Claiming your Pension Overseas

Trace a UK Pension

If your move from the UK was a few years ago, then maybe somewhere along the way you’ve lost track of a company or personal pension.

As part of the UK government’s Pension Service, the Pension Tracing Service (PTS) has access to over 200,000 pension schemes, making it a good place to start looking for lost funds.  The PTS will search this database free-of-charge to help find lost company or personal pensions.

The more information you have the better but as a minimum you should know whether you’re trying to trace a company pension (one provided by an employer to which you made contributions) or a personal pension (provided by a bank or investment company).

For a company pension you should advise the PTS:
· all names the employer may have traded under
· the business type
· any known address of the employer
· the dates which you belonged to the pension scheme

For a personal pension you should advise the PTS:
· the name of the pension scheme
· the address where the pension scheme as run from
· the name of the bank, insurance company or building society involved with the pension scheme

You can contact the PTS by completing an online form, which takes about 15 minutes, and get the ball rolling straight away.  To start searching for your lost pension, try YOURLifeChoices simple shortcut to the PTS website.

If you prefer, you can contact the PTS by calling +44 191 215 4491.

Pension payments overseas

Q. Bert
A few years ago I was lucky enough to meet a lovely lady from the UK who is now my wife.  She would like to move back to the UK and I will obviously be going with her but will I still be able to get my full Age Pension from the UK?

A. If a pension is paid under a social security agreement, the rate outside Australia is governed by that agreement. For most agreements this means a proportional pension rate applies immediately after departure.

If a pension is payable long-term while absent from Australia, it will generally be paid at a proportional rate. A proportional rate is paid based on a pensioner’s ‘Australian working life residence’. ‘Australian working life residence’ is the period of residence from age 16 to Age Pension age. A person need not have worked or paid tax during this period. All a person needs to have done is to have been an Australian resident.

A full means tested pension can be paid if a person has Australian working life residence of 25 years (300 months). A proportional pension can be paid for lesser periods. For example, the rate of pension for a man who lived in Australia for 20 years from age 50 to age 70 would be based on Australian working life residence of 15 years (180 months) from age 50 to age 65 (Age Pension age). He could be paid 181/300ths of a means tested pension outside Australia - the extra month is added to all calculations.

Below is some general information from Centrelink’s website that should be used only as a guide to what you may be entitled to when living outside of Australia. Individual circumstances will be taken into consideration and if you plan to be overseas for an extended period of time, you should contact your local Centrelink office

In certain circumstances, you can continue to get your payment if you leave Australia. If you:

· continue to meet qualifications (this means, for example, if you are on a Disability Support Pension, you remain incapacitated for work or if you get Parenting Payment Single or Carer Payment, you remain an Australian Resident, i.e. you do not leave permanently)
· are not being paid the pension under a social security agreement for which there are special rules, for example the United Kingdom agreement
· are not affected by ‘former residence’ provisions
· you can be paid the payments below:

Age Pension
You can get Age Pension for the total period of absence, however, after 26 weeks your rate may change.
Disability Support Pension
You can get Disability Support Pension for a maximum of 13 weeks.
Widow B Pension
You can get Widow B Pension for a limited period*.
Wife Pension
You can get Wife Pension for a limited period* of an absence.
Carer Payment
You can be paid Carer Payment for the first 13 weeks of ‘temporary’ absence, the person being cared for must be travelling with you.
Bereavement Allowance
You can be paid Bereavement Allowance during the entire period of qualification if you leave Australia.

*Limited Period generally means 13 weeks, except in some special circumstances.
You can also download Getting Your Australian Pension Correct.

For more information on claiming your pension while overseas, visit Centrelink.

Remember, no matter how short your absence from Australia, you need to let Centrelink know.

Our Finance section keeps you up to date with Government Tax and Stimulus packages.

Overseas Centrelink pensions

YOURLifeChoices subscribers, Ed and Lloyd are both interested to find out what is their eligibility for a Centrelink pension when living overseas.

Q. I have just read your website and now realize you must be an Australian resident to claim the aged pension - does that mean that my wife can return to Australia before her 64th birthday and live with my daughter temporarily, claim the aged pension and then return overseas abd take the pension benefits with her.

Thanks again

Lloyd

A. Good morning Lloyd,

When and if your wife decided to return to Vietnam, she would more than likely be required to give up her pension, only in certain circumstances is a pension paid to those who reside outside Australia.

You should contact Centrelink who can confirm your eligibility.

Q. I am 66 years old and receiving a single aged pension. In recent years I have done volunteer work in the poorer regions of northeast Thailand. I have come to love the area and its people and I am now considering retiring there and continuing my volunteer work on a more permanent basis. However, I would like to know if I would still receive my Australian pension. I would be returning to Australia for 2 to 3 months every year to visit my family.
Ed. 

A. Good morning Ed,

There are some cases where you can receive your pension while living overseas but these are limited, as a rule, you can only receive a pension when resident in Australia.

As with most things, this does depend on your individual circumstances and you should contact your local Centrelink office to enquire how the changes in residence would affect your payments.

Overseas pensioner

Q. Terry
Can you tell me as an Australian pensioner living overseas, will I be getting the bonus Kevin Rudd announced. or is only for Australian pensioners residing in Australia.
Thanks for your help and look forward to hearing from you.

A. Terry, the bonus payment will be made to all pensioners who met the eligibility requirements when the announcement was made on Tuesday 14 October.  However, if you are a self-funded retireee living overseas, you will not receive the payment.  Keep an eye out for our Enewsletter on Friday which will clarify the Pension Bonus Payment Scheme.

Australian pensions overseas

Q.Graham
My position is I am 64 next birthday and have been living in Thailand for 4 years. I brought 80,000 AUD here and have been living on this money. I have money invested in Aust. and am still paying tax. I have been told to get the aged pension at 65 I would have to stay in Australia for 2 years or I would lose it if I travelled outside Australia. I phoned centrelink and was told that I could return now and get newstart and then get the pension. This seems unbelieveable that I have worked all my life in Australia and am a 5th generation Australian, also have paid taxes all my life. Centrelink also told me that they did not consider this.  I consider this to be discrimination against someone who has done the right thing. My mother is still alive and my son and his children are in Adelaide. I travel home at least once a year to visit. I have emailed Centrelink but cannot get a personal response. I would be grateful for any information you can give me or any suggestions you may have.

A.We have passed your details to our Centrelink contact and asked them to respond to you direct.  In the meantime, we suggest you contact National Information Centre on Retirement Investments (NICRI), who can advise the best course of action for money you have invested in this country and may also be able to advise on your pension issue.

For more information on NICRI, click here.

Age pension while overseas

Q.Alex
Hello my elderly mother (Australian living in QLD) may come to live with me for a while in the USA. Can she still receive her pension, benefits etc if she stays with me for 6 months? Can she get assistance in the cost of her travel to her location with me, she is elderly and suffers from several medical situations?

A.Answer provided by Centrelink General Manager, Hank Jongen.
In most cases, customers receiving Age Pension can continue to be paid if they spend time overseas. Depending on the period of time a person is away, their rate of payment may be affected. Australia has a social security agreement with the USA, which means people can sometimes continue to receive their payments for longer than they would otherwise. Because a range of factors affect whether you can receive Age Pension while overseas, it’s important your mother contact Centrelink about her planned trip as soon as possible. Contact Centrelink’s International Services Team on +61 3 6222 3455 for more information