Eligible?

[Firo]

c1 I don't know anything about civil servants pensions but I can assure you the Police and Fireman who are receiving Government pensions have paid in 11% of their salaries for every year of their service.Nothing is added to that from local or National government (ie. the tax payers)it is totally self funded by the members contributions. The local Authorities pay it as they are the "bankers" for the Police or Fire Authorities and if they haven't invested it wisely therefore creating a deficite as you imply then it's not the recipients fault.
Civil servants pensions are a minefield and I totally agree that the non contributary pensions they receive are disgraceful.

[Woodies]

And as you quite rightly stated before Fi, those same retired Firefighters/Police Officers, still HAVE to pay UK tax on their pensions, no matter where they choose to reside/retire in the world.

[Ovacikpeedoff]

I am not trying to stir up a hornets nest but non contributory pensions are perks of the job. It is a fact that pay in the public sector is lower than pay in the private sector and these perks were used to attract people. Pension deficits only became an issue a few years ago.

When I worked for a bank I had a mortgage rate of 4%. This was very nice when the Tories raised interest rates to 15%. The Tory government eventually came down so hard on my cheap rate and with the fall in interest rates it was more beneficial for me to pay the public rate. This was a perk but it was also part of my salary because I could have gone to other private sector companies and earned a lot more.

[peter16]

Unfortunately contrary to popular opinion we public sector workers do not get non-contributory pensions, instead we have to contribute between 6.75% to 10% of our gross pay and pay the going rate for mortgages etc.,(unlike that is the poor hard done by banking sector, how can they possibly get by without bonuses)

[beldibi]

In the Police we paid !!% of our gross pay, towards our pension.  Plus another 11% towards national insurance.
We still pay U.K. tax on our pensions, but no NHS.
Our system really rewards those who work, and contribute.

[Highlander]

Without wishing to discuss personal circumstances beldibi, is it not the case that if someone worked for the police 1) their pension entitlement is protected from any outside influences and is therefore guaranteed,  2) that the individual can retire well before the age of 65, that they will receive a lump sum (twice times final salary ?) and that thier monthly pension payable will be half their final salaray

[Ovacikpeedoff]

peter16 just to make sure you fully understand about bank bonuses. Do you think that the average person working in your local high street bank gets a million pound bonus. The average person in your high street bank earns a salary of about 15k a year. Most of them do not earn enough to be able to get a mortgage to buy a property. I do not like it either but the majority of these bonuses are paid to the top executives and those staff that work in very complicated areas. Unfortunately it is a case of supply and demand, if one bank does not pay them the bonus there are plenty others that will. Since the early 90s having a subsidized mortgage rate actually cost a bank employee money in that the interest was subject to tax as a benefit in kind. The Inland Revenue did not use the prevailing mortgage rate but it has its own rate that it used in the calculation and it was normally 3 to 5% higher.  

In my time working as an accountant in the banking sector the maximum bonus that I and staff working for me never exceeded 4% of my salary. We, the plebs, did not start getting bonuses until about 10 years ago. I worked on average 50 to 60 hours a week so getting this bonus did not recompense me for all the unpaided overtime that I did. To qualify for maximum pension I was required to do a minimum of 37 years service and each month I paid 12% of my salary into the fund.

On this question of eligibility for treatment under the NHS I take it that people did their homework before they left the UK and found out what the rules are. Surely it is one of those things that people considered before they left.I did and I am worse off as I have to pay for my own prescription drugs in Turkey that I got free in the UK.

[Highlander]

quote:Originally posted by Ovacikpeedoff

On this question of eligibility for treatment under the NHS I take it that people did their homework before they left the UK and found out what the rules are. Surely it is one of those things that people considered before they left.

That is surely a valid point.

[bigvic]

daffodil,i.m not going to the uk for this by-pas op,i was just wondering what national INSURANCE meant...

[bigvic]

So.When british medics working for aid agencies have finished their tour of duty,and go back to the uk,they are disqualified from receiving NHS treatment!!!!!Bit ironic,innit?