Frozen pension payments

[imagine]

I got a few years yet before I get the new state pension..A couple of things that might be worth noting..If you have them send your money here in the R.P then about every 2 years they will send you a letter with a proof of life form..If you do not recieve it or are late sending it back they will freeze your pension income! Just happened to one of our tenants and it took him 2 months to get sorted.. If however you retain a UK address and bank account then your money can be paid there in the UK and these proof of life letters will not be an issue. That's what I will be doing!

just to let you know Fred and this is happening to many expats here,including myself, often the life certificate is 3 months late getting delivered if delivered at all, the most recent certificate arrived yesterday, originaly the first attempt by pensions was nov 2023, my pension was stopped april,2024 i was in hospital needing that money to pay my way out, i had to pay high interest for loans to get me out, total cost stands at almost 2 million and thats not including the interest for my loans, one thing to note it is not sent on a 2 year basis, it was only 1 year ago before that this happened before, the pensions office know there is a problem with the post and have extended the time allowed for returning the certificate , but they also know this still isnt enough, pensions wont deal with the certificate by electronic methods, and they only send by standard mail , but on their letters they tell you to send it back by registered mail or courier to ensure they get your certificate crazy eh time they got into the updated electronic times, Heres what i decided to do and i did ask if it would be accepted when i spoke to them this time, i have an emailed copy that they sent me from last year, i i will print this out as i have done this time, i will do this once per year regardles of wether i get a new life certificate or not, get it signed and i shall post it to them using registered post phil post as its cheaper than couriers such as LBC , and approx 6 days , but no rush for how long it takes if done yearly Phil post is about 600 p,, LBC is about 2,500 usualy takes about 4 days this time it took 6 days , dont depend on them alone, if things are not improved when its your time for pension i would suggest doing what i suggest, pensions are great help over the phone, i use skype to call UK landline cheap and very clear,, for me i prefer to send my pension to my PHil bank , less hassle and the rate is good, i dont worry about fluctuation in rate, many leave it in uk until there a good exchange rate, i cant be bothered with that

[fred]

just to let you know Fred and this is happening to many expats here,including myself, often the life certificate is 3 months late getting delivered if delivered at all, the most recent certificate arrived yesterday, originaly the first attempt by pensions was nov 2023, my pension was stopped april,2024 i was in hospital needing that money to pay my way out, i had to pay high interest for loans to get me out, total cost stands at almost 2 million and thats not including the interest for my loans, one thing to note it is not sent on a 2 year basis, it was only 1 year ago before that this happened before, the pensions office know there is a problem with the post and have extended the time allowed for returning the certificate , but they also know this still isnt enough, pensions wont deal with the certificate by electronic methods, and they only send by standard mail , but on their letters they tell you to send it back by registered mail or courier to ensure they get your certificate crazy eh time they got into the updated electronic times, Heres what i decided to do and i did ask if it would be accepted when i spoke to them this time, i have an emailed copy that they sent me from last year, i i will print this out as i have done this time, i will do this once per year regardles of wether i get a new life certificate or not, get it signed and i shall post it to them using registered post phil post as its cheaper than couriers such as LBC , and approx 6 days , but no rush for how long it takes if done yearly Phil post is about 600 p,, LBC is about 2,500 usualy takes about 4 days this time it took 6 days , dont depend on them alone, if things are not improved when its your time for pension i would suggest doing what i suggest, pensions are great help over the phone, i use skype to call UK landline cheap and very clear,, for me i prefer to send my pension to my PHil bank , less hassle and the rate is good, i dont worry about fluctuation in rate, many leave it in uk until there a good exchange rate, i cant be bothered with that

I understand your point about the post here..Any post we ever get here either ends up laying in the main post office branch or lost inside the Barangay hall..The Mrs reckons if we have our pensions paid into our UK accounts she can get it to us here very easily via Transfer wise probably to our Gcash accounts.. I'll have to wait a few years to see if that works out or not..I absolutely hate dealing with the UK government call centers full stop so I will avoid it at all costs if I can! Cheers and all the best.

[imagine]

if you transer from your UK bank to a bank here, when i knew i was to come here i signed up with PNB europe UK, its istant transer from UK to here, i get sent from there any cash i need from UK , since getting my pension direct to here i didnt use PNB online for a while, i found they have updated it and it was quite easy now to change the debit card you wish to have them take your money from it is stored and you can delete it change it anytime you want, you can also change the receiver or have other receivers listed in the account, so much easier than the old one, anyway the rate is good iv never had any problems with it , came in handy this time i needed while in hospital and thats when i updated it, it is a rimitance bank only , originaly set up for the pinoys working abroad to send money home to family, whenever i call pensions call center they are the best call center of any i have ever dealt with, i get the feeling from any slight background noice that these are agents working from home