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Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Old Jan 2nd 2011, 9:43 pm
  #211  
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Originally Posted by anonimouse
Scampicat, without prying too much and getting too personal, am I reading this right? Are you saying your husband is receiving his private pension and also Incapacity payments that are unaffected by the pension payments? Forgive me if I have read this wrong.

If this is the case would someone with a private pension be able to go to the doctors and get put on incapacity benefit to top up his private pension, if so apart from obviously having an ailment, how would one go about this, would they need a sick note or something?

I was under the impression that if you had an income such as a private pension, incapacity payments would not be paid
Incapacity Benefit is reduced by 50p in the £1 for any private or Occupational pension over £85 a week, for the amount over £85. (e.g if your private pension is £100 a week, IB will be reduced by £7.50). Other income or savings does not affect it. My husband's IB is reduced accordingly due to his Teachers' Pension.

New claimants cannot go onto Incapacity Benefit, it is now Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and has different criteria; however, if you are UK resident and are too sick to work you can apply for ESA. Contributions-based ESA which you can claim if you have paid enough recent NI is reduced in the same way as IB if you have an Occupational or private pension. Income-based ESA for those without enough NI is means-tested in the usual way.

To claim ESA you would initially have to go to the DR and get a sick note.

Hope this helps.

Last edited by scampicat; Jan 2nd 2011 at 9:55 pm.
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Old Jan 2nd 2011, 9:48 pm
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Originally Posted by scampicat
Incapacity Benefit is reduced by 50p in the £1 for any private pension over £85 a week. (e.g if your private pension is £100 a week, IB will be reduced by £7.50). Other income does not affect it. My husband's IB is reduced accordingly due to his Teachers' Pension.

New claimants cannot go onto Incapacity Benefit, it is now Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and has different criteria; however, if you are UK resident and are too sick to work you can apply for ESA. Contributions-based ESA which you can claim if you have paid enough recent NI is reduced in the same way as IB if you have an Occupational or private pension. Income-based ESA for those without eough NI is means-tested in the usual way.

Hope this helps.
Hmmmm naaa it doesn't,... pity though, for a minute I thought I had a good idea.

Thank you anyway
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Old Jan 2nd 2011, 9:52 pm
  #213  
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Originally Posted by megmet
That is the category I fell into!
Even though my Incapacity Benefit stopped last year when I became eligible for my state pension, it would appear that certain people don't think I should have moved here while incapable of working in the UK.
I think they can be forgiven for that, especially when they see people looking quite "normal", appearances can be deceiving, they don't know how you might have actually have been suffering. Unfortunately there are many swinging the lead, (I bet you know a few!) making a Lazarus like recovery to move to Spain, so unfortunately every one gets tarred with the same brush! They say moving house is the most stressful thing you can do, twin that with moving to a different country must be doubly stressful, but that doesn't seem to deter people with stress related problems, so it's easy to see why some arrive at the conclusions they do. Jackytoo seems to have ruffled a few feathers with her comments, with the number of people on benefits, but there do seem to quite a few here that seem to have a great in-depth knowledge of how the benefits system works.
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Old Jan 2nd 2011, 9:59 pm
  #214  
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

From some of the comments on here I think too many of you believe the daily mail and the mps. In my opinion this and the so called news papers are pushing the benefit thing to hide what is going on with the banks and the expenses claimed by the already well heeled.We should be trying to put and end to their gravy train. How many ministers do we have now?All getting extra payment for what? I thought they were all supposed to be involved. Does anyone know how many we had in 1946 when the task was a lot more difficult then I'm sure.I bet its a hell of of a lot less.
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Old Jan 2nd 2011, 10:03 pm
  #215  
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Originally Posted by agoreira
I think they can be forgiven for that, especially when they see people looking quite "normal", appearances can be deceiving, they don't know how you might have actually have been suffering. Unfortunately there are many swinging the lead, (I bet you know a few!) making a Lazarus like recovery to move to Spain, so unfortunately every one gets tarred with the same brush! They say moving house is the most stressful thing you can do, twin that with moving to a different country must be doubly stressful, but that doesn't seem to deter people with stress related problems, so it's easy to see why some arrive at the conclusions they do. Jackytoo seems to have ruffled a few feathers with her comments, with the number of people on benefits, but there do seem to quite a few here that seem to have a great in-depth knowledge of how the benefits system works.
Yes, I do know quite well how the UK Benefit system works, that is because I am interested in it (sad I know), have learned about it and give advice on a Benefits forum.

