State pensioners warned 'bizarre' loophole means dwp will snatch back £470

GREGORY STAFFORD WARNED THE FROZEN PENSIONS POLICY - WHICH HAS BEEN IN PLACE FOR OVER 70 YEARS - COULD IMPACT OLDER UK HOUSEHOLDS WHO LIVE ABROAD, AS EXPATS IN FOREIGN LANDS. 14:03, 20 May

2025 State pensioners have been issued a warning over a "bizarre" Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) quirk which will cost them the £470 Triple Lock increase this year.

Conservative Party MP Gregory Stafford warned the Frozen Pensions Policy - which has been in place for over 70 years - could impact older UK households who live abroad, as expats in foreign

lands. He said: "The Falkland Islands are a British overseas territory, it's essentially Britain in all but name. 80 people on the Falklands are in this siutation, many of whom

have served in the armed forces. It just seems bizarre to me that even for our overseas territories, we don't uprate the pension." READ MORE SANTANDER ISSUES UPDATE TO 14 MILLION

'ACTIVE' CUSTOMERS AFTER MAKING BIG DECISION The Tories ' MP said: "These are individuals who built their lives and careers in the United Kingdom, contributed their share

through National Insurance, and then often later in life moved abroad, in many cases to join family members. Article continues below "In doing so, they have found themselves victims of

an outdated policy, most of whom only became aware of the policy after noticing that their state pension was not increasing in line with policies such as the triple lock." Labour Party

MP Neil Duncan Jordan told him: "In my view, our state pension system is already insufficient for millions of existing and future pensioners, but imagine how inadequate that would be

if the pension had failed to rise at least in line with inflation or earnings for over 20 years of your retirement. "Most pensioners in this position were never informed that their

state pension would be frozen in this way." Liberal Democrats MP Sarah Olney said: "It is critical that the Government take steps to tackle this injustice, and take steps to ensure

that all pensioners receive the support that they should be entitled to." Article continues below Pensions minister Torsten Bell said: "There are significant costs to be borne by

current taxpayers if uprating was extended to everybody living overseas. The UK Government's position under all parties is that we are not in the business of new reciprocal

arrangements, with any countries. "The only recent agreements have been the rolled-over agreements with the EU and the EEA, agreed by the previous Conservative Government, but that was

to maintain the existing social security arrangements."