Very old lady in need of funds....

xylophone

If you are living in Germany and you're receiving a UK state pension, or are in receipt of long-term incapacity benefit, you may be entitled to state healthcare paid for by the UK. You’ll need to apply for form S1 (a certificate of entitlements). Once you have registered your S1 with a health insurance company in Germany, you will be entitled to a UK-issued EHIC, allowing you to access state-funded necessary medical treatment when you visit other EEA countries besides the one in which you are resident, including when you return to the UK.
You’ll also have to apply for an S1 form if you move to Germany but don’t work and don’t receive any UK benefits. In this case you may be eligible for up to two-and-a-half years of state healthcare, paid for by the UK.
For applications and advice, contact the Overseas Healthcare Team on 0191 218 1999 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm)."


Blue Parrot -" besides" means AS WELL AS

So, if you are a UK state pensioner LIVING ( ie residing)
in Germany you need to APPLY for a Form S1 by contacting the OHT

When the pensioner receives the Form S1 he/she registers it with a health insurance company in Germany and then is entitled to a UK issued EHIC.



When the pensioner living ( residing) in Germany receives the UK issued EHIC, not only can he/she access state funded necessary medical treatment in the country in which he/she is resident but also in other EEA countries including the UK if/when he she returns.

amblondon

Blue_Parrot wrote: »

Yes, I've read it over and over again including reading off printouts and not just on screen. Also many other websites which all lead to the same conclusion.

Thanks and thanks again, anyway.

Blue Parrot - with all due respect - given the seriousness of the issue at hand why on earth haven't you called the Overseas Health Team (0191 218 1999) as others have suggested?

Reading that NHS page it seems pretty clear to me that if the lady in question is receiving a UK pension then it is likely / certain that she is entitled to state-funded healthcare while resident in Germany.

Seriously - call them.

Blue_Parrot

Xylophone and others, dear friends, many thanks indeed for all your help and support in this thread. It has been invaluable encouragement - and a real learning experience.

The phone call has now been made. The delay was waiting for my husband to come back from a business trip and as I surmised correctly, they would only talk to him as PoA, and wouldn't have talked to me. However, here is the short answer:

As she is (also) in receipt of a small German Govnmt pension (€200/month) she is not eligible for S1 or S2/EHIC forms or cards. (I guess that's why it says "you may be eligible" on every page I read, printed out, bookmarked, made notes on..............)

FWIW the longer answer is that that phone number (ending in 1999) after 15 minutes of wading through computerised choices (press 1, press 4, press 5 etc.) was the wrong one when a human being finally answered. The correct number was ending in 7777.

Without going back down that trail again, I would also surmise that other UK benefits such as Attendance Allowance are also ruled out.

The next (and only) route seems to be to somehow investigate the German Government's equivalent of our DWP. I hope they have webpages in English. Maybe I'll try the German Embassy in England but that seems a long shot.

Very many thanks again. It's been an education, but not one I would have volunteered for.

seven-day-weekend

Ah well, thanks for letting us know. You learn something new every day. So if someone, even a British citizen, has a State Pension from another country, they are not eligible for UK funding. That is something new I have learned.

xylophone

There is this http://www.focusondisability.org.uk/leave-uk.html
paragraph 8 concerning AA for expatriates in the EEA.

If she is receiving a German pension, does this entitle her to German social security benefits for the low income frail elderly?

Try the German Embassy in London.

innovate

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Ah well, thanks for letting us know. You learn something new every day. So if someone, even a British citizen, has a State Pension from another country, they are not eligible for UK funding. That is something new I have learned.

Don't think it is as clean cut as that. For example, if they are ordinarily resident in the UK, there's no question that they are eligible for UK healthcare.

Not sure what you mean by "UK funding" - but they'd definitely also be entitled to any UK pension they have earned, regardless of what pension payments they get from/in another EU country.

innovate

xylophone wrote: »

Try the German Embassy in London.

Actually, you might do better contacting a British embassy or consulate in Germany.

seven-day-weekend

innovate wrote: »

Don't think it is as clean cut as that. For example, if they are ordinarily resident in the UK, there's no question that they are eligible for UK healthcare.

Not sure what you mean by "UK funding" - but they'd definitely also be entitled to any UK pension they have earned, regardless of what pension payments they get from/in another EU country.

Yes. I meant someone who was not ordinarily resident in the UK (the lady in question lives in Germany), and by funding I meant UK funding for healthcare in Germany, which UK OAP's usually are.

I should have explained better, but thought it was clear from the context of the thread what I was talking about.

Blue_Parrot

xylophone wrote: »

There is this http://www.focusondisability.org.uk/leave-uk.html
paragraph 8 concerning AA for expatriates in the EEA.

If she is receiving a German pension, does this entitle her to German social security benefits for the low income frail elderly?

Try the German Embassy in London.

Ah, you mean "Since she is...", not "If she is..."

I found a general contact-us link on the German Embassy in London's website, and sent them a concise summary-question, as to whether the German Govnmt could provide more help, since she is in receipt of a German pension, and that the UK Govnmt has already said no.

Then I finally found the right page on the German Govnmt website, where I found this:

When drawing on a pension you are not entitled to earn unrestricted additional earnings. Depending on the type of pension, additional earnings may entail a reduction in the pension entitlement. In extreme cases, i.e. where the additional earnings are very high, the pension may even no longer be payable.

WHOAH! I've already given the game away! They might reduce her tiny German pension! (But I trust that they don't have joined-up communications to this tiny detail.......)

I conclude for now that:
The UK Government knows that the German one is paying some money, so see no need to help further;
The German Government will know that the UK one is paying some money so will see no need to help further.

In an "academic" way, this case is quite "interesting". :undecided

Meanwhile (I think I'm regarding this thread as a diary of events), I have tried to set up overseas payment from my husband's bank to his mother's bank, some money each month to help her out, but got stymied by computer says no, again. He needs a card reader. I had one from that bank in my hand, but since I'm not him, I couldn't proceed with the zillion-digit-codes to activate it. Now we're waiting for another card reader - which will be the third one. They are all the same............ and if anyone else wants to thank me, here's a handy tip:

Bank card readers, no matter which UK bank, are all the same. You can use a NatWest one for Barclays and vice versa, for instance.

Thanks for reading!

xylophone

The situation is then that she is not eligible for a UK issued EHIC because she receives a German pension - if she had been eligible the EHIC would have entitled her to " be treated on the same basis as a resident of that country".

May we then infer that her German pension confers that right on her?

Presumably she has had that right since starting to receive the German pension so did the "huge medical bills" arise because she chose private medicine?

At all events, since Germany is a civilised country, one assumes that there are arrangements to prevent ninety year old frail pensioners being cast out on the streets!

You indicate that she receives a UK state pension - I am assuming that this is somewhat more than the basic, since she would have been able to call on her late husband's NI record and SERPS - even so, something approaching say 7000 euros per annum is hardly a huge amount - add in the 2400 euros per annum from the German pension and you are looking at under £10000 a year in UK terms.

I hardly think that either pension would count as "high", let alone "very high" so that any reduction would seem rather difficult to justify?

You also indicate that her remaining capital is under £7000.

It boils down to finding out what German social services will do for her and one hopes that the reply to your e-mail to the Embassy will provide the answers.

In the mean time you might have to liquidate her remaining investments - sending the money to her bank account shouldn't entail insuperable problems despite your difficulties with the card reader?

I do hope you'll be able to source some help for this lady - let us know!