German State Pension In The Uk

[Jennykenny]

A friend of mine receives her German State Pension here in the UK but says that if we leave the EU, this will stop being paid here. Her only option is to move back to Germany, which she doesn't want to do.
Is there any way round this problem or anywhere she can get more advice?
Thanks.

[Svejk]

Don't resort to making things up, Peter. You're making less sense than you normally do. (and that ain't easy)

[tamborine]

Jenny, as your german friend will NOT get to vote, they need to sort their banks pdq :(

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32872211

[tamborine]

PP, bank charges depend on the babk. 1 bruv has benn with Lloyds for 10y+ & t'other has probably followed. My sis & neice have danish OH who all hold german bank accounts for business....maybe a dodge of Oz tax - lol

[Jennykenny]

Thanks everyone. Lots of good points.
Possibly I wasn't very clear. My friend will get her pension paid by the German government, but, if we leave, only in Germany. She could arrange to transfer a certain amount every month to her UK bank, but the German system is that they pay tax and Social Security on their pension. So, she would be losing quite a lot of money for a health system, roads, police etc in Germany, that she is not using, as she lives in the UK.
Just to make things more 'interesting' at the moment she is losing up to €100 a month because of the Euro/pound exchange rate. She's caught between the proverbial rock and hard place whatever happens.
What I was hoping for was someone who knew someone else in the same position who could put her onto some useful German websites.
But again thanks folks.

[shaneystar2]

My husband is the same boat Jenny .He gets a pension from Germany.
He's said he'll worry about it if and when it happens.Don't listen to all this scaremongering that's in the papers.Nobody is going to be chucked out or have their pensions axed.
The worst scenario is that they could freeze the pensions.
It's time they told us exactly how this referendum is going to affect other europeans living here and those expats who live abroad .

[Jennykenny]

Thanks Shaney. Good to know that my friend is not alone.

[THECORBYLOON]

Why do you say the pension would be paid only in Germany? If the UK leaves the EU but remains in the EEA, the pension would continue to be paid under EU regulations.

There is also a separate agreement between the UK and Germany from the 1960s, The Family Allowances, National Insurance and Industrial Injuries (Germany) Order 1961

2) Where a German social security authority, after taking into account the periods mentioned in paragraph (1) of this Article, pays a pension to a person for any period during which he is or was resident in the territory of the Federal Republic, that social security authority shall continue to pay that pension while the beneficiary is ordinarily resident in the territory of the United Kingdom, unless he is in receipt of benefit in respect of those periods from any social security authority located outside the territories of the two Contracting Parties.

That reads to me that the German Pension would continue to be paid in the UK.

[New Judge]

Quite so Corby. All these things worked pefectly well before the UK joined the EU and they will work perfectly well should it leave. To suggest otherwise is simply playing on people's fears.

Whether the UK leaves the EU or not will not influence the problem your friend has with the euro/£ exchange rate, Jenny. Your friend's pension will still be paid in euros and she will still need to have it converted to pounds. If anything a Brexit may help as it is suggested that the pound's value will fall in the short term. The recent drop in the exchange rate from about 1.4 to 1.25 has helped. At 1.4 she gets 71p for every euro; at 1.25 she gets 80p.

[Jennykenny]

Thank you, thecorbyloon and newjudge.
Will pass these comments on to her.

[Peter Pedant]

How will/would the UK govt pay the German state pensions ?
they would leave up to the Germans who may or may not conclude an agreement with the German Govt. we will have to see.

It is like
or it is similar with industry - hey we dont want any EU regulation so lets leave and we will be free to screw the workers as we always did -
yeah but if Industry is gonna sell in the EU then they are gonna erm have to follow EU regulations
so after all the bells and whistles Nothing Will Really Change
but we wont have a voice in future changes

[jomifl]

/How much do they lose int he transfer /
£1 per month

[Jennykenny]

To thecorbyloon,
I copied your reference to my friend and she has just read it and replied.
She is thrilled! And says that tonight she'll have the first decent sleep in months.
So, many many thanks. A great result.

[New Judge]

“…but we wont have a voice in future changes”

And we don’t have a voice to speak of now, Peter.

On every (yes, every) occasion in the last ten years when proposals have been put forward by the European Commission with which the UK has disagreed the proposals have been passed nonetheless. We have just 10% of the votes in the European Parliament and time and again the wishes of the other 27 nations have taken precedence over ours. Of course this is bound to happen. A party with 10% of the MPs in Westminster would be unlikely to see many of its measures passed and it is unreasonable to expect the needs of a small minority to prevail in Europe. But nonetheless our membership of the EU has caused and is continuing to cause irreparable damage to the UK (the PM’s “renegotiation” was simply an exercise in damage limitation) and the only option is for us to leave.