we have the chance to live rent free in spain for at least a year

question is we are currently in reciept of

income supports
child tax credit
child benefit
carers allowance

and son recieves dla

what can we transfer and what cant we

You cant claim the first three - definitely! I'm not sure about the carers allowance, but you can transfer the dla as far as I know!

Jo xxx

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

jojo's right

have a look at this http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/BritonsL...oad/DG_4000102

AFAIK, care element of DLA only, from the above list.

I think a lot of other things have to be taken into consideration too.

Living in Spain might be easy for a year, but what when you and the family return to the UK

What will happen to your own home in the UK for instance.....if you own it and rent it out, then your income support will be less, not to mention the fact that you could have a tenant that will not vacate the property at the end of the year. or even trash the place......

If it is rented, either privately or local council, surely leaving a house empty for that length of time is not an option.

I am sure it will be against the rules to live elsewhere while receiving housing benefit or council tax benefit. I think you would have to give up your tenancy rights, and what will happen on you return to the UK?

It could be a question of starting afresh.

Also, does anyone know what position such a family would be in regarding health care in Spain, ie would the disabled person be entitled to free treatment under the Spanish state health system and the other family members classed as their dependents, or not?

I'm not 100% sure, but I think I read that adults can't be classed as the dependent of a child - which at least is logical

That is pretty much what I feared.

Also, can I ask whereabouts in Spain does the OP have the opportunity to live rent free for a year? If it happens to be in an area where there are not lots of British residents and/or tourists, there may well be problems in accessing basic services including medical care as there won't be many (if any at all) English speakers working in health centres, shops, banks, etc. and if translators have to be paid for it could get pretty expensive.

But if its only for one year, then surely the EHIC would cover them as they wouldnt technically be residents??? altho follow up treatment???? hmmm

Not an easy plan really...........

Jo xxx

If it's for a year then they WOULD be resident so the EHIC would not (legally) cover them.

BUT, they could use the S1 form to get reciprocal benefits based on NI contributions paid in UK.

I'm sure you're right, I'm hazy on all of this. I thought that the EHIC covered for over a year and then was reciprocal only if you continued to have a UK address and were still paying into the UK system????!!!! I guess I know that much simply because thats how it was for me

Jo xxx

Ah but it's not a question of whether you are deemed to be a Spanish resident - it is whether you are deemed to be non resident by the UK and that's a very different question.

Costs incurred when using an EHIC are reimbursed by the UK so Spain shouldn't really worry if you are resident or not. It's the UK who quite rightly don't want to have to pay out for people who are no longer resident in the UK and therefore not entitled to a UK EHIC card.

How the UK decide who is still resident or not is anyone's guess. The only hard and fast rule would be if HMRC have classed you as non resident or if you have applied for an E121/S1 which means that you are no longer resident.

In the latter case it wouldn't then matter as although you could not then use a UK EHIC card in Spain, you would be covered under the Spanish NHS anyway.

I would say stay in the UK ,benefit dependents wont survive in Spain , thankfully.

Our eldest son who is 34 is Down's syndrome. He now receives the DLA which is paid in the UK.
If you move abroad you have to tell the DWP, who will presumably stop it.
We receive some Incapacity Benefit for him paid into our bank here in Spain.

The system for receiving the equivalent of DLA here in Spain is quite a paper chase. If the person is mentally handicapped, which our son is, then the system asks for a % incapacity! This doesn't exist in England. There's no way round it & in order to get this magic %, my wife (who is Spanish) had to get him assessed by 3 different doctors. Sounds simple, but it took several months on & off, but he now receives a monthly allowance paid of course in €.
I'm afraid I do not know if the same applies to a physically handicapped person.
Hope this is of help for you.