L1 - L16
Volume 12, Issue 17
16 - 31 May 2013
30 BAHT
Thai wives MAY lose UK pensions
A
bout 2,000 Thai wives of British men stand to lose their UK pension rights under legislation under active consideration by the British government. The new law proposes to end pension payments to foreign spouses on the general grounds that many such wives have “never set foot in Britain at all.” Under current law, foreign spouses – nearly all female – are entitled to claim a married person’s allowance based on their partner’s history of national insurance contributions. Where the British spouse’s contributions are inadequate, a one-off bereavement payment is made.
Of the 2,000 Thai wives who stand to lose up to 6,000 pounds a year, or nearly 300,000 baht a year, about 500 are believed to be in the Pattaya area. Many of them have been drawing UK pensions based on their deceased husband’s contributions for many years. Under the proposed rule-changes, a foreign spouse would not receive a pension unless they had made regular financial contributions to the British government. The total number of foreigners likely to be affected globally is nearly a quarter of a million. Continued on page 4