Paphos People

Hi
UK works and pensions have informed me that I need to claim my UK state pension from here in Cyprus from the cyprus authorities .
I have enquired at citizens advice and a financial company here who apparently don't know anything about this.
Anyone here have any info on the route I need to go??
Thanks..

Sorry Jules, I cant help you on this one but maybe some other recent claimants have experience.

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Straight talking, no Gimmicks.

Live your dreams.

I applied and got mine this year, no problem, you need to download the forms from the UK gov website

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ire-abroad

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Dave

A similar situation a few years ago now but everyone else at that time was claiming and receiving payment of their UK state pension from DWP in the UK based on their NI contributions. They would then claim a separate pension from Cyprus based on their SI contributions. So, well worth contacting DWP again as you may get a different response from a different person. Otherwise Paphos Social Insurance Office is where you should get further information.

Hi
Thanks for replies.
Went to social its changed as they told me. They gave me the formE207 which has to be completed with all employment History..I asked the girl







about some of the information on form she didn't know.
I called Nicosia and after a few minutes she then tried to explain.
DWP UK says pension claim has to be done through Cyprus as I have worked in UK and then here.
So just to let anyone about to do the same it is NOT easy as they asking for payslips from fifty years ago .
They all have different answers...anyway thanks again..
Jules

jules930

Pleased you are making some progress but surprised that as now UK is no longer in EU you are having to claim your UK state pension from Cyprus.

I would recommend finding an Accountant to help you with your state pension application - a professional can communicate with the Cyprus authorities on your behalf and from experience over the years it has been worth the amount charged which would ensure you get the full benefits you are entitled to. Probably wouldn't have to provide all those payslips for starters!

Also, much less stressful!

Good Luck!

Just found this old link from 2005 - last post in it may be helpful:
Just picked up a booklet from the Labour Office entitled 'Living and Working in Cyprus, A Guide to European Citizens who want to work in Cyprus'
Page 12 talks about transferring your social insurance benefits and includes old age pension
EC Regulation 1408/71 and 574/72
https://www.easterncyprus.com/archive.php?t=33513

I am 64 , and 65 in October 2025. So I am starting to look into claiming my Cyprus pension next October and my private pensions in UK. I asumme I don't get my UK pension until I am 67.
Have the Cyprus pension people have any idea how stupid asking for 50 year old pay slips is ! Well I hope to be fortunate in as much as my entire UK life in was PAYE so my social security no. Should give all required information,,,,,,,,,,,,I hope !( Mr optimist indeed )
I am planning to goto UK to try and sort the details in person for private pensions.
I am thinking now, as I am well aware 1 year is nothing in the pensions office time scale .
I will try to download a pdf of form E207 just to look and see what they are asking and attempt to start collating the information.
Is form E207 UK or Cyprus?
How much help or systems does Gwenny have to smooth the processes ?
I am confused about claiming UK pension through Cyprus seeing the 2 year differential between the pension ages ? Still I guess the process is designed to be as difficult as possible because they don't want to give you money .

I just download E207.pdf from www.misi.gov.cy of course it is in Greek . Will post address if I find in English.

Perhaps visit the Social Insurance Office this year to make initial enquiries about your Cyprus pension.

If necessary use an accountant (rather than Gwenny) to help claim your Cyprus pension as the accountant is already used to dealing with the Social Insurance office and so would have the contacts with the relevant knowledge.

My former accountant was next to useless in helping me secure my Cyprus State Pension. Cyprus pensions are handled at a specialist office in Nicosia, who avoid answering the phone 90% of the time. After several weeks of trying, my accountant achieved nothing and gave up.

Frustrated after 18 months of trying to secure my pension I visited said offices in Nicosia. It was like going back to Dickensian times, with beige folders stacked floor to ceiling in each office. Lady I saw listened politely and offered to see what she could do. But actually did nothing. I wrote letter after letter to Nicosia with increasing severity, but got nowhere.

At this time I became aware of a fixer in Paphos (not Gwenny-Mary in this instance, though we have used G-M for many services) called Charis. Went to see Charis and had a meeting with him and agreed a fee for his services. Long story short, after Charis got on the case, within a week I received a letter from the Pensions office telling me that my pension would start with immediate effect and also advising that within a week or two I would receive 2 years backdated pension into my bank account. Which I did. Whoopee! Deep joy!

People are quick to knock 'fixers', but they are very capable individuals, know how things work in Cyprus and speak the lingo. They take the hassle out of getting things done (which I haven't the time, knowledge, expertise or patience for). Charis was also instrumental in halving the amount our leading Paphos developer wanted before handing over our Title Deeds - a €9,500 saving to us. Before I engaged Charis, a well-known Paphos lawyer charged us €500 and made a half-hearted attempt to negotiate with the developer. In other words, he wrote a very polite letter. He came back to tell us that the developer's €19,000 demand was quite reasonable... and that we should pay it if we wanted to secure our Deeds. Yeah, right. Of course, no lawyer ever wants to fall out with a leading developer, do they?