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I was reading at the weekend that in a test case between the EU and the UK that it has been ruled that the british Government have been found guilty of breaking European guidelines by withholding benefits from people who have moved to Spain.
It was ruled that anyone living within the EU can still claim their benefits form the UK to include, incapacity benefit,disablement benefit,winter fuel allowance and many more......
I cannot remeber 100% of the letter but i will bring it into work tommorow and copy it to the forum.
It tells you how to go about claiming, as per usual it is the claimant obligation to persue it and not Governments to make the information avaliable..
This will open new Avenues regarding entitlements here..
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www.taylorlandandpropertygroup.co.uk
still here after all these years!
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I wonder would that include child benefits?
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Hi Mervy,
I have been persuing the "child benefit" line for some time now and the recent information comes from my digging within the DSS.
Officially by LAW you should be able to receive your UK Child benefit in Spain,but the UK does not want you to know this they do not make it public information.
I had a huge argument with a "department head" in the UK on the phone over this very matter and have just received the forms to try and claim!!!!
My argument was i paid taxes for long enough in the UK and have already kissed goodbye to my state pension so why should i not receive it as a EUROPEAN?!
It looks like they are buckling at last.....
I will keep you updated how it transpires...
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www.taylorlandandpropertygroup.co.uk
still here after all these years!
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Hi Georgia, Any idea whether I could claim child benefit for my 5 year old - she was born in Spain but is officially a British citizen as I had her birth registered at the consulate and she also has a British passport. Any pointers/info you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
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I know that anyone can claim Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in Spain if they started claiming it in the UK and before June 1992, if after that then you lose the benefit . Also I know many pensioners in Spain that claim Winter Fuel, again they have to have started claiming in UK. If those rules have changed then watch the floodgates open
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I have the deails at home and the numbers of the pamphlets that i have been sent,tommorow i will let you know what they are so that you can request them.
In essence the short answer is "yes" you should be able to claim, the hard bit is how you get through the application form and red tape.
This all came about when i received a letter from the UK apologising for "losing" my details (bank accounts etc...) so i thought i would pursue it to see what my rights are,originally they said no but after this new ruling a women called me and said it was possible and forwarded the forms to claim.
I think the forms are avaliable online if anyone can sort through the DSS website......
I have the official letter so i will copy it to the forum tommorow.....
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www.taylorlandandpropertygroup.co.uk
still here after all these years!
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Hi karenmcc
Child benefit can be claimed from either governement, but only from one at a time. There are cases in the UK of the UK governement paying child benefit to Polish workers who are also claiming in their homeland!!
Not sure how you would find out, probably best to ring the DSS.
Mark
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not neccesarily mark,
If you are paying into the system here you can claim 2,500€ for a child from the Spanish governemnt and still be entitled to your UK ongoing child allowance
As i said in a previous post i was told recently that you can claim for your UK benefit to be transfered here but up untill now the uk system has denied it.
I have the literature and i will post it tommorow.
_______________________
www.taylorlandandpropertygroup.co.uk
still here after all these years!
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When we moved here last year we told the dss we were leaving the uk and unknown to us they kept paying child benefit and working tax credit into our uk account (which we no longer used) so when my mother in law brought the statment over last july we were shocked to see the money there and rang them straight away. The lady i spoke to say that we might still be emtitled as we were still in the eu but we got a letter shortly after asking why we kept money that we were not entitled to. we were not amused and paid it back again straight away letting them know what we thought of them.
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Hi Mervy,
Exactly my point and by law you should still be able to claim and be quite within you rights...............
I have had this argument with the UK ongoing now for months and it looks like they finally after being taking to task, agree with me and will pay it,they will send you a form and you have to fill the details in and send it back,mine came partially filled in with my country of residence.
To claim benefits you are entitled to maybe we should go back for a few weeks with a polish accent and only then it seems you get anything you want..............
They have been breaking the law and now it seems they have been ordered to pay up!!!!!!!!
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www.taylorlandandpropertygroup.co.uk
still here after all these years!
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Not sure what (if any) of this makes sense to anyone, but it is from the HMRC booklet which can be downloaded from their website.
There are special rules if you are in the UK or another EEA country and
- employed or self-employed and pay UK national insurance contributions, or
- get
– contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
– Incapacity Benefit
– State Pension
– Widow’s Benefit or Bereavement Benefit
– Guardian’s Allowance
– Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
from the UK. You can usually get Child Benefit even if your child or children live in another EEA country. You can find out more about these special rules if you go to
www.dwp.gov.uk and look for the country you have left or are going to. If you go to another EEA country see ‘Going abroad’ on page 12.
Page 12
Going abroad
Special rules apply if you go to one of the countries in the EEA.
If you go to another EEA country and
• are employed or self-employed and pay into that country’s social
security scheme, or
• get
– unemployment benefit
– benefit for orphans
– benefit for sickness
– old age pension
– benefit for an accident that happened when you were at work
– benefit because you have an industrial disease on the
official list
from that country you can usually get their children’s allowance.
You can get it even if your child or children stay in the UK. Any UK
insurance you have paid may help the other country decide if they
can pay you their children’s allowance.
You can find out more about these special rules if you go to
www.dwp.gov.uk and look for the country you have left or are
going to.
Going abroad to
another EEA
country
If you:
- work in one EEA country and pay into that country’s social security scheme, and
- your partner works in a different EEA country and pays into that country’s social security scheme, the country where the child lives will usually pay the child allowance. But the other country may pay any extra you would have got if the child lived there.
