News
October 2008
Kindertransport pensions boost
A group of people who fled to Britain from Germany before the Second World War may be able to benefit from new legislation that will be introduced later this year.
The ‘Kindertransport’ were a group of about 10,000 children who came to Britain as refugees from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Those entering manual occupations in the UK fell under the pre-1948 social insurance arrangements. In the 1990s, the German state pension system was opened up to the ‘Kindertransport’ enabling those without German insurance contributions to ‘buy in’ to the German system.
However, for some people, the time spent paying into the UK system pre-1948 resulted in a reduction of the amount of their German pension, due to European Community social security rules on how periods of insurance in different countries affect each other.
The Pensions Bill currently before the UK Parliament contains provisions to wipe the UK pre-1948 credits from their records, thereby boosting the value of their German pensions worked out under the EC rules.
People who may be able to benefit are those who came to the UK on or before 31 May 1940 from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia or Poland; have a German pension entitlement which is reduced or extinguished by UK insurance prior to 6 April 1948; or are surviving spouses or heirs of such people. The legislation will not have the effect of increasing any UK State Pension in payment.
If you think you could benefit, contact DWP’s International Pension Centre on 0191 21 87777 (from the UK) or +44 191 21 87777 (from abroad).