Truth57

First of all, thank you for accepting me on this forum. I am in a very difficult situation. I have been unwell for several years, and unfortunately was not in a position to be able to pay my N.I. contributions. I moved to Spain in 2001, and had prior to that been receiving Incapacity Benefit in lieu of Invalidity Benefit. Having received an inheritance I was told that I would need to exhaust all my capital before being able to continue to claim benefits. I now find myself in the position of having almost exhausted my capital, and have no rights to free medical treatment in Spain, as despite having a health card, I have no National Insurance number and so have had to pay full costs of all treatments received. I was hoping to be able to make voluntary contributions, but it appears that this is not an option for EU citizens. I have been informed that I no longer have any Social Security rights in the UK and that I will have to return to the UK and survive there for a period of 6 months on my own resources before being able to reinstate my status. However I am too ill to even contemplate that, and unable to pay the hospital bills, so my bank accounts in Spain have been embargoed by Hacienda, and the next phase will be to embargo my property. I would be deeply appreciative if someone could kindly offer me assistance with this matter, as I am becoming desperate and severely depressed.
Thank you,

Kind regards,

David L

Patsy11130

David. I'm so soryy you find yourself in this situation. When did your Incapacity Benefit cease? For each week you receive ICB, you receive one NI credit but if you have been out of the system for a while and had not previously made any voluntary contributions, you will have no credits to enable you to claim.
Have you spoken to an advisor at the Benefits Agency? You are an EU citizen after all and have Human Rights.
I suggest that you write to the Benefits Agency detailing all the facts and ask an advisor to make contact with you at a time that is convenient for you. There is an emergency fund and your needs sound as if you should qualify for this. I'm sorry I cannot offer any further help.

jdr

Have a read HERE when you have posted one more time, you will be able to send them a PM and should receive all the advice you will need, you have to click on their user name and a drop down menu will appear.

Truth57

Hi Patsy, many thanks for your quick reply and kind words. You know, I am not even sure when I stopped receiving benefits, but it would have been in the year 2000 at latest. I have not received anything since then. However from what I managed to glean from several sites dedicated to N.I. and related subjects, it appears that whilst in receipt of benefits contributions should have been made automatically. In fact I now recall wondering how on earth that could be the case when Income Support was supposed to be based upon the least necessary for living expenses
My social worker, who managed to get my medical card liased with the DSS on my behalf, but because she was unable to directly communicate in English, she got fobbed off by them. They wrote to me unequivocally denying any responsibility for me, which apart from annoying me a great deal, also stymied my hopes for any sort of practical solution. I then entered into a dialogue with a DSS employee by e-mail during which the same was repeated. At that time I was receiving hospital treatment for pain, but this was only possible for a short period. I was so disgusted when I realized that the sanitary card I received was in fact useless without a N.I.N. that I just left it at that.
To cut a long story short, over the past two years I have been admitted to hospital for emergency treatment several times, and have been billed for these visits. My health is deteriorating rapidly because where I live it is excessively damp and miserable when it is not in the high 40's. I need to sell up anyway in order to stand some sort of chance of survival, but in this state of health I am really not in a good position even to evaluate the situation properly.
In fact I am presently reduced to visiting pharmacies when things get too bad in order to purchase antibiotics or pain killers as it is simply not worth getting involved with specialists when there are such hefty charges involved, but when one is talking about pneumonia and severe health problems this is not the help I should be receiving, neither on grounds of humanitarian rights or otherwise.
I have now also been in contact with the Pension Service via their website, and am awaiting a reply in due course. Once I have a contact telephone number I will use VOIP in order to call at very much reduced rates, and hopefully I will get to speak to an advisor who actually has both experience and clout, God willing.
Thank God I am not alone now, but my Bolivian fiancée is not working either, and has no papers, and can thus only find work as a live-in intern, so she is not really in a position to be able to help, although the vital thing is that she does her best to nurse me when things get really bad. But there again she is an additional burden to me financially.

Thank you again, and thank you JDR. In fact I read all of that post prior to you sending me the link, and others also. I did not feel that these really related to my situation as I am well under retirement age, being only 51, although I did note that the member with the nick 'intheknow' did appear to have a handle on DSS related themes. So it is good to know that I will be able to pm him and others.

Kind regards,

David

jdr

Did you read the last bit about the 6 months myth if you return to UK ?

Truth57

Yes, I did, but it only speaks of the right to receive treatment from a G.P. without having to be there for 6 months, what about all the other rights? For example, is it also a myth that one would need to support oneself whilst living in the UK for that period before being able to claim State Benefits such as Incapacity Benefit or Invalidity Benefit? Is it not true that if one has savings in excess of a certain amount or owns property that one is expected to support oneself with those assets until they are expended before being able to again claim any benefits? That would appear to be the case for me here in Spain. It is taken for granted also that anyone can both afford and obtain a mutua (private health insurance) but in my case it is neither affordable nor would it be any help, as cover would not include any claim arising from my present medical condition. In other words I would be paying good money for nothing.
Thank you,

Kind regards,

David L

jdr

Why don`t you pm him, as he is as his username suggests. ;-)

Truth57

Thank you, it took me a while to work out how to do that, but I just did so (I just realized that I really did not take in your instructions from one of your earlier replies). Thank you again, let's see what his take will be on this situation. He looks to be very concise and to the point in his communications (unlike me), so it will be interesting to read what he has to say.

Kind regards,

David L

poshnbucks

27.10.2008 rules have changed. See below


http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/...08025.xml.html


You can make a claim on-line. See below.

http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/...aim/index.html

intheknow

David - Have PMed you.

Returning to the UK is a complicated issue. In terms of healthcare, as long as you are a permanent resident, you are entitled to free healthcare immediately. Normally you just need a UK address and a GP with space on his list. If your local GP cannot accomodate you, then go to your local Primary Care Trust in England, Local Health Board in Wales or Local Health Authority in Scotland and they will assign you a GP.

In terms of benefits, you also have to prove you are a permanent resident and need to go through something called the Habitual Resident Test. This applies to all immigrants to the UK, including British nationals (asylum seekers are a different thing entirely). However, as a UK national you will pass the first part of the test immediately which is the 'right to reside'. Then you will have to undertake an interview with a representative of your local authority. They will ask about your ties to the UK. I would strongly recommend you call them before your move to discuss this and to let them know you are coming. This can take anything from 1 to 3 months. As for your wife, she may have to apply for a visa to go the UK. You can find more information here:

http://ukinspain.fco.gov.uk/en/visas/

Posh n' Bucks - The link you gave is for a new benefit called Employment Support Allowance, which replaced Incapacity Benefit from 27th October. Like Incapacity Benefit, entitlement is based on National Insurance contributions so David would probably be out of the loop on that one. There is a means-tested version but that is only available to residents of the UK and is a form of income support.

You can also get free healthcare in Spain if you live below the breadline. In the Valencia region, if your income is below €600 a month and the monthly interest on your savings doesn't take you above this amount, you can apply for free healthcare through the social worker at your local health centre. I believe that similar schemes operate throughout each of the other autonomous communities.

Truth57

Many thanks Martyn,

I have sent you a pm by return.

David L