British expat pensioners have been warned that they are required to complete and return forms sent out by the Government in order to continue to receive their pensions.
The anti-fraud form is designed to prove to the government that the pensioner living abroad is still living and to stop friends or relatives fraudulently claiming the pension after a person has died.
If no reply from the individual is received, the British government will cut-off the expat’s pension payments.
Thousands of pensioners are living outside the UK and most are to be sent a form, whether they are living in the EU or in other parts of the world.
Since 2013 the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) has been making expat pensioners fill in official forms.
The forms are sent to people on average every two years, although officials may send them more frequently to those living in “high risk” countries.
They have to be signed by the pensioner and witnessed by a professional who is not a relative.
The individual has a number of months to return the form. After that, the DWP has said that it will assume pensioners are dead “even if they send emails or other letters to its staff”. It says these are not “secure” proof.
At this point, the pension will be stopped.
The requirement applies to many countries, including Portugal and France, where authorities automatically share relevant information with the UK. Pensioners in Spain are exempt as officials there grant access to British authorities.
A DWP spokesman said: “This is taxpayers’ money we’re talking about – and we don’t want it to be spent on fraudsters. As long as pensioners complete the forms and send them back to us within a reasonable time frame they should have no problems.”