I personally have claimed no State Benefits throughout my life , other than Child Benefit (which every family with a child got, until very recently), and since 2010 my State Pension, which I have paid into for most of my working life.

Last edited by scampicat; Jan 2nd 2011 at 10:05 pm.
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Old Jan 2nd 2011, 10:15 pm
  #216  
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Originally Posted by haydngj
From some of the comments on here I think too many of you believe the daily mail and the mps. In my opinion this and the so called news papers are pushing the benefit thing to hide what is going on with the banks and the expenses claimed by the already well heeled.We should be trying to put and end to their gravy train. How many ministers do we have now?All getting extra payment for what? I thought they were all supposed to be involved. Does anyone know how many we had in 1946 when the task was a lot more difficult then I'm sure.I bet its a hell of of a lot less.
I seem to remember that if you are an MP with a disability, instead of being just lucky to have a job, you actually get paid extra. Even if it was just something like diabetes. Blunket was supposed to get paid double bubble.

Any other type of work, you don't get that.
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Old Jan 3rd 2011, 1:43 am
  #217  
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Originally Posted by agoreira
I think they can be forgiven for that, especially when they see people looking quite "normal", appearances can be deceiving, they don't know how you might have actually have been suffering. Unfortunately there are many swinging the lead, (I bet you know a few!) making a Lazarus like recovery to move to Spain, so unfortunately every one gets tarred with the same brush! They say moving house is the most stressful thing you can do, twin that with moving to a different country must be doubly stressful, but that doesn't seem to deter people with stress related problems, so it's easy to see why some arrive at the conclusions they do. Jackytoo seems to have ruffled a few feathers with her comments, with the number of people on benefits, but there do seem to quite a few here that seem to have a great in-depth knowledge of how the benefits system works.
Actually I do know one or two who are swinging the lead, they all live in England where they can claim several more benefits!
I know one or two more who have returned home due to the recession only in order to receive benefits they would not have got here....that in my opinion is a very wrong thing to do, but they do seem to get away with it. One can only assume that they were not legal here...many aren't!

Anyone moving here and doing it legally knows that even after paying into the system for forty years....you are entitled to nothing from the UK, even a short trip back requires the EHC to cover for emergency treatment.
When the day comes (as it will) when I need personal care there will be no attendance allowance for me, but a foreign immigrant in the UK would in fact be entitled to such benefit.... even though they had not paid into the system.
I actually don't expect anything, but it makes me damned mad when people tar everyone with the same brush without knowing or caring about the facts, and on an assumption that we are all cheating the system simply because they can't see the disability, be it physical or mental.
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Old Jan 3rd 2011, 7:12 am
  #218  
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Originally Posted by Rotor
It cant be the same as Spanish citizens (including south American immigrants) get unlimited health care regardless of financial situation ,unlike EU expats.
You are talking absolute claptrap

The only difference may be, again as LittleWeed pointed out, that Spanish speakers can navigate the system more easily, but there are no differences in rights.
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Old Jan 3rd 2011, 8:10 am
  #219  
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Useful link. People not working may find this bit interesting:-

"If You Don’t Qualify for Free Medical Care in Spain What Should You Do?

A new tax has been introduced for those who want to live in Spain but who are below the retirement age and who are not working – this ‘tax’ amounts to about €80 every month and it will cover you for any medical care you need. So, you can choose to pay this tax and have your health covered in Spain – or you can look into whether it makes more sense for you to have private medical insurance that will cover you in Spain and beyond if you decide to travel, move, relocate or repatriate."
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Old Jan 3rd 2011, 8:34 am
  #220  
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Originally Posted by megmet
One can only assume that they were not legal here...many aren't!
And therin lies the problem, as I said, you will all get tarred with the same brush. It's a bit like people here telling us nobody works in the UK, they're all on benefits, and all read the Daily Mail!

Anyone moving here and doing it legally knows that even after paying into the system for forty years....you are entitled to nothing from the UK, even a short trip back requires the EHC to cover for emergency treatment.
TBH, I don't have a great deal of sympathy with that argument, you knew that would happen, it was your choice to move. You can moan about it, but that's the deal, that's the way it is. You might have paid in for 40 years, and for all that time all your needs were covered, but now we have more and more people in their 20's 30's moving, if they are in receipt of health benefits do they seriously expect the UK to pay them for the next 30-40 years having put very little in the pot. Do people seriously expect to emigrate from a country and to be able to export all the benefits available to residents of that country?
When the day comes (as it will) when I need personal care there will be no attendance allowance for me, but a foreign immigrant in the UK would in fact be entitled to such benefit.... even though they had not paid into the system.
Agreed, but again, that's the rules, they are residents, you are not. It was their choice to come here, yours was to leave. A lot of them will get jobs, they will pay tax on their earnings, spend money in local shops etc, in short most of the money will stay in UK. Money sent to Spain is dead money, the only one's benefiting are the recipient and Spain. Posts often feature in these type of forums from Brits wanting to know how they can claim this that and the other from the Spanish system, is that any different to immigrants in the UK. Unfortunately, as you say, lots of expats are illegal, milking the system (which they are happy to brag about!), so the genuine cases will suffer. Anyway, must rush, off the buy the Daily Mail!
Bring on all the post agreeing with me!
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Old Jan 3rd 2011, 8:37 am
  #221  
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Originally Posted by angiescarr
Useful link. People not working may find this bit interesting:-

"If You Don’t Qualify for Free Medical Care in Spain What Should You Do?

A new tax has been introduced for those who want to live in Spain but who are below the retirement age and who are not working – this ‘tax’ amounts to about €80 every month and it will cover you for any medical care you need. So, you can choose to pay this tax and have your health covered in Spain – or you can look into whether it makes more sense for you to have private medical insurance that will cover you in Spain and beyond if you decide to travel, move, relocate or repatriate."
Presumibly, that €80 is per person, so even if it's just a couple, out of work, that's quite a chunk of money, nearly €2,000 a year!
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Old Jan 3rd 2011, 8:41 am
  #222  
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Originally Posted by agoreira
Presumibly, that €80 is per person, so even if it's just a couple, out of work, that's quite a chunk of money, nearly €2,000 a year!
... and I suspect you will find that it's an insurance policy rather than a 'hacienda' tax!

They probably won't cover existing conditions either.
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Old Jan 3rd 2011, 8:42 am
  #223  
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Originally Posted by agoreira
Presumibly, that €80 is per person, so even if it's just a couple, out of work, that's quite a chunk of money, nearly €2,000 a year!
Again, if you are out of work and have very low income then you get healthcare for free anyway!

How many times does this need to be repeated?
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Old Jan 3rd 2011, 8:46 am
  #224  
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Originally Posted by cricketman
Again, if you are out of work and have very low income then you get healthcare for free anyway!

How many times does this need to be repeated?
If that was the case why is the SIP card cancelled for self employed foreigners ?
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Old Jan 3rd 2011, 8:50 am
  #225  
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Default Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?

Originally Posted by cricketman
Again, if you are out of work and have very low income then you get healthcare for free anyway!

How many times does this need to be repeated?
I know some people who have NO income (living on savings), and a lawyer told them they would have to register as self-employed and pay the 240 euros (or whatever it is) to get healthcare.

They could not afford it so are not covered for healthcare.
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