peridotleaf

Although my late father was Italian and my late mother Scottish, I was born and bought up in England. Since I left college in 1976 I have been a freelance writer and artist, combining this with studying for a degree as a Chartered Librarian on day release from my job in a library. I continued studying whilst working full time and gained a second degree with honours in Philosophy and Art History with the Open University. Apart from a few years gap when I was looking after elderly parents and a husband dying from bowel cancer, I have always combined working with freelance illustrating and writing.
After the death of my father, I inherited a small legacy and decided that I had had enough of the British attitude to the arts, which is to treat us as second class citizens or even worse, unemployable, despite many of us having a hard working ethos and higher qualifications than necessary to do the day job most of us are forced to do. I made a clean break and moved to Amsterdam, where I spent a year building up a website and making contacts, even selling a few things along the way.
I then had to return to England in order to sort out some family business and, following the guidelines on the Government website for expats returning to live in Britain, I went to the local jobcentre plus. Once I was registered I then had to take a “habitual residency” test. Having done that I then registered for council tax and the right to appear on the electoral register. Some days later I had two letters from the benefits agency telling me that I was not entitled to Jobseekers allowance as I have to be resident in the country for three months. Fair enough. Then another letter came with my council tax demand with a link to an online application for housing benefit and council tax benefit. As I have no income I thought it would be a good idea to apply. Having filled this in and printed it off (it was not possible to send it electronically as there were several “errors”, such as the system not recognising my Dutch postcode from my previous address …) I took it in to the local office with all the relevant paperwork. This was duly checked and sent to the main office. Several days later I received the most insulting letter from any government agency I have had the misfortune of dealing with, demanding I produce evidence of what I was living off when abroad, why I had returned and wanting me to produce fully audited accounts as I had stated that I was self-employed. In a nutshell, accusing me of lying about my circumstances. At the same time I was reading up on the benefits system and found out that if you are on a low income or not working and not entitled to jobseekers allowance, you can claim Income Support. I duly filled in and printed the sixty odd pages of the form (as requested) and took them in to the jobcentre plus, as requested, with all the relevant paperwork. I didn’t even get as far as having anyone look at the forms because apparently as I am not pregnant or a carer I am not entitled to any form of help whatsoever, and moreover, I was informed that I had failed my habitual residency test. Apparently I had been sent a letter telling me this, which was news to me. In the meantime, savings are diminishing and I am registered with several temping agencies and online jobsites.
Every day there are news reports of “economic migrants” being forced to come to this country and claim asylum, where no doubt they will be greeted with open arms, free housing and benefits. So where does this leave people like me who have worked hard, paid our taxes and never had to claim anything back from the system. I can only assume that as I had the cheek to leave the country and live abroad, I am no longer welcome in the country of my birth. As soon as I have finished the business that I returned to sort out, I am returning to live abroad, I may even seek asylum as I am clearly not welcome or wanted here.

mikelincs

Well at least your situation does show that the UK isn't just giving out benefits with no checks. When we returned to the UK 6 years ago we had to do all that you have had, although we were pensioners and didn't have to show proof of income as we had been living off pensions for the last few years, we did, however, have to prove we had no savings in any other country, proof we had closed bank acounts etc, and had to sign legal documents to say we had no other income. I'm not at all surprized about the accounts as they would have to have some sort of proof that you didn't still have an ongoing business in Holland, in other words that you were not tryng to get benefits you were not entitled to. The UK has been slated for many years because it was too keen to give out benefits, and now they have tightened up om the benefit rules to stop ecconomic migrants they seem to be getting slated for tightening the ruls up by people who were upset by the previous laxity.
I'm sorry that ylu have had to jump through the hoops, but perhaps a little research as to what is required would have been useful. If you had a current address in Holland, that would by why you failed the habitual residence test as they might have felt that you were just moving to claim benefits.

You can't really complain about people in the past getting benefits without being entitled, and then complain that you couldn't get those same benefits withpit the proof you were entitled.

formula

You can't really expect them to take your word for your benefit claim as they have a duty to the present UK taxpayers, who fund the welfare state.

1.You cannot have income based benefits as soon as you retrun to the UK. If you had been working and contributing to the UK before you went abroad for a year, then you may have been able to claim contribution based JSA from the UK when you returned.

2. They have a right to ask what you have been living on abroad for that year. You don't have to answer them, but if you don't then you won't get any benefits. Did you tell them about your legacy you recieved from your father's estate? If you blew the money then they will need to see what you spent it on as they may treat it as deprivation of capital and treat your claim as if you still have that money/some of that money.

