ExpertsForExpats.com Joins Forces with MPs and British Expats to Fight Back Against the UK State Pension Freeze

LONDON, October 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

ExpertsforExpats.com is leading the British Expats' fight-back against the British Government by working with MPs and British Expats around the world to support an amendment to the Government's Pensions Bill to unfreeze UK State Pensions for over half a million expats, including those who live in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Following discussions with MPs and British expats, Experts for Expats has now simplified the process for gaining support in Parliament for abolishing Clause 20 into three easy steps at http://www.expertsforexpats.com/expat-pensions/the-uk-state-pension-for-british-expats/frozen-expat-pensions/.

While British expats in countries such as United States, Serbia and Israel are unaffected by the Pension Bill, pensioners in most Commonwealth countries receive the same pension income as when they first started receiving it - and in some cases as little as £6 a week.

Alan Turner, founder of ExpertsforExpats.com, is calling on all British Expats to make a difference, "Even though the UK State Pension is not an area of focus for us, since we launched in 2012 we've fielded thousands of enquiries from desperate British Expats who are disillusioned that they are discriminated against despite contributing to the UK system for most of their lives. They come to us out of sheer hope that we can do something to affect the system. It's appalling that the Government refuses to make an amendment which would see all British pensioners treated fairly."

Steve Webb, the UK Minister for Pensions, has completed a well-documented u-turn since declaring his support for a removal of the freeze in 2004 and 2007. Mr Webb is now is opposed to the making changes on the premise that all expats knew their entitlements when they choose to live abroad.

The Pensions Bill 2013/14 is currently before Parliament and two senior MP backbenchers, Sir Roger Gale and Sir Peter Bottomley have submitted an amendment to the Pensions Bill and are keen to get British Expats to petition their MPs to support the amendment to make the change.

Sir Roger Gale, the MP for Thanet North, is clear how people can help make a change. "The most useful thing that any visitor to ExpertsforExpats.com can do is to e-mail their UK Member of Parliament and ask them to sign the amendment.  If they don't know who this is, then they can search using their last UK address and postcode at http://www.theyworkforyou.com"

While there is an expat population of an estimated 650,000 who currently benefit from state pension increase which equates to around 2.5% a year, there are 550,000 British Expats who are currently seeing their pension levels remain static.

The International Consortium of British Pensioners estimating that the actual bill for the Government would be a mere £540m each year, which is less than 1% of the Government's total pension spend or just 1% the predicted £50bn cost of the HS2 rail link (equivalent to just 4 miles of the development).

Sir Peter Bottomley has estimated that each British Expat (1.1m of who are pensioners) saves the Government an average of £7,000 in NHS costs by virtue of living abroad - which dwarfs the potential costs of treating all expats equally.

The Department of Work and Pensions has stated that they are following their legal requirements and that Expats knew the situation when they moved abroad.

Beryl Cronin, a British pensioner now living in Spain, fully supports the cause. "While I'm an British Expat living in Spain receiving the pension increase, we feel it is appalling that other pensioners who have paid for their pension don't get the same increase and we urge British Expats across the world to lobby their UK MP to gain support for the amendment through ExpertsforExpats.com" she said.

Alan Turner is clear on what to do next, "While we can't do much to change things on our own, together we can make a difference and we want to ensure that British Expats around the world know what to do to make that difference."

"If you're an Expat, or if you simply want to support British Expats around the world, we're urging for you to make a real difference to the lives of millions. And it's really easy to do so. Simply find your MP (http://www.theyworkforyou.com/), download our letter template (http://www.expertsforexpats.com/expat-pensions/the-uk-state-pension-for-british-expats/frozen-expat-pensions/) and send it by email or post to your MP and lobby them to sign the amendment to remove Clause 20 from the Pensions Bill."

About ExpertsforExpats.com

ExpertsforExpats.com is one of the leading online resources providing high quality information to British Expats around the world. Specialising in financial information, ExpertsforExpats is uniquely positioned to connect British Expats with local independent financial advisers when they need regulated financial advice.

SOURCE ExpertsforExpats.com