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09/04/2008, 23:01 Ron Avery Joined on 29/11/2004 Posts 3,099 Re: DLA some movement Sorry egger, but when it is spelt out in black and white exactly  who to contact and where and you reply that "she will phone her own department is that right?" ie inferring a department in France, then it did seem like it mattered not what you were told or told her, she was going to do her own thing anyway.  If I have misinterpreted that she meant she would phone the number for registering her interest in the UK as supplied by ebaynut and not her own French local department then I apologise unreservedly. Driven away by an idiot    Report

09/04/2008, 23:14 egger Joined on 01/08/2006 Posts 253 Re: DLA some movement No Ron you didnt misinterpret, that is what I wrote. I was talking on the phone to her, but I had not got the numbers. I thought her first port of call would have been her local benifits office in England, ( which I did not put), but then I asked if this was correct.  After, I thought, bet someone has already put the numbers on some where, so I looked. I guess I should have done that first. Im afraid my written English is not very good and sometimes it comes across wrong, I hope this is better, and yes I am English. So are we friends again now    Report

09/04/2008, 23:47 Russethouse Joined on 23/08/2004 Forum Moderator Posts 9,495 Re: DLA some movement Is this lady resident in France ? If so this is the info If you think you may be affected by the Court’s decision and are unsure about what to do, if you wish to request a claim form, or if you need any further information, you should contact the Department for Work and Pensions as soon as possible: write to: Exportability Co-ordinator, Room B120D, Pension, Disability and Carers Service , Warbreck House, Warbreck Hill Rd, FY2 0YE       email: exportability.team@dwp.gsi.gov.uk   There are  phone numbers in an earlier post, I truly doubt if what I suspect is your friends 'old' local benefit office would be up to speed with this matter Good Luck with it, its kind of you to help.   www.quimperclub.org 99    Report

10/04/2008, 3:19 ebaynut Joined on 06/03/2007 Posts 128 Re: DLA some movement Just to briefly clarify the differences between various benefits, and which ones are affected by the recent ruling in the ECJ. Incapacity Benefit is an extension of Statutory Sick Pay, and is classified as a 'sickness benefit'. This benefit is not affected by the recent ruling. When you are in employment, and have paid the necessary NI contributions, and are initially signed off by a doctor, you receive short-term Incapacity Benefit, for which you have to supply regular sick notes from your doctor to confirm that you are classified as 'unfit for work'. Once you have been off work for 53 weeks, the benefit then becomes long-term Incapacity Benefit. You are still subject to regular reviews by your doctor. This benefit is, and has been for some time, exportable within the EU, and qualifies the holder to an accompanying E121. This is the benefit which has been much in the news recently regarding the need to interview claimants to see whether there is any other employment that they may be better suited to, and thereby get them back into employment, and off of benefits. However, The ECJ ruling of October 2007, determined that the following benefits, which had previously been classified by the UK government as 'special non-contributory benefits', (and therefore not exportable), should be re-classified as 'sickness benefits', and in keeping with other sickness benefits, should also be exportable, and in theory also qualify the claimant to an E121. The decision about the E121 has yet to be verified, but each member of DWP staff that we have spoken with believes that it will also be made available. Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a non-means tested benefit made up of two components: Care & Mobility, both payable at three different levels, and is payable to 'disabled' people who require assistance, or have special needs, regardless of whether they are, or are not in employment. This benefit is only paid to people up to state-pension age. The mobility element of DLA has not been granted 'sickness benefit' status, and is unaffected by the ruling. Attendance Allowance (AA) is also a non-means tested benefit. This is payable to people over retirement age, who also require assistance, or have special needs, but does not include the mobility element that DLA does. There are also various levels of eligibility. Carers Allowance (CA) is paid to people who care for someone else, the criteria being that the person being cared for is in receipt of DLA/AA, and requires assistance for at least 35 hours per week in whatever form (which I believe includes medical/personal/financial/domestic assistance). Again, there are also various levels of eligibility. These three benefits are not dependant on NI contributions, but are now all classified as being 'sickness benefits' following the ruling, and should be treated the same. ie Exportable. Anyone considering moving to anywhere within the EU, who is already in receipt of any of these three benefits, may now take those benefits with them. Anyone who has previously moved, and subsequently lost their benefit, should immediately make an appeal, as set out in the previous postings, and as per the Governments website 'DETAILS HERE'. There are likely to be enormous problems getting the benefits reinstated (and any subsequent back-dated payments), if your benefit was stopped more than two years ago. This is due to the fact that details of previous claimants, and their circumstances, appear to be kept by DWP for only two years, (as one of the forum members can readily testify to!). There will also be some more delays as they try to play catch-up! This situation is not over yet, and there are still it seems to be more questions than answers, as an old song once said! ...........Why is that????    Report

10/04/2008, 8:34 Benjamin Joined on 21/08/2005 Vendée South Posts 1,564 Re: DLA some movement Thank you for a very clear and concise explanation of the benefits involved. Could I just add what I believe is a correction to eligibility between DLA and AA which has been explained to me by the DLA hotline this morning? DLA is available to both men and women under 65 years: in other words women receiving a UK State retirement pension do not become eligible to transfer from DLA to AA until they reach 65 years. One other point if I may. On page 7 of this thread you gave a link to the Directgov web site  and on page 8 I quoted a part of that link which seemed to be saying that even if you hadn't claimed DLA/AA before you left the UK the UK Government was considering whether to accept claims from people already living in the European Economic Area and Switzerland. You haven't made reference to that point in your posting above. Do you know if this point is still applicable? Benjamin Snips, snails and puppy dog tails    Report

10/04/2008, 11:24 ebaynut Joined on 06/03/2007 Posts 128 Re: DLA some movement Benjamin Thanks, I didn't know that DLA was available to women until 65. It always struck me as odd that AA does not contain the element for mobility, which is worth between £17.75-£46.75 pw, and I suspect that this is the reason that they can claim DLA up to 65, as men can. Regarding your question on making a claim once already resident abroad. AFAIK, it has always been a requirement that you had to be resident in the UK in order to be eligible to make a claim for benefits. However, the statement definitely implies that this is being reconsidered, certainly in relation to these particular benefits, and again I think this is just one of the questions still to be clarified. It seems that it is again a case of 'watch this space.........'    Report

10/04/2008, 17:59 egger Joined on 01/08/2006 Posts 253 Re: DLA some movement Ok, she telephoned them today, they just told her no decision had been made for people who had already moved to France.  They did not say to write a letter, but I will tell her she must.  The last payment she recieved from them was Oct last year, Im sorry I dont know what date but I will find out. Is there anything else she should be doing?    Report

10/04/2008, 18:14 Puzzled Joined on 05/10/2006 Posts 372 Re: DLA some movement These are just my  ramblings but the UK Gov have known  that infringement proceedings were being brought against them re their refusal to allow DLA to be exported for many years but the ordinary man did not . Thus when the DLA said ' DLA is not exportable' , people (me included) accepted this and did not immediately appeal but what they should have said is that 'DLA is not exportable YET'.   In the times of open government or whatever the term is, the fact that they are being 'open' now imo is a bit late. They should have been a bit more 'open' a couple of years ago.    Report

10/04/2008, 19:42 Grecian Joined on 24/01/2007 West Yorkshire