Transfer of UK pension to Spain

Hi Jan,

When the Pension Service transfers everyone's UK State pension abroad, they are generally able to get an exchange rate as close to the spot rate as any of the best transfer exchange companies, because of the volume of funds being transferred  However, they are still affected by the prevailing £ to € exchange rate on the day of transfer, so yes, it will affect how much you receive.

I don't receive State Pension yet, but still have to transfer money for day to day expenses.  When I first moved here, the rate was €1.30 to the £; it's dropped as low as €1.09 in the last 4 years and now back up to €1.17, but that's the risk we all take when living here.  I have friends who moved here the year before us and they can remember when it was €1.42!

Kind regards, 

Kim

In a word - yes to all. 

Thank you Kim..xx

Thank you Ray...xx

May 2001 GBP = 1.677€ (Oh, those were the days when I was a peseta multi-millionaire!) Now (in 2020) UK questioning about a Big Ben Bong

V

As others have said, you won't get a better transfer rate for the monthly amount. I once did a check on our DWP pensions to see what we'd have received if we'd used Transferwise. Their fee, even though it's small, meant that we'd have received less than we got by direct payment from DWP.

You could let the money accumulate in your UK bank, and transfer it out when the exchange rate is favourable, but the lack of regular payments into your Spanish bank would probably mean that you'd no longer qualify for free banking.

My opinion - get pensions of anything other than small amounts paid direct to Spain. That saves the hassle of having to keep watching the exchange rate, and effectively gives you transfers at the average rate for the year.

Thank you Kim...xx

Many thanks again Ray...xx

As always - Thank you Jim ...xx