Pension lifeline for expats in Europe

THE UK Government has announced that it will maintain the rate of increase to UK pensions paid to people living in the EU each year for the next 3 years.

The UK State Pension has already been uprated in the EU March 2020, but the government has now committed to uprating the UK State Pension paid to those living in the EU each year until March 2023.

The announcement was released by the British Embassy in Madrid and will surely be a glimmer of hope for expat pensioners currently living in Spain.

The government plans to negotiate an agreement with the EU to make sure UK State Pensions for those living in the EU will continue to be uprated in the longer term.

The UK basic and new State Pension will be uprated by either 2.5%, average wage growth or by prices growth as measured by the Consumer Price Index – whichever is highest.

British Consul Charmaine Arbouin said: “From the many outreach events that we have held across Spain and the Facebook live sessions that we’ve done for UK nationals, we know that the uprating of pensions is an issue of great concern to many people living here, so I hope that the news will provide reassurance that their pensions will continue to rise”.