Incapacity Benefit Review in Spain

hjb123

Thats great news. Am pleased for you and can imagine how pleased and relieved you must both be feeling. I am still waiting to see whether I am going to have to go for a medical or now, its now over a month since I sent my IB50 in

seven-day-weekend

No, Dr Gomez is not back and we must see the other Doctor next week.

Apaprently Dr Gomez has been moved as a Doctor with more up-to-date qualifications has requested the practice in our village. That's apparently how it works in Spain.

Good luck Marcos and hjb and anyone else waiting for results of IB50s or medicals.

Please keep us posted.

c.mayer

I know now that it's possible to continue claiming IB abroad,but does anyone know if you can also claim housing benefit abroad,while on IB,for help with rent?

seven-day-weekend

If for a British house, you have to be living in it for them to pay it (although I believe that you can have a few month's holiday), and I doubt very much whether they would pay for you to rent a Spanish house.

I tend to think it's only retirement pensions and sickness/disability allowances you can claim abroad.

Why don't you start your own thread so that people can see it better and you will get advice from people who know more than me.

c.mayer

yes,i'll try that,thanks.

janaltus

CFC wrote:

I hate to poke my nose in, but there's something really and fundamentally wrong with a system that pays out to people with depression who are still capable of coping with the upheaval and stress of relocating abroad to a country where they don't speak the language, while stopping the payments of someone with collapsed lungs and requiring a 5 times a week dialysis patient to attend a review.....nothing personal to any of the people involved, just a comment on the system.

Feel free to flame, I'm just a taxpayer....

Well, as you have poked your nose in ... I agree that there's something really and fundamentally wrong with a system that stops the payments of someone with collapsed lungs and requiring a 5 times a week dialysis patient to attend a review. And, as a taxpayer for over 25 years I don't like seeing money going to waste.

But, until you have experienced the debilitating effects of mental illness, either as a sufferer or family member of a sufferer, you have no idea of the level of support that can be necessary (including incapacity benefit) to stop that person's condition deteriorating and being harmful to themselves (or others).

Furthermore, just like long-term physical illnesses, long-term mental illnesses can be episodic (allowing the sufferer to make journeys abroad, move home, etc). But their ability to undertake short-term or one-off tasks doesn't render them suitable for full-term employment and to come off benefits, surely?

Just because you can't "see" mental illness doesn't make it any less debilitating than physical illness, nor less worthy.

Our system should treat both debilitating conditions equally and fairly.

Does that count as flaming, CFC?

Marcos

I fully agree with this statement, short term memory problems also are dangerous and an impediment to gainful employment. With my physical problems I have this plus anxiety and depression, you live day-to-day, I never would have thought I would be in the situation I am now just 3 years ago! Just goes to show the unpredictability of life....

seven-day-weekend

hjb - have you heard about your medical yet?

hjb123

Hi SDW,

No news yet - dont know whether to think thats good news or bad news or just delayed! Its now almost 8 weeks since my IB50 was sent back in!

seven-day-weekend

I think my husband's took about three months.

Keep us posted and good luck!