Expat Health Insurance News: Thousands of British expats wait to hear pensions freeze verdict
15/03/10 16:37
Half a million British expats living in Australia and other countries could soon find out whether they are to receive an extra A$300 million in payments after the British government ordered a pensions freeze.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will decide on Tuesday March 16th whether British expats who moved to Australia, South Africa, Canada and Hong Kong should benefit from increases to the basic state pension since they left the UK, The Australian newspaper reported.
Some expats have described the policy as discriminatory, as those who moved abroad to European countries and America see their pensions increase in line with inflation as UK residents, because of agreements between governments.
Expatriate pensioner organisations around the world have been challenging the British government's frozen pensions policy in several court cases for eight years.
The case has gone through the British High Court, the Appeal Court and through the House of Lords, before going in front of the ECHR.
The expatriates argued that the amount of money they receive in pension income should not depend on where they live, especially when they have been contributing to National Insurance throughout their working lives.
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