DLA/CA/AA - exportability of payments abroad

TinaH_3

One year ago, on 18 October 2007, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that certain benefits, including disability living allowance (DLA), carers allowance and attendance allowance, were exportable to other EEA states. This ruling followed an action bought on behalf of those expatriates who were stripped of their benefits the moment they advised the Department of Works and Pension (DWP) of their new overseas address. However, today, and despite the ECJ ruling, the right to receive DLA for disability is still being withheld to those already living in an EEA state prior to the ruling on the basis that the DWP is “still considering the legal implications of paying benefit to people who are already living in another EEA state who wish to claim from abroad”. Disability does not miraculously disappear the moment someone steps on a train, plane or ferry. With-holding payments to those eligible is discriminatory. If you are affected by this, support my petition demanding the Prime Minister to reinstate these payments at: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/ECJ-DLA/

zzzLazyDaisy

Thanks for this Tina. I suppose the disabled person who is currently living abroad would have to come home, make a claim, get DLA awarded (or reinstated) and then go back abroad again!

Magenta

Apparently with DLA you can only take the care component, NOT the mobility component, abroad with you..You have to continue to fulfill the usual conditions to get the allowance while you are abroad.

zzzLazyDaisy

You can, however, continue to receive your full entitlement to DLA while on holiday abroad. 'Holiday' includes temporary stays of up to 6 months - so you would still have to have a permanent home in the UK.

People who need to be abroad for medical reasons might be able to get an extension to the 6 months.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/TravelHolidaysAndBreaks/PlanningATrip/DG_4017244

seven-day-weekend

I think the above information is correct about DLA.

Incapacity Benefit is payable to UK citizens resident in EU countries, providing you were receiving the Benefit before you went abroad, and it will also entitle you to access the same Healthcare as a citizen of that country. (i.e., if they get it free you get it free, if they have to pay so do you).

If you have to fill in an IB50 (questionnaire) it comes on a bilingual form and if you need a medical it is with an English-speaking Dr in your country of residence.

My husband has had to fill the questionnaire in twice while we've been in Spain (jiust waiting for the outcome of the second one); he has not yet had to have a medical.

Hope this helps.

zzzLazyDaisy

That is useful to know about medical care - one of the big things that has always put me off going abroad is my dependency on the NHS, I didn't realise that IB entitles you to free medical care if it is free for the people who live there.

Not that I can afford to live abroad, but I can dream

seven-day-weekend

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

That is useful to know about medical care - one of the big things that has always put me off going abroad is my dependency on the NHS, I didn't realise that IB entitles you to free medical care if it is free for the people who live there.

Not that I can afford to live abroad, but I can dream

In rural Spain it is cheaper than the UK . BUT you do have to have an income as jobs are hard to come by for Spaniards, let alone pidjen-speaking expats. And although we are entitled to free Healthcare (due to my husband being on IB - it is also free for British State Pensioners), bear in mind that very few medicos speak English in rural Spain.

Glads the info about IB was useful.

muppet_1

My parents moved to Spain for mainly health reasons. They informed all the relevant departments before they left and my mother had her DLA stopped. It has become apparent in the 4 years they have been there, that there are many people still getting this benefit by using relatives addresses back in England.They fly back, collect the money from their English bank and take it back to Spain.
My mother's mobility is greatly reduced and they are upset that the British Government are 'dragging their heals' on this issue. I feel that this is to save them money in the long run as they will probably only back date any claim 3 months.:mad: Does it really pay to be honest sometimes? We are an honest family.:A But it does make you wonder!

bails

Thankyou very much to everyone who's posted on this thread, I had no idea this was a possibility! OH has the opportunity to work abroad but we didn't think it was an option. Does anyone know if it's just for Europe (it doesn't say that on the Directgov link). I'm so excited, thanks again!

bigturnip

At the risk of being shouted down, I am not sure why someone who chooses to leave the UK should expect the UK government to fund them. They are no longer making contributions to the UK tax system or economy so why should they be entitled to UK benefits?

Surely most other countries in the EEA have some kind of benefit system, so surely if you have chosen to live there you should abide by their rules. But I'm guessing people only claim from the UK government when they are worse off in a certain country and claim from their new country if they are better off, or are you allowed to claim from both?

Should we refuse to pay disability benefits to anyone who has come to live in the UK and tell them to claim from the government of the country they came from? Personally I think not, but I just thought I would flip the coin and look at it from a different perspective.

seven-day-weekend

BigTurnip, I don't know about other countries but unless you have paid into the Spanish system (which we don't as we are early retired) we would not be entitled to any State benefits from that country.

Also please bear in mind that once you inform the authorities in the UK that you are resident in Spain, you are no longer entitled to access the British NHS other than for emergencies arising when you are in the UK.

Also note that the exportability of disability/sickness benefits is EU law, not British.

Hope this helps.