Cynic

We have a re-union next month; I shall make sure that word gets out. Thanks for the input.

hales

I also have details of a Travel Agent who can organise Forces rates for your tickets.

Cynic

Thank you; there is already a Force Travel organisation that offers discounted rates for ex and serving personnel. Please send me a contact/website link via PM and I'll also pass the word around.

hales

Not to sure how I can send it with PM?

Cynic

Click on my name to the left of this post; a drop down menu will appear, with an option to send me a private message. It doesn't disclose your or my personal information (i.e. actual e-mail address).

hales

Thanks for that You learn something new every day.

hales

I went wrong somewhere. I receive a Service pension plus a small pension for working on the German net. I also get my old age pension from the UK. The medical insurance people charge me over 200euros a month. I have taken it up with Berlin but they are not really interested.

chris atkinson price

OK. I am in a similar position to you and at the moment am not paying anything for German health insurance, although as I said this is likely to change after Brexit. Have you spoken to the AOK about it? They send me a special form which I have to fill in every now and again. The form is also in the SOBAGs somewhere - I started doing this before I retired. I could try and find out the reference number of the form if you want, but at the moment you could try asking AOK if you haven't already.

chris atkinson price

The only thing I am wondering, is when you worked on the German net you might have forfeited the right to the NHS arrangement.

Novocastrian

As I understand it, you have to have worked more than 50% of your working life since you were 30(?) years old to qualify for free health care as a foreign senior in Germany.

chris atkinson price

The free health care is paid for by the NHS in the UK via the AOK so as long as you have made enough payments to the NHS to qualify you will get it.

Novocastrian

Yes, I know. But I didn't live in the Uk since I was 27. Thus I decided to move back there in order to get an S1 for use in France. I'd only spent 8 years in Germany en passant and even though that was the last EU country I'd lived in, I didn't qualify for an S1 from there for the reason I stated.

I do get a German State pension for the time I worked there though. A not inconsequential 450 euros a month.

hales

I'm with the DAK. Maybe I should not have declared my Military pension although they have changed the wording on their forms so that you have to declare all your income. Mind you, I now claim a refund on my prescriptions and cost of travel plus parking fees for Doctors/Hospital visits.

calman014

Most of it depends on how much entitlement you built up in UK, how long you have been 'out' of the UK system and whether you have any entitlements from there and also how long you have worked in Germany and what entitlements you've built up there. It's a minefield because both UK and EU keep changing rules/qualification requirements. Careful study online can help a lot.

HALES: you need to take a close look at UK rules and what you built up there before you left as a civilian and your forces time. Once you know that you will have a clue as to whether NHS will cover (some of) your medical charges. Otherwise you will pay normal medical cost in Germany like now.

Cynic

The only qualification to get an S1 form is that the recipient must be in receipt of a UK old-age state pension (or other "exportable-benefit") - link here; I understand that they have stopped issuing them to expats who are not in receipt of the UK state-pension. On receipt of the form, you register with that countries relevant Health Authority, you can then apply for a UK-EHIC card to use in any other EU/EEA country.