Post #856755

2026-01-27 11:44 UTC

Here I am, approaching the age at which several tiny company pensions for the many companies that I worked for in the UK ought to start paying out, and I&#39;m faced with this. &quot;You must be a UK resident&quot;. &quot;UK passport or driving licence&quot; &quot;must be a UK current account in your name&quot; No, no, and No. Brexit took away a good part of my income, which is part of why I&#39;d like to be able to access these pensions early. Brexit also took away my UK bank account. Brexit is also the reason why I changed nationality as a result of which I no longer have a UK passport (or driving licence). I&#39;ve sent them a message of course to ask how I can access my pension. Hopefully I will actually be able to access it, BECAUSE IT&#39;S MY MONEY WHICH I EARN&#39;T. But I won&#39;t believe it until they actually start paying out. Brexit really is the gift which keeps giving. Also: in sensible countries you don&#39;t have to try to prove who you are by sending photocopies of paper bank statements. Why is this still how things are done in the UK ? #brexit #britishpension #pension #retirement

Replies (7)

@Martranslations@mastodon.social 2026-01-27 11:46

@hembrow@todon.eu 😱

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@benchmark@wien.rocks 2026-01-27 11:54

@hembrow@todon.eu A strongly worded letter that sounds like it was drafted by a lawyer might help. If they do not comply, you threaten them by handing over the issue to a lawyer. I suggest you set up a UK bank account as non-resident for the start. Later, you change it to a bank account in the EU. Choose your battles wisely.

Open ##2825889
@dougbinks@mastodon.gamedev.place 2026-01-27 12:03

@hembrow@todon.eu I am not sure if they will be able to help your particular circumstances but it might be possible to move your pension to a company which can handle international clients such as https://www.invinitive.co.uk/ I've looked into this because I might be in a similar situation in the future, but don't yet have personal experience with handling this.

Open ##2825890
@jarjan@mederland.nl 2026-01-27 12:05

@hembrow@todon.eu I might be in a similar situation in a decade or so... Have you tried opening a Revolut account, and then open a UK currency account? My UK Revolut account still works despite moving back to NL in 2021. The UK is archaic when it comes to such things. I remember needing proof of addresses for a bank account. All I needed was a note from my then partner stating my address. She's an MD, hence a "person of standing in the community ", so that was proof enough!

Open ##2825891
@sully@splodge.fluff.org 2026-01-27 14:05

@hembrow@todon.eu From a fees point of view it might be worthwhile to use something like Wise (https://wise.com/gb/receive-money/) to receive the funds as a domestic transfer to a UK acct/sort-code. I needed "Bank Statements" for my mortgage but that was just a bundle of PDFs from my Internet banking, "a bit papery-like" you might say.

Open ##2825892
@uc@mastodon.scot 2026-01-27 14:09

@hembrow@todon.eu Just started applying for mine. Luckily all I needed was my birth certificate, and they've accepted a European bank account number. See how it goes from here, and I wish you speedy luck.

Open ##2825893
@GreenSkyOverMe@ohai.social 2026-01-27 16:08

@hembrow@todon.eu On Wise.com I was able to get a British account from outside of the UK. No guarantee that it will be accepted by the pensions, but give it a try. Other advantage is that they have the best exchange rates.

Open ##2825894