Moving back from Spain and need help with benefits

miduck

Morlock wrote: »

Then get a better paid job you skinflint.

Odd that you tell zoominatorone to do that, but not the OP. zoomi makes a good point - we all need to live within our means.

Teahfc

Plenty of houses in hull and Middlesbrough area, HB a lot cheaper, if desperate to be in UK.

Poppie68

needelp wrote: »

My wife and I have been living in Spain for 5 years and are resident there and claiming Disability Living Allowance (My wife) and Carers allowance (Me) plus my wife's state pension.

We will have to move back to the UK early next year as we will lose our home and cannot afford to stay there.

We will be coming back to the uk with little money, our two state pensions because I will be 65 by then plus my wife's DLA but no carers allowance for me as I will have lost it when becoming age 65.

The Citizens Advice, Age UK and the council's housing people have been of little use advice-wise and are saying we will have to pass a 'habitual residents test'. Having looked at this I can't see we would have much trouble passing as we have children and other relatives living here but don't know for sure?.

One of our children will become my wife's carer and we would hope to live near her in a London borough where we have one other child living also. The housing people say we would have to live in that borough for at least three months first before being able to ask for help from the housing people and/or any benefits agency.

My wife is at present on the middle level of DLA but I am fairly confident she will be put up on the higher rate after a new assessment is sent shortly and I understand a new assessment know as PIPS (I believe) is coming into force soon and would think she will be put on the higher rate of the two when that change comes about.

So I basically need some advice as to what to do and when. Needelp.

Im sorry OP but you don't give any indication that you are no longer able to care for your wife, just that payment will stop when you turn 65. So in fact it sounds like a fraudulant claim for CA by your daughter but ending up in your pocket. I apologise if i am wrong but it seems very much like a dodgy claim.

Teahfc

midnight_express wrote: »

Will the last benefit tourist to leave SPain please turn out the lights

I own a property on a resort in Spain, so many queued for properties per 2008 went to live the dream, still commuting home to dentists and dr's in UK and usual comment ... Paid in why shoud I not get out. ?

Will be 100's/1000's returning over next 18 months as Spain is totally finished as a pensioners home with little in savings.

princessdon

So we give them benefits when they live in Spain (as they once contributed) as it's a contribution based system

Then we give them benefits when they reside because it's a residence based system

Geez, you see why people who want benefits go past everywhere else to settle here don't you?

happyrainbow

i think you are all being unfair in the tone of your points of view
my parents have been living in spain ten years and their move was well thought out at the time but things happen
my dad has become very ill in the last three years has been in and out of hospital and one of my dads health problems was totally unforeseen (he was given a hip replacement that was 4 years later recalled) the replacement has caused poisoning and no end of pain and problems
in spain the hospital staff expect you to have someone stay at all times day and night and give personal care including feeding the patient if you have no one you dont eat its as simple as that
those with a mortgage who loose their jobs and cant pay have their houses repossessed after one missed payment
my parents would love to come back to england so we their family can support and help as mum is also unwell now but my dad is unable to fly for the foreseeable future
even the best laid plans dont always work and this man needs help and understanding in a stressful time
facts yes fault finding no

krisskross

happyrainbow wrote: »

in spain the hospital staff expect you to have someone stay at all times day and night and give personal care including feeding the patient if you have no one you dont eat its as simple as that

My husband was extremely ill in a Spanish hospital. His care was,quite frankly, far better than he would have received here. He was washed daily when he was unable to do it himself. Staff were always on hand to help with food for him and his room mate. I doubt that patients starve to death in Spanish hospitals as they have done in one of my local hospitals.

I was so impressed with his care and treatment that if I had a crystal ball I would travel over before he got ill so he could have his treatment in a clean caring environment.

krisskross

happyrainbow wrote: »

those with a mortgage who loose their jobs and cant pay have their houses repossessed after one missed payment
my parents would love to come back to england so we their family can support and help as mum is also unwell now but my dad is unable to fly for the foreseeable future

Just to make another couple of points. I am in contact with people who still live in Spain. They reckon it takes a year+ for a property to be repossessed following default on mortgage payments.

As your father can't fly back why not bring him back by car? Take a few days stopping each night in a hotel or just drive to Santandar and get the ferry. There will be a few options.

seven-day-weekend

I can thoroughly recommend the ferry. We have only ever used the Bilbao-Portsmouth route, but there are also Bilbao-Plymouth and Santander-Plymouth, all run by Britanny ferries with new vessels. They seem expensive, but when you add up the cost of fuel to drive across Spain and France, the price of the toll roads and the price of a couple of night's accommodation, plus the price of crossing the Channel, it works out only slightly more expensive and far more comfortable with less hassle. They have some wheelchair-friendly cabins and lifts to all the decks.

A good option if someone can't fly.

I would also agree with krisskross about Spanish hospitals, the care my husband got was second to none. I did stay with him, but he would certainly have been looked after if I hadn't. He had his own ensuite room - and this was Spanish NHS, not private.

As regards Spanish Benefits - even if you have paid into the Spanish system there is not a lot you can get out, even for Spaniards, and nothing resembling Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit, and Unemployment Benefit only lasts for about a year at the most.

Morlock

miduck wrote: »

Odd that you tell zoominatorone to do that, but not the OP. zoomi makes a good point - we all need to live within our means.

I don't see how the OP is living outside of his means, perhaps a bit over optimistic in securing a social housing tenancy, but there is no reason he shouldn't live in London otherwise.

zoominatorone declared that he couldn't afford to live in London, which bears no relation to the OP. Far from making a good point, his post was pointless.