Have you looked to see if you can claim any benefits from the Netherlands as you were living there for a year?

No, they don't. EEA citizens cannot have benefits when they arrive anymore as that was stopped in 2010. After 3 months of looking for work they can only claim £71 a week JSA, no money for housing or for their children, and that JSA money is only for 3 months and then that stops. Even if they have been working, their UK benefits are limited to 6 months to find a job or they lose all their UK benefits, including money for their children. If you lose your job you will get 2 years of JSA and housing benefit too. Many EEA citizens and their families since 2010 are now required to have private health insurance.

Asylum seekers don't get much and they can be housed anywhere in the country, in rooms that they share. Unlike many other EEA coutries, in the UK they don't have work rights. The UK has now reduced the money they give them to below that of many other popular EU countires. If their claim is allowed and they become refugees, but they still have limited things given to them as they are meant to work to support themselves. Failed asylum seekers cannot use NHS England for free. I'm not sure what NHS Scotland will give them for free.

scot47

The Daily Mail and Daily Express print all these fairy stories about the benefits paid to people arriving in the UK. Do not believe what you read in the press. They seek to demonise the poor and unfortunate. When was the last time we saw a story about tax-dodgers ?

Trixie_b

You are welcome in Britain, but you're not welcome to a free ride.

Shirtback

How does a request to produce accounts equate to accusing someone of lying ...?

BristolUK

And there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow too.

Whatever you do, don't say 'Candyman' three times when you stand in front of your mirror.

Let's see, what other nonsense is there you might believe.....

peridotleaf

The point I am making is how unhelpful the system is and how misleading the information is on the government websites, which say one thing and the people on the frontline say another. It seems that there is a lack of coherent communication. If I wanted to claim benefits then I would have stayed put in Amsterdam, as it is I had no choice in returning. My main gripe is not what questions are asked on these forms, but the way in which they are asked.

moneypenny20

Do you have an example?

verystormy

Am I reading this right?
You decide that the UK doesn't have an arts culture, even though there are more galleries and arts in London than raindrops in April, and based on this guess decide to leave the UK for another country.
Now you say you are living on savings! Guess what, that is what savings are for - you are not entitled, thankfully, to benefits if you have savings. The benefits system is not there to help your savings. It is there as a means of last resort

scot47

"Proud to be British" How can anyone be proud of an accident of birth ? Should I be proud for having black hair and brown eyes ?

moneypenny20

You can if you want. People can be proud of all kinds of things, just because you don't get it doesn't mean it's wrong.

Editha

Scot 47 didn't say he thought it was wrong. I think being proud of Britain makes more sense than being proud to be British.

Shirtback

I don't think I'm especially "proud to be British", or "proud of Britain".

I DO realise & think I'm very *lucky* to hold British citizenship. It made moving back to the UK in an emergency a few years ago (even though I didn't end up staying there) very easy.

vikingsail

I think for me what has become apparent over the years (some 20 or so) of being out of the UK is the changing attitude toward expatriatism. For whatever reason and I can certainly speculate on some, it has become popular to disapprove of expats. Is it envy, jealousy, or are they just an easy target?

Politically, it is easy votes for the blithering nincompoops who are elected as MP's. Expats are an easy target when seeking any type of reform, especially economic, as they are a fairly easily definable group of individuals. The irony being that some of the greatest champions of expat reforms are themselves some of the worst offenders. Of course all the fervor against expats is promulgated by the media, again an easy target whipping up the public into a frenzy - once again a fairly easy target and easily definable group.

I think this is especially true when it comes to ineffectual politicians attempting to tackle immigration issues of which they have no hope. Realizing they are essentially "pi..s..ing in the wind" they turn to the small group they can do something about and clamp down on them because unfortunately they share commonality with immigrants.

The sad part for me is that I happen to believe the UK is great, because of its expats and the tradition of travelling which is historically ingrained in the UK.

Sometimes when I am mad I call it the 'politics of envy.' And I do believe for some it is envy that drives the clampdown and intransigent attitude toward expats.

After all, in any country it is easy for the disgruntled to 'play' the bureaucrat. Rules, regulations and procedures are all there for the taking when it comes to being obstructive as they are so discretionary and open to interpretation.

I would say keep your head down and hope to go unnoticed. Standing out in the great machine of government bureaucracy while perhaps morally right will certainly not help your individual cause. Unfortunately, we as Brits are indoctrinated from birth to stand on principle! IMHO, its a hard mountain to embark on climbing. You are struggling with the 'its more than my jobsworths', or the 'computer says no' mentality.