Global QROPS Ltd offer expert advice on whether our clients should affect a pension transfer to Australia with their UK or company sponsored schemes. As part of our advice service, we also look at individual’s options for the UK State Pension.

An important decision has been reached, by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on 16th March 2010, as to the level of State Pensions paid to UK migrants living in Australia.

For migrants receiving their UK State Pension entitlement in Australia, there is no increase on the income paid to them. This stacks up unfavourably compared to someone, who has paid exactly the same UK National Insurance contributions, who has chosen to stay in the UK or migrated to another country, such as the USA or an European Economic Area (EEA) state.

Many appeals to the EHCR have been made, not just by UK state pensioners in Australia, but by those in Canada, New Zealand and South Africa too, citing that this is discriminatory.

Unfortunately for those appealing, the EHCR ruled (on 16th March 2010) that the UK Government were not discriminating as migrants had themselves chosen to live outside of the UK in countries or states without a reciprocal state pension agreement with the UK. Judges decided that the link with National insurance contributions paid was not an exclusive link to the level of UK state pension paid and that the ECHR had no jurisdiction to dictate on how the UK’s public funds were distributed.

Advisers at Global QROPS Ltd are more than happy to speak to clients regarding UK State Pensions as well as discussing issues regarding a private pension transfer to Australia.