The European Court of Human Rights, has ruled against a group of ex-pat pensioners, who were trying to get index linked increases applied to their UK pensions.

Currently, your state pension will only increase each year if you are in the UK, the European Economic Area, or 15 other specified countries. 

If you live elsewhere, your pension amount is frozen when you leave the UK.

Fortunately, UK pensioners in Turkey do get this annual increase. 

You may also like to know that it is possible for some pensions to be paid without deduction of tax.  KTLN members can read how this is done, in our Knowledge Bank, Finance section.  If you are a member (and logged in), click here to read more.

We have no insight as to the legal basis for this judgement, but it seems to us that there is something fundamentally unfair about a situation where you pay your contributions, and then simply because you move to the wrong country, you forfeit rights to a benefit.  

But what this does show is that it pays to do your research before deciding upon which country you retire to.

You can read how BBC News reported this story - click here