Hello everyone. Im planning on moving back to UK around xmas time. My son is in Cambridgeshire working, he moved over last December. I miss him dearly, hes my best friend. I am disabled and wanting to know if I will be eligible for benefits, I would love to work but I have 3 spinal diseases and battling Graves disease at the moment. Any advice would be great.

Hi,

I think that the answer is "It depends". For exampleif you are a UK citizen and you return to the UK with the intention of permanently living there you can immediately access all benefits of the NHS. But maybe for other types of support you would have to look at the rules for each benefit. Requires a bit of research and planning.

Edit: If you haven't already done so I recommend looking at the official government website page "Returning to the UK". It has an online tool you can use
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/returning-to-the-uk

And the website of the charity Age Concern for advice on "Returning to the UK After Living Abroad"
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/benefits-entitlements/returning-to-the-uk-after-living-abroad-heading/

After 2 years residence you'll be able to apply for Attendance Allowance. That's if it still exists in two years.

​​​​​​Th anks for this suggestion. This post has prompted me to think about my wife's situation. I hadn't really given any thoughts to financial benefits but she is really struggling with a progressive condition, Muscular Dystrophy, which affects her mobility and sight. It's part of the reason for moving back to the UK. Where we live now is all cobbled medieval streets and hills. And the UK is definitely not paradise but is much better overall in terms of accessibility. I'd like her to get a blue badge because she's just not able to do the things she used to. It seems like be eligible for benefits, even if one doesn't actually receive much financial support makes getting things like a blue badge easier. But it looks like she won't qualify for Attendance Allowance as she's not of pension age*. So I have started looking at Disability Living Allowance, which apparently is being replaced by Personal Independence Payments. I think it's quite a daunting process if one has no experience of it. I found the charity Muscular Dystrophy UK was a useful place to start. I wonder if there is an equivalent charity that might help the OP?
​​​​​​
* The OP doesn't say how old they are... okay they've been abroad for 50 years but my brother in law moved back to the UK after 50 years abroad and he was only 59.

Also try citizens advice they are really good at knowing what people are entitled to and other not so known benefits and also what “help” you may be able to have. There are plenty of pretty historic areas as I call them “on the flat lands” here in the UK which are also not only attractive but accessible. Good luck