The importance of the UK State Pension for expatriates is best illustrated by the fact that the Government sets the contribution rates at such low levels that no UK expatriate could ever say the pension does not represent value for money!
For those unemployed or not working an annual payment of £350 is all that is required to cover one year’s contributions. If this does not represent value for money then it is even cheaper for those expatriates working in a European Union country and paying into its Social Security system who only have to pay a little over £100 per year to cover their annual contributions. With a single person’s annual pension currently at a little over £4,000 and a married couple’s pension in excess of £6,500 per year, not contributing is tantamount to turning down a blank cheque at the age of 65. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to see that with current interest rates at all time lows there are very few investment opportunities these days where an annual payment of £350, never mind the reduced figure of £100, will produce an annual payment of £6,500 from the age of 65. By means of comparison it would be necessary to have saved up £100,000 in a pension fund so as to be able to purchase an annuity which would produce an annual payment of £6,500 from 65 years of age onwards.
WHAT DO I NEED TO UPDATE MY STATE PENSION?
The only thing you would need to facilitate obtaining a forecast is your National Insurance Number which is comprised of two letters followed by 6 numbers and one letter. In the event of it not being available we should be able to help you obtain the number.
HOW DO I UPDATE MY STATE PENSION?
The procedure to update your UK State Pension is simple.
Please fill in the details on the credit card form below in order to make your payment for our service. We charge £200 for one forecast and £100 for each additional forecast (provided that they are completed at the same time).
Once payment has been received you will be sent a forecast form, either by post or by e-mail (Adobe Reader). Notes on how to fill in this form will be made available in a simplified format. For any problems you can contact us at the numbers shown on the Contact Us Page.
You will need to send the form back to us to be checked over. We will call you on receipt of the form and confirm that everything is in order.
We will send the form to the Inland Revenue and wait for their reply. The forecast will be sent directly to your address. This could take 4-6 weeks.
If a reply is not forthcoming we will contact the Inland Revenue to find out why this is the case.
Upon receipt of the forecast please send a copy by fax to +34 952 884174. Once we have studied the content of the forecast we shall explain either by phone or in writing the options that are available with regard to updating your pension.
