ezzie

This thread has provided some really useful information on which benefits can be accessed if required by expats, but its now mostly directed at lambasting one poster.

I'd personally like to know more about the Residence Test you are required to undergo...are there any tricky questions, or any tidbits of info which might help in being successful? Has anyone been through this process already?

Fleaflyfloflum

Hi Ezzie

The form itself is really no big drama.
It is 3 pages long and asks all the usual ID information, then asks question like why have you returned, do you have relatives here, what are your links to the area you are living in, then you have to sign a statement saying you intend to settle permanently in UK.
HOw much savings you have
Not much more than that from memory.

lobby lou

i could not get help as i had maintainance, etc .I did eventually get family credit ....but that is not the same ,as i did not leave the country and then come back
I do feel sorry for genuine cases and people who have a hard time ...but i think if you chose to make a life else where and it does not work out ,that some body else should pay for it ....

Fleaflyfloflum

No matter what the situation is??

Do you know my circumstances and why i ended up having to claim it when there? OR indeed why i am back in Aus temporarily?

lobby lou

I said genuine cases....maybe yours was .....

BristolUK

The problem is, how does anyone know what's genuine?

How do you define that? Is it the person who gets help and not the person that doesn't? What happens if someone gets help because they argued their case better than someone less able to?

What if they exaggerated or lied? Or the person not helped failed to mention something that was actually crucial?

Short of someone actually saying something like they had £10k and deliberately spent it with the intention of claiming some benefits when it ran out, how can one know?

There was someone recently who posted they were really a couple but their problem was in convincing anyone of that as they had kept everything separate...separate bank accounts.......even separate addresses. They may have been genuine. But they may also have been committing any number of Fraud offences with the illusion they were not a couple. Who knows?

USAGypsies

Flea, save yourself some breath. Some people have already made up their minds.

USAGypsies

You said you worked for the DSS for 30 years. That is some kind of service! I bet you've seen all sorts. Do you still work in that capacity?

BristolUK

Not any more. I took early retirement in 2004 - unfortunately not an official package so I have to make do with a reduced pension. I just left early so I could move to Canada having met and married a Canadian woman.

USAGypsies

Very nice. Are you thinking of returning to the UK then? Just assuming because you are on the MBTTUK board.... I haven't read all your posts.Your 'TV in a cabinet' did make me laugh. I don't think the new style flat screens come with doors on
Seriously though. Thanks for taking your time to give info.

BristolUK

Absolutely not. Couldn't afford it.

I come here as there are some interesting subjects sometimes. I'm lucky in that people's reasons for moving back are unlikely to apply to me...just as most reasons for leaving the UK don't apply to me either.

Pollyana

Can I suggest that some of the posters in this thread take a deep breath and read this post before continuing.

mississippi

Back to the topic at hand - claiming benefits - my OH has been away from the UK for 18 years, he was born here, raised here, worked here prior to us meeting when he decided he wanted to see the other side of the world. We have settled back here in August, I am on a settlement visa which cost me AUD$1200. We never considered seeking benefits from the government, job seekers allowance etc and my OH found work within a couple of weeks.

Through friends we found out about the tax credits and child benefit. We have two children and have found life in England very expensive. I am also working at nights to help make enough money to pay for rent, food, tv tax, council tax (for renting, in Oz you don't pay extra this, it's included in your rent), fuel, our first month's water bill is the equivalent to what we paid for the entire year and we are not looking forward to our first gas and electric bill. In Australia I did not have to work, although I did part-time work purely because I wanted to.

In Australia you are entitled to FTB (Family Tax Benefit A or B), and you get it almost immediately, subject to you proving that you are living in Australia permanently. My sister and her family moved over and she got it within a month and it was backdated to the date of her arrival and she had not made any contributions, however the Australian Government believes it is important to support working families.

In September my OH applied for tax credits and child benefits, to date, neither have been approved yet and it's the end of November - to top it off the child benefits department have lost our children's birth certificates, to replace these will cost us $40 each.

Will we ever be granted these benefits and does anyone care? Obviously many of you will think we don't and others might be a little more charitable and think we do, why should we be treated from any other working family in the UK, we both work and both pay taxes so why shouldn't we get these benefits and why does the process take so long?

One thing I will say is if neither is granted, then we may have to consider moving back to Australia next year as our monthly income is considerably less than our monthly expenditure, and that is only rent, food, taxes and utilities, so far we haven't managed to indulge in life's luxuries apart from the odd Twix bar and a half price 3-day holiday, the coldest holiday I've had in my life - staying in a caravan park in Weymouth.

FlyergirlUK

When I applied for tax credits it took about six months for us to get a decision but that was down to the faffing around and failure of the DWP to get back in touch with us to let us know that they couldn't process the application without Hubby having an NI number. Their communication skills are in dire need of an overhaul.

On the plus side - when they finally decided to send us through the paperwork confirming that we were eligible for tax credits the award was backdated to when I first started work at the beginning of the year.

The child benefit was a total breeze in comparison.

I hope you hear something back soon.

crystal23

It took the Child Benefit peeps 18 months to sort out my claim and pay me anything in the UK due to them inputting the wrong bank account number.

I've had no family assistance for the tax year 07/08 in Australia yet because they have put in the wrong income and although Centrelink have finally conceded they messed up they tell me I have to wait another 4 months for any payments.

Same sh*t, different bucket