UK reveals details on pension rights after Brexit

State pension uprating for Britons living in EU countries after a no-deal Brexit would depend on ‘whether reciprocal arrangements with the EU are in place’, says the UK government.

The statement is in a document on ‘UK nationals in the EU: benefits and pensions in a ‘no-deal’ scenario’ that was put out this week, not in the Brexit section of the government’s site but under the heading of ‘Benefits entitlement’.

It is unclear why the government did not place it in its main collection of papers on areas that would be affected by a no-deal scenario, of which there are now more than 100.

It says the government commits to making uprated (annually increased) pension payments in 2019-2020 but does not guarantee it after that.

It also says that UK nationals will continue to be able to receive exported benefits in the case of no-deal.

This comes as the UK revealed also that it has signed separate deals with the EEA/Efta countries including on expatriate rights.

Campaigners British in Europe continue to demand that the rights part of the UK/EU deal, which UK Prime Minister Theresa May is struggling to obtain sufficient support for, be ‘ring-fenced’ from the rest of the deal, effectively giving Britons in countries like France and Spain the same reassurance as has now been given to those in Iceland, Liechtestein, Norway and Switzerland.

The benefits and pensions paper also addresses concerns that there could be difficulties after Brexit for Britons in the EU in receiving private pension payments, however it says that ‘your firm should have made plans to make sure you can still get payments’ and it invites people to check with their providers. Such plans could include them establishing branches on the continent.