Reciprocal Agreements with Other Countries

The Isle of Man is included in reciprocal social security agreements that the UK Government has negotiated with other countries.

These agreements are designed to protect the interests of workers abroad so that they are able, subject to the conditions of the agreements, to avoid paying contributions in both countries at the same time, or are able to aggregate contributions paid in different countries in order to obtain benefit.

Which countries

Two way reciprocal agreements have been negotiated with:

* members of the European Union, or the European Economic Area.
# the agreement is contributions only.
~ the agreement contains only limited benefit provisions.

The agreement with Australia ended with effect from 1 March 2001. However, any person with periods of residence in Australia before 6 April 2001 will have those periods protected and used in the eventual calculation of their Retirement Pension entitlement, or a claim to Bereavement Benefits in the event of claiming whilst resident in the Isle of Man or UK.

European Union

Unlike the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man is not a member of the European Union, or the European Economic Area (which also includes Liechtenstein).

This means that any employer who posts a worker to an EU country will not be subject to EU regulations, whether he is a UK national or not, who resides in the Isle of Man. The worker will, however, be entitled to benefits in accordance with the reciprocal agreement negotiated with that country.

In all cases it is advisable to contact Social Security before a worker leaves the country.