UK Expats Living in the EU will Continue to have State Pension Uprated Post-Brexit

If you live in the UK, your state pension is uprated every year in line with the triple lock. This means it rises by whichever is highest; average earnings, inflation or 2.5%. That’s currently also the case if you live within the EU or the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland).

However, the continuation of this triple lock guarantee had been in question for expats post-Brexit. The government and pension industry had warned that these individuals could lose the annual increase if the UK left the EU without a deal. The good news is that the UK government recently pledged that UK pensioners living in the EU/EEA and in countries that have a social security agreement with the UK will continue to receive the annual rises to their state pension. Unfortunately, expats living in Canada or New Zealand, for example, will not get the increases.

You have to be a UK national living in an EEA state or Switzerland by 31 December 2020 to be covered by the Withdrawal Agreement and the UK state pension will be uprated every year for as long as you continue to live there, even if you start claiming your pension on or after 1 January 2021; as long as you meet the qualifying conditions.

Those moving to EU countries after the end of 2020, however, may not be entitled to the same conditions. In those cases, the rules on entitlement to UK benefits will depend on negotiations with the EU.

Forth Capital specialises in expat pensions and investments – to speak to one of our advisers, click HERE or call 00 41 22 311 1441