You must tell us straight away if you, your child, children, or all of you leave the UK permanently or for an absence that is likely to last for more than a year when you leave.
If you are going abroad permanently but your child is staying in the UK and living with someone else, the person they are living with should get in touch with us to claim Child Benefit. See ‘How to contact us for help’ on page 4.
You will be treated as being abroad temporarily if your absence is unlikely to last more than a year when you leave.
If you go abroad temporarily, you can continue to get Child Benefit:for up to 8 weeks, whatever the reason for your absence,
- for the first 12 weeks you are abroad if you go or stay abroad because you are, or a member of your family is, receiving treatment for an illness or disability or because a member of your family has died.
- You can make a new claim to Child Benefit while you are abroad temporarily, so long as you are ordinarily resident in the UK.
If your child goes abroad temporarily, you can continue to get Child Benefit for them for up to 12 weeks. You must tell us if your child is leaving the UK for more than
12 weeks. If your child is temporarily abroad for more than 12 weeks, you may still get Child Benefit if they are abroad only for one of the following reasons:
- to receive full time education in an EEA country or Switzerland,
- to make an educational or foreign visit that is approved in writing by their school,
- to get medical treatment for an illness that began before they left the UK.
So currently it would seem that you can continue to receive UK benefits if you are not a permanent resident of another EEA country, once you become permanent, you need to claim the benefit from the country in which you reside.
My head's spinning 
Mark
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and thats only half of it Mark,
You want to see the forms they send you to fill in,obviously hoping you will give up and not bother.
Even if you become resident in another country you should still be able to claim through a reciprical agreement as we are all supposed to be European now.............
_______________________
www.taylorlandandpropertygroup.co.uk
still here after all these years!
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Georgia, this is mind boggling!!
So does this mean I can claim the heating allowance now I've got my OAP, even tho I did not get the pension or the heating allowance when I was in UK?
_______________________
 ' Do unto others as you would be done by'
Now a non-smoker ! 
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You can only continue claiming the Winter Fuel Allowance if you claimed it before leaving UK. That is, if you were over 60 in UK and entitled to the WFA, you can continue claiming it when you go abroad.
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That's what I thought, bobaol, but Georgia's post said,
It was ruled that anyone living within the EU can still claim their benefits form the UK to include, incapacity benefit,disablement benefit,winter fuel allowance and many more......
So I was just hoping:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::!!
_______________________
' Do unto others as you would be done by'
Now a non-smoker !
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The recent judgement thats been mentioned relates to DLA and Carer's Allownace only, DWP are deciding whether to appeal.
My understanding is that at least someone needs to be in the UK to claim Child Benefit from that country. Either the parent ,as is the case of many Polish working in the UK whose children live in Poland, or the child. themselves Child Benefit cannot be claimed from both countries, in the case of Poland, the local rate of Child benefit is far lower than the UK so most choose to claim it from the UK. It is complicated as a previous post states a child can be absent from the UK for part of the year etc etc, depending on the circumstances. I would be very surprised if a family that had effectively 'emigrated' even to another EU country would be eligible to claim Child Benefit from the UK. Child Benefit is a non contributory , non income based benefit.
Retirement Pension is a contributory benefit, so it's been paid for during a working life which is why it is still payable whilst abroad. Incapacithy Benefit and JSA are also contributory benefits. In the UK after 6 months they become income related. Income related benefits are not payable whilst abroad, even in another EU country. If resident in another EU country it may be possible to claim similar benefits from that country, providing their qualifying conditions are satisfied.
Personally I think it is wrong to expect to receive a non contributory benefit from a country you no longer live in or contribute to. Also, no-one says goodbye to any part of their pension they have contributed to, although if you cease to contribute before contributing for 44 years (men), 39 years (women,) or for less than 30 years from 2010 for any reason, the rate you receive may be less than the full rate. You could if you wanted to maintain contributions for a UK Retirement Pension pay voluntary contributions which currently cost about £380 per year.
This message was last edited by Poppyseed on 3/3/2008.
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Poppyseed
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Her is the letter i received,i quote
"On the 18th October 2007 at the European courts of Justice(second chamber) a case was brought against the UK government. (case no c299/05)
The case centred on non payment of various allowances to expats living in Spain such as disability allowance,attendance allowance,incapacity allowance and carers allowance.
The UK lost their case and as a result anyone who did or does qualify for these payments shouls apply as soon as possible.
The onus is on the Individual to claim the allowance and not the Government department to contact you.
If you think you qualify for any of these allowances you should write to;
The Exportability co-ordinator
Room B120D
Disability and cares service.
Warbrick house
Warbrick hill road.
Blackpool.
FY2 0YE.
You should also include your national insurance number with your application.
The persons responsible for bringing the case to court are now challenging the legality of other payments to expats including the winter fuel allowance."
I was always told by the DSS that i had no right to claim UK child benefit as i had left the country.
They have now back tracked and told me that i am intitled to it ( i couldnt find the bloody form they sent me though)
By the way and just for the record,i think i am entitled to receive this benefit as i paid years of tax and a good deal of it at 40% into the system without ever claiming a penny,i have abandoned a state pension that will never materialise because of lack of funding and bad management and i think they owe me something.
I will pursue the child benefit case to the bitter end because i think i am least owed this paltry figure for my years of contribution.
_______________________
www.taylorlandandpropertygroup.co.uk
still here after all these years!
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_______________________
Poppyseed
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