Vanessa

Why anyone would think that they would still be entitled to family allowance when they have left the country, possibly for good, amazes me.

ljj

Hi,

I know people who are still claiming UK child benefit, Australian Family Payment and have actually now moved to Singapore... and he's an Accountant!

Surely, you are at risk of not being accepted as PR/ Citizen's or deported if found out?

Without sounding like a boring goody two shoes I couldn't do it as it's people that really need it that are being cheated. We have struggled from time to time here. When we left the UK the number of people talking about the scroungers that were claiming things that they were not entitled to and how it was bringing the country down...

You could always steal from your neighbours house after all thats what they pay their insurance for.

Louise

NickyP

I prefer to have a clear concience but regardless of personal morals it is best to be up front with the facts and then you can deal with reality rather than have a nasty shock later when they catch up with you. Before coming to OZ we were in Belgium with the MOD so were eligible for UK family allowance. We filled in forms honestly and still got caught up in an admin nightmare. I have given them the date that I left Belgium and now we have to hope that they can get it right (fingers crossed but I am not hopeful after the fiasco that we have had in the past). A friend of mine told them that she had left several times and they just kept paying eventually taking it all back in a lump sum, it could have been painful if she hadn't left it alone in the bank account.
:scared:
Just got a few months before we start to get the OZ equivalent and at least we haven't had to deal with anything else in the UK as the family tax credit seemed like such a nightmare.

CathnPaul

I didnt even know that there was such a payment in australia, so this link has been a bit confusing at times... could anyone answer the following then

do you have to have PR before applying?

under what conditions can you apply for it?

I will follow up the centrelink part of the thread though, cheers for that.

lacey21

mmmmmm.....................

Bella Donna

If you leave the UK on your CHB payday, you are probably unfortunate in losing it immediately. I notified the CHB office of our date of leaving (17th August) and it was paid up until 22nd August which was the next payday. Then it stopped. To the best of my knowledge, you aren't entitled to any past the payday after the date you leave. Same applies for Child Tax Credits, but you cannot notify them of your departure in advance. You have to let them know you've gone when you have.

If you don't tell the CHB office you are leaving, and claim any money beyond that date, you will have to pay it back. While it's arguable whether they can recover the money if you have actually left the country, I'm sure it must stay on record that money is owed. And if you were overpaid a substantial amount, they might try and recover it from any assets you have left in the UK. Not sure, but it isn't worth the risk.

Never mind, Joho - like me, I'm sure you sleep at night.

joho

Yes I do feel better knowing I wasn't swindled by the UK Gov. Honesty is always best because you never know when or if you will need to claim again.

Jo

Feed the Goat

do you think ppl care, when you have many PIA planes landed full of immigrants who have no intention of departing,

who stops first is my question

Feed the Goat

You must tell us straight away if you, your child, children or all of you leave the UK permanently or for an absence that is likely to last for more than a year when you leave. If you are going abroad permanently but your child is staying in the UK and living with someone else, the person they are staying with should get in touch with us and claim Child Benefit.

If you go abroad temporarily you can continue to get Child Benefit

for up to 8 weeks, whatever the reason for your absence
for the first 12 weeks you are abroad if you go or stay abroad because you are, or a member of your family is, receiving treatment for an illness or disability or because a member of your family has died.
You must tell us if you are going abroad longer than this. If you left the UK after the 6 April 2003, you will be treated as being abroad temporarily if your absence is unlikely to last for more than a year when you leave.

If your right to stay in the UK is under a limit or condition and you have been getting Child Benefit since before 7 October 1996 you may lose the right to get Child Benefit again if you stay abroad for more than 8 weeks. If you want to know more about this, get in touch with the Child Benefit Office.

If your child goes abroad temporarily you can continue to get Child Benefit for them for up to 12 weeks. You must tell us if your child is leaving the UK for more than 12 weeks.
If your child is temporarily abroad for more than 12 weeks you may still get Child Benefit if they are abroad only for one of the following reasons:

to receive full-time education in an EEA country or Switzerland
to make an educational or foreign visit that is approved in writing by their school
to get medical treatment for an illness that began before the child left the UK.

NickyP

I have finally got through to the child benefit overseas helpline (be prepared to take a long time on the phone!!!!!!!!!). I have notified them of our leaving date and apparently you get paid up to the following Monday after you leave. My payments have been cancelled and will be added up with any amount due paid in as a final payment. I had e-mailed through the website but apparently this had not been received. It is best to sit on the phone and be sure that they have received the details as apparently that is the only way to be sure that they have it all correct. Now I wait for the phone bill which may well cancel out the final payment .
Anyhow another link with the UK severed so it can't be all bad and the lady on the phone sounded sooooo envious so that helped a little
Bye for now.
Nicky

Feed the Goat

why dont you get a phone card from woolies

for $10 you get around 7 hours of talk time................

ljj

Hi, I've used lots of different phone cards which are great value. I have never managed to get one that will allow the same deal on 'local/freecall numbers'. I pick up the phone to speak to a relative on a UK personal home phone number "you have 25000000 minutes remaining" ...phone the local/freephone number for a bank/ council/ insurance etc no and it's "you have 17 minutes remaining" and it starts from as soon as you get the first answer ie "your call is important to us we estimate you have 12 minutes before you get through to a real dinky-do human being'

Which card is it that you get? it may be worth just keeping it for when I have to phone a freephone number.

Thanks,

Louise