AOW, healthcare and pension in England: what comes along, what stops — and the treaty route almost nobody knows

Your AOW (the Dutch state pension) doesn't change when you move to the UK. The SVB says it in so many words, and it arrives in pounds in your British account. Brexit broke a lot, but less than most people think.

What stays, and what stops:

• Your AOW stays. The SVB transfers it in pounds, to your British account.
• Healthcare for pensioners stays. Even after Brexit, a treaty route for healthcare via the CAK still simply exists, with a country-of-residence factor of 0.8498 in 2026. That factor adjusts your contribution to what healthcare costs in your country of residence.
• Tax moves to the UK. The 2008 tax treaty sends your AOW and pension to the British tax authority.
• What does stop: the AOW accrual and the child benefit.

What happens to your AOW?

The SVB answers the question literally: "Your AOW does not change." The AOW you have built up is paid in full in the UK. The calculation is the same as when the UK was still an EU country. The SVB transfers it in pounds, directly to your British account.

If you want to avoid double wage tax, apply for exemption from wage tax. You can get that if you have the AOW paid into your account in the UK.

What does change is the accrual. It stops on the day you leave the Netherlands, and each missed year costs 2% AOW later. You can continue the accrual voluntarily, but a clock is ticking: you can register until at most one year after the end of the compulsory insurance (usually the day you leave), after that the door is shut. It is not cheap: 17.9% of your income, with in 2026 a minimum of € 569 and a maximum of € 5,693 a year.

Item	Rule or figure
AOW when moving to the UK	does not change; paid in pounds
Accrual per insured year	2%
Registering for voluntary insurance	within 1 year of the end of compulsory insurance (usually departure)
Premium for voluntary AOW insurance (2026)	17.9%, minimum € 569, maximum € 5,693 a year
UK country-of-residence factor for the treaty contribution (2026)	0.8498
Registering with the CAK	preferably 3 months before departure; processed within 4 weeks
Treaty healthcare on early pension alone in the UK	stays open; the restriction expected from 1 November 2026 applies only in the EU, the EEA and Switzerland
Withholding tax on dividends from the Netherlands	at most 10%
Child benefit	stops after the quarter of the move

Which healthcare route applies to you?

Your Dutch health insurance stops on the moving date. Report the move to your insurer yourself. What replaces it depends on why you are going.

If you are going to work, it is simple: you paid the Immigration Health Surcharge (a healthcare fee) with your visa and are thereby covered by the NHS, the British public health service, like every Briton. Register with a GP and it runs.

If you move with a Dutch pension or benefit, something applies that almost nobody expects after Brexit: the United Kingdom is still simply on the CAK's list of treaty countries.

You register with the CAK using the application form. The CAK processes it within four weeks and advises starting three months before departure. You receive NHS care and pay for it a treaty contribution withheld from your AOW. That contribution is calculated with the UK's country-of-residence factor: 0.8498 for 2026, so about 15% below the Dutch premium.

Leaving before your AOW age on early pension? Then in the UK you can simply go through the CAK. From 1 November 2026, the expected start date, early pension no longer gives new registrants a right to the treaty health insurance, but only in the EU, the EEA and Switzerland. The CAK names the United Kingdom explicitly as a country where early pension, RVU and wachtgeld still give that right. What exactly changes.