Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?
#211
Ex Expat
Joined: Oct 2006
Location: West Midlands, ex Granada province
Posts: 2,140
Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?
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
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
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.
#212
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,590
Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?
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.
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.
Thank you anyway
#213
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 5,368
Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?
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.
#214
Just Joined
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 15
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.
#215
Ex Expat
Joined: Oct 2006
Location: West Midlands, ex Granada province
Posts: 2,140
Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?
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.
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.
#216
Banned
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: Vejer de la Fra., Cadiz
Posts: 7,653
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.
Any other type of work, you don't get that.
#217
Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?
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.
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.
#218
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 7,749
Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?
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.
#219
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Dec 2009
Location: Aracena area Huelva Spain
Posts: 1,631
Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?
"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."
#220
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 5,368
Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?
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!
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?
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!
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.
Bring on all the post agreeing with me!
#221
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 5,368
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."
"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."
#222
Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?
They probably won't cover existing conditions either.
#223
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 7,749
Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?
How many times does this need to be repeated?
#224
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 2009
Location: Valencia
Posts: 1,164
Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?
#225
Ex Expat
Joined: Oct 2006
Location: West Midlands, ex Granada province
Posts: 2,140
Re: Are you a benefit fraud.. and living in Spain?
They could not afford it so are not covered for healthcare.