A new petition is calling for the DWP to right a state pension policy that means 500,000 people miss out on the yearly increase.
The campaign is urging the Government “to increase the pension of all people receiving the state pension no matter where they live in the world”.
State pensioners who live in certain parts of the world do not get the annual increase to payments meaning their pension is frozen at the amount it was it when they first moved to that country.
The petition states: “Pensioners like myself have worked our entire life, paid into the system taxes, National Insurance and any other payments due.
“We have now reached a point where we need our pensions paid to support us. It shouldn’t matter where we live as we have contributed to our pension through the system our whole working life.
“We believe the non-payment of increases for pensioners living abroad in certain countries is downright immoral.
“We think the only justification for this is that the government wishes to save money. We are only asking for what we believe we are entitled to, nothing less nothing more.”
A recent report from the International Consortium of British Pensioners (ICBP) also called for change on the frozen pensions policy, urging for a new system that is “consistent, logical and fair”.
The research challenged DWP figures estimating that ending frozen pensions would cost £4.59billion over five years, arguing that this is based on the assumption all frozen pensioners would receive payments as if they had never been frozen.
Researchers said this is not how frozen pensions have historically been righted, and the cost would actually be just £307million over five years, or around £60million a year.
Patrick Edwards, board nember of the ICBP, said: “The figures that are used by the DWP to defend this indefensible policy are a complete fantasy that stretch credulity to breaking point.
“That these fantasy projections can be used to prevent an end to this injustice is immoral, frozen pensions are not a parlour game for Whitehall but an everyday reality that pushes many frozen pensioners into poverty, denied the retirement they deserve and feeling abandoned by their own country.”
A Government spokesperson told Express.co.uk: “Our priority is ensuring every pensioner receives the financial support to which they are entitled.
“We understand that people move abroad for many reasons and we provide clear information on gov.uk about how this can impact their finances.
“The Government’s policy on the uprating of the UK state pension for recipients living overseas is a longstanding one of more than 70 years and we continue to uprate state pensions overseas where there is a legal requirement to do so.”
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