributions to the National Insurance plan while we lived in the UK entitle my wife to a spousal pension of $136 a month and to almost $11,000 in back payments as well. Peter’s calculations were 100% correct. Without this help we wouldn’t have had this windfall. Thank you, Peter!
I took CABP’s advice and applied to pay voluntary NI contributions and received a wonderful monthly increase plus arrears lump sum. The downside was that the sudden influx of money cancelled out my Canadian ‘Guaranteed Income Supplement’ and put me into a tax-paying bracket for the first time in years. I’ll be interested to see how the dust settles next tax time. Anyway, I’m very grateful for your good advice and thank you all for your tireless work on behalf of expat pensioners.
I applied for my UK pension. The correspondence that ensued over the following two years was immense and I gave up on ever receiving it, then a friend mentioned CABP. I was not optimistic, but contacted Alan McFarlane, the Greater Victoria rep, and with his help my pension was flowing within a mere three months. It was also backdated. Thank you for making a meaningful difference in so many lives.
I enclose a membership application and a small donation. It never really occurred to me that I, with a British pension amounting to £0.11 weekly, could actually consider myself a British pensioner. But technically I am, and in your noble fight for all pensioners who are financially discriminated against, every voice counts – even an 11p voice. Thank you for all you are doing.
Thank you very much not only for your recent heartening news update concerning the Australian Pensions Minister’s meeting with Britain’s Iain Duncan Smith, but also for the continuous hard work and determination shown by your dedicated team in this mammoth task you have undertaken. You’re doing a great job and deserve to succeed in the end.
My subscription to CABP is the best value I get anywhere. The CABP team showed me how to increase my UK pension whilst only paying Class 2 contributions. Likewise, I was able to help another CABP member to not only receive a pension (she had been refused earlier) but also to get back-payment of around $7K. I never cease to be amazed that despite the number of times we have been knocked down, the CABP-International Consortium team continues on with grim determination. This is more than praiseworthy to say the least and is an example to all. Many thanks to the CABP team who have kept the faith.
Where my wife and I live, our pensions are not frozen. We would both like to place it on record that we think it a shameful
scandal that pensions in other countries, such as Canada and Australia, are. Here’s hoping that you will obtain the justice you so obviously are entitled to and that your pensions will become index linked.
I am 88 years old and a veteran of the Second World War during which I served in Burma. After listening to Winston Churchill’s post-war exhortations for young Brits to go abroad and after being subjected, along with countless others, to pitches by teams from various countries, I acquiesced. I brought my family to Canada in 1953 with just £10 in my pocket, the legal limit permitted at that time even though my wife suffered from Mitral Stenosis and there were lots of medical expenses we would have to cover. For doing what they wanted, I receive a pension frozen at £300 pounds every three months.
My wife and I attended the public information meeting in Courtenay and were delighted to learn that my wife qualifies for a portion of my basic pension. We had applied in 2005 but were declined as Val was not yet 60 and had an income of more than £55 a week. We did not realize that once she reached 60 there would be no means test and were not given that information when we received the “rejection” letter. We went to the information meeting simply to show our appreciation for all who work to unfreeze British pensions – that appreciation has now grown even more.
My sincere thanks to CABP Rep Alan McFarlane for encouraging me to continue a dialogue with the UK Pension Service regarding the ‘DNE Project’ and the voluntary National Insurance contributions that I could pay. It has taken 18 months to come to a positive conclusion, but without Alan’s help and expertise I probably would have let the whole matter drop long ago.
I too am ‘gob smacked’ by the magnificently energetic efforts being made on our behalf by our very noble volunteer representatives who are dealing so persistently with the powers-that-be in London. I would be glad to offer to return my MBE in support of our cause. I wonder if other recipients of similar honours feel the same as I do?
After reading JUSTICE #4, 2010, I was left with a feeling of euphoria. Why? Because it is clear that the pension uprating battle is being handled masterfully. If you could send me more copies, I will be happy to distribute them to members of UK Connexion. All they may need to join CABP is a nudge, and reading that issue may provide that nudge.
Thanks to Peter Wells’ article Increased pension possible for some, I was able to add about 18% to my pension and I also received the backdated payment he mentioned. Now I will concentrate on getting uprates during our visit to the UK this summer. Without CABP’s help, we would all be much poorer.
I was a Second Mate in the British Merchant Navy and was awarded the Atlantic (Battle of ) medal, North Africa Star, Eighth Army brevet, 1939-1945 Star and Victory Medal. I was on the SS Anselm (some 300 troops and crew lost as a result of being torpedoed in the Atlantic), also carried 1000 tons of bombs, depth charges and landmines (along with officers of the 51st Highland Division) on the SS Fort Nipigon to North Africa for the pivotal Battle of El Alamein. In my old age – I am 89 – my UK pension remains unindexed and has tumbled in value from a peak of $2.40/£1 to $1.57/£1. I wish to record my sincere appreciation for the sterling efforts of all those representing us so ably in pursuit of our relatively modest aim: parity with other pensioners. I sincerely hope you are able to restore our pension rights before we succumb to old age.
I feel that CABP membership is one of the best $25 that I spend each year. I have benefited in many ways by joining. For example, I had seven years of service in the UK, but through CABP I learned about the opportunity of buying back years and making extra years of contributions. Now I have 30 qualifying years
