Anybody, receiving a state British pension living in Russia?

[johnsimpson]

Is there anybody, receiving a state British pension living in Russia? If so, do you get it straight to your bank account? How easy was it to arrange? Any problems. I can't find out yet, but will be able to next year about a month before retirement age. Apparently it 66 now, not 65.

[BigBear]

Is there anybody, receiving a state British pension living in Russia? If so, do you get it straight to your bank account? How easy was it to arrange? Any problems. I can't find out yet, but will be able to next year about a month before retirement age. Apparently it 66 now, not 65.

Yes, and no. I receive a UK pension but have it paid to a bank account in Luxembourg (where I used to work before retirement). Since I also receive a pension from Luxembourg and also Belgium, it seemed easier to do it this way. Hopefully it will continue to work seamlessly even if/when the UK leaves the EU.

I have setup a standing order with my Luxembourg bank to transfer some of the money each month ro my account here in Russia. That proved relatively easy to set up.

The UK Pensions Office proved remarkably flexible as to where I wanted to receive my pension. Everything was done over the phone with the International Pension Centre. They don’t work with e-mail for security reasons, though you can send them questions through their website.

[BigBear]

Sending money to Russia (whether roubles, sterling or something else) should not be too much of a problem, provided that you know the SWIFT address (BIC) of your bank. I suggest you check with the bank itself as this may not be as simple as it seems.

For example, my account is with Sberbank in Krasnodar. Sberbank Krasnodar is “part of” Sberbank Rostov, in turn part of Sberbank Moscow. So the payment chain goes from Moscow, to Rostov, to Krasnodar and then to me. On checking with my branch, it turns out that all I have to give by way of an instruction to my bank in Luxembourg is the SWIFT BIC of Sberbank Rostov, and of course my own account number.

My UK pension is paid in sterling, as you would expect. My bank in Luxembourg coverts that into euros. Payments from that account to Russia are made in euros with Sberbank converting to roubles. Clearly I’m losing on the exchange rates both times but I’m lazy and accept that in exchange for the relative convenience of having a “simple” setup that works for me.

[BigBear]

One last thing that I discovered earlier this year - the UK Pensions Office does not systematically send you a summary of payments made to you. I needed one for my tax returns and was told that whilst they can provide one, I have to explicitly request it each year. In my case, I need one covering the calendar year, not the UK tax year, but this is not a problem (as long as I specify that’s what I need). The summary in question was sent by normal mail (so took a while before it arrived).

[DiscoverLearn]

If it makes things simpler, one can receive Euros in Sberbak foreign currency account too.

[BigBear]

If it makes things simpler, one can receive Euros in Sberbak foreign currency account too.

Good point. It’s just a question of specifying the appropriate account number to be credited.

[johnsimpson]

Have you seen a previous post of mine, tax rebates are paid in cheques to Russia yet and they refuse to transfer the money. The cheques are totally useless here. So it's OK for a state pension to be paid by bank transfer, but not OK for payment of tax rebates due to them receiving private pension funds tax that needs to be paid back?

[johnsimpson]

I got an answer from DWP customer care. I can apply for a state pension statement thirty days before age to receive pension at 66. Some countries will not allow the gradual increases we get each year, and there will be increases.
QUOTE DWP: If you are living in a country we have an agreement with and it is the last country you paid contributions in, you claim your UK State Pension via the authorities of that country who will liaise with the International Pension Centre (IPC). If you want further information about this, you can contact IPC.

We pay the UK State Pension worldwide. Your State Pension can be paid into either a bank in the country you're living in or a bank or building society in the UK. You must choose which country you want your pension to be paid in. You can't be paid in one country for part of the year and another for the rest of the year.

Your State Pension will only increase each year if you live in:

* the European Economic Area (EEA), Gibraltar or Switzerland
* a country that has a social security agreement with the UK that allows for cost of living increases to the State Pension

You won't get yearly increases if you live outside these countries. Your pension will go up to the current rate if you return to live in the UK.

My question is, Does Russia have a social security agreement with the UK that allows for cost of living and increases to state pension?

[johnsimpson]

Yes, and no. I receive a UK pension but have it paid to a bank account in Luxembourg (where I used to work before retirement). Since I also receive a pension from Luxembourg and also Belgium, it seemed easier to do it this way. Hopefully it will continue to work seamlessly even if/when the UK leaves the EU.

I have setup a standing order with my Luxembourg bank to transfer some of the money each month ro my account here in Russia. That proved relatively easy to set up.

The UK Pensions Office proved remarkably flexible as to where I wanted to receive my pension. Everything was done over the phone with the International Pension Centre. They don’t work with e-mail for security reasons, though you can send them questions through their website.

Do you receive any rises in your pension or is the amount you receive frozen?

[johnsimpson]

Useful information for British Expats coming close to pension age.

I leav this useful link which should be useful for those ex-pats interested in receiving their state pension overseas. I'm still not sure about whether the amount will be frozen form first payment or whether it will rise each year. This applies only to some countries.
https://www.iexpats.com/claiming-uk-...sion-overseas/

[BigBear]

Do you receive any rises in your pension or is the amount you receive frozen?

Shortly after I started to receive my UK Pension the DWP wrote to me to inform me:
- I will not get annual increases of my pension as long as I am living permanently in Russia;
- I will not get a Christmas Bonus;
- Treatment under the UK NHS is available only in the UK and treatment of any medical expenses in Russia will not be reimbursed.

Whilst the letter does not say so explicitly, it does seem clear that there isn’t a Social Security agreement in place between the UK and Russia.

Regarding the Christmas Bonus, it would be payable if I were “present or ordinarily resident” in the UK or any country where EC regulations apply during the qualifying week (usually the first week of December). Given that my UK pension is quite small, I suspect that it would cost me more in travel and accommodation than I would get back to be present in the UK in order to qualify!

[BigBear]

Have you seen a previous post of mine, tax rebates are paid in cheques to Russia yet and they refuse to transfer the money. The cheques are totally useless here. So it's OK for a state pension to be paid by bank transfer, but not OK for payment of tax rebates due to them receiving private pension funds tax that needs to be paid back?

I suspect that each government department is responsible for its own payment arrangements. The DWP has outsourced its payments to an American company. Inland Revenue must use other arrangements. I agree with you that it’s a ludicrous situation, especially in this day and age where most banks have given up on cheques since it costs them a fortune to handle them. OK, these days they probably pass that cost on to the customer, but even so …

[BigBear]

Do you receive any rises in your pension or is the amount you receive frozen?

As an aside, I also receive a pension from Luxembourg. That is index linked and there should be an increase of 2.5% this December, on top of which the Luxembourg government has just announced an additional increase of 1.5% from January. It makes you wonder if Luxembourg can do it, why can’t the UK?

[johnsimpson]

BigHear, you can have a dollar and GBP account in your Bank, or at least you can with Unicredit. I assume that would include Euro account. I have experienced payments received but not in state pension. I will have to wait two years ffor that as the pension age is now 66, and it looks even that will be raised later. I'd asume you have bank costs for transfer.

[johnsimpson]

The UK do have infkation proof rises each year, however if you are not in a listed country your money is frozen at that amount. If you want it to rise again you have to go back to your home country. Russia is apparently not in that list of agreeable countries.