UK Pensions

[Geminis]

Found on a forum here in Spain....

Dear Prime Minister The RT. HON. David Cameron. MP.
I wish to ask you a Question :- " Is This True ?"
I refer to the Pension Reality Check.

Are you aware of the following?

The British Government provides the following financial assistance:-

BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER (bearing in mind they worked hard and paid their Income Tax and National Insurance contributions to the British government all their working life) Weekly allowance: £106.00
IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN (No Income Tax and National Insurance contribution whatsoever) Weekly allowance: £250.00
BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER Weekly Spouse allowance: £25.00
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN Weekly Spouse allowance: £225.00
BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER Additional weekly hardship allowance £0.00
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN Additional weekly hardship allowance £100.00
A British old age pensioner is no less hard up than an illegal immigrant/refugee yet receives nothing

BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT £6,000

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT: £29,900

Please read all and then forward to all your contacts so that we can lobby for a decent state pension.

After all, the average pensioner has paid taxes and contributed to the growth of this country for the last 40 to 60 years.

Sad isn't it? Its about time we put our own people first.

Please have the guts to forward this.

I Just did!
 

[Rita Postlethwaite]

Hi Geminis, I have already received this missive from another contact and what an outrage it is! On this day when we remember our war dead and what they died for I think that most of them would turn in their graves to know what is happening in this country of ours (or is it ours!)

[Dottie1943]

Gemini and Rita

I quiet agree with you both, if 50 per cent of this is correct it is not what we should be putting up with in this country!

I know that my Mum and Dad along with their families would be turning in their graves Rita.

[Maisie]

I suspect this is more mischief making - illegal immigrants cannot, by definition, claim any benefits as they do not have NI numbers. Asylum seekings may be a different matter - I haven't looked into how much they receive.  There is an agreed quota for accepting refugees . I know that if I was a refugee from political oppression I would like to feel that the host company was sympathetic to my plight.

[caminito]

It's not staightfoward . This website gives all the details for claiments

http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/pdfs/roap-benefits.pdf
BUT

25th april 2011
Britain faces a new influx of migrants who could claim benefits of up to £250 a week within weeks  of arriving.

From next Sunday, rules that ban Eastern Europeans from claiming unemployment, housing and council tax benefits until they have worked in the UK for 12 months are being lifted.

Critics are concerned about the risk of ‘benefits tourism’ by immigrants from the eight former Communist countries affected.

[Dottie1943]

Maisie

I refer you to page 5 of the Daily Mail on Saturday where it stated and I quote :An Illegal Immigrant who claimed to be paralysed from the neck down,but was filmed dancing at his wedding cheated more than £400,000 in benefits,a court heard today.

And although Mohamed Bouzalim has admitted dishonestly entering the country and fraudulently exploiting the welfare system, legal sources said that they will face an uphill battle to deport him.

He is Moroccan,he came to. The UK with no papers and claimed to be an Afghan national who father had been executed by the Taliban.

He was getting £66,000 in benefits a year, the wheelchair that had been supplied to him was still in its packing box along with all the other disability aids given to him.

Where did he get his National Insurance number from then?

[Maisie]

Maisie

I refer you to page 5 of the Daily Mail on Saturday where it stated and I quote :An Illegal Immigrant who claimed to be paralysed from the neck down,but was filmed dancing at his wedding cheated more than £400,000 in benefits,a court heard today.

And although Mohamed Bouzalim has admitted dishonestly entering the country and fraudulently exploiting the welfare system, legal sources said that they will face an uphill battle to deport him.

He is Moroccan,he came to. The UK with no papers and claimed to be an Afghan national who father had been executed by the Taliban.

He was getting £66,000 in benefits a year, the wheelchair that had been supplied to him was still in its packing box along with all the other disability aids given to him.

Where did he get his National Insurance number from then?

Dottie, I have checked this article and it states that the man claimed political asylum when he entered Britain, and then claimed that he was disabled. The fact that he was granted status as an asylum seeker meant that he was not allowed to work and did not need a national insurance number.

Obviously, this man worked the system - as many British nationals do. I place blame on the lax system of checks and balances in this country that allows people - whether British nationals of immigrants -  to get away with fraudulently claiming benefits to which they are not entitled.

 

[Dottie1943]

Maisie

I don't want to make a big issue of this matter, but the thing is that how on earth did this man get £66,000 per annum paid to him in benefits? I agree with you that the fault does lay at the doors of the officials who have failed us the people who pay into the system.

I cannot understand how somebody can come into the country and claim to be something i.e. an Afghan National yet all the time he was Moroccan, there should be very simple checks that would show the true identity and nationality, if somebody cannot prove who that are, then they cannot get anything, let's change the rules and say "yes we will give you benefits, if you can a) prove nationality by giving us a birth certiificate, exit visa from your home country/embassy, b) marriage certificate c) proof of legal entry into theUK etc.

Then perhaps some of this money would not be paid out,

[granny bee]

Wouldn't surprise me these days if they weren't employing some of the lost illegals to do the payouts!!

[Carolyn]

 
The problem is the deserving would be punished if you change the rules that make it impossible.

[stormrider]

Hi,   

We seem to be such a soft touch in this dear country of ours, just recently letting people in with out proper checks on identity, or even passport  checks, how the terrorists and others that wish us harm must laugh at us,
I have a bad feeling about the Olympics taking place in London next year,  I for one wont be anywhere near the olympics stadium, for some of those coming in unchecked could well be "sleepers", just waiting to be activated by their masters. to do us untold harm

[Van Gough]

It would be good if all pensioners did receive £106 / week but many do not. The average state pension in 2009 was just £75 / week, 79% of the state pension. Source: Pensions Policy Institue.
http://pensionquestions.co.uk/save-2/what-is-the-average-state-pension-income/

[Papaumau]

Lets take a slightly different tack on this shall we ?

( Not just trying to be controversial....honest  ).

Britain is a civilised country is it not ?

If we agree on that premise then we should agree that people in need - from whatever demographic - should get the same treatment as all of the others get.

We will all agree - I am sure - that the amount that is placed on the value of the pensioners in British is just far too small but I say that as there IS plenty of money there, if the government just take it from those that have most of it, there is no reason why we should not act civilised enough to look after EVERYBODY that needs looking after so long as they are accepted as being legitimate asylum-seekers and legitimate immigrants. ( If they are not then that is not our fault, it is the fault of the government not working harder to clarify these standards ).

In this mix is also the number of homeless people in this tragically unfair country and the numbers of innocent children that are stuck in abject poverty that are part and parcel of this group. ( It was reported recently that there are something like 300,000 people, including children, that are either homeless, living in substandard private rented accommodation or are in very poor social bed-and-breakfast accommodation up and down the country.

In other words, I think we should stop using the immigrants to this country as easy targets for our venom as they are in just as much need as the rest are. ( If they have been allowed to come here than let us look after them rather than making them scapegoats of a flawed immigration system ).

It is always also good to remember that almost all of our family histories includes immigrants from one or other foreign parts of the world at times in the past.

[sweetpea]

   One of my mothers' sayings was "Charity begins at home, and another,
"Be good to those that are good to you."    She had a point.
    Thank you Geminis for enlightening me and other pensioners to the state of affairs mentioned, which if are all true are most unfair.   That being an understatement!   It would be interesting to hear from "those in charge," of the situation as to how they came about arranging  who gets what and why.
Would they have a reasonable explanation?   In shock! sweetpea.
       

[Oldtimer]

I WONDER HOW MANY OF OUR 21 MILIONAIRE COALITION ACTUALLY CONTRIBUTE TO CHARITY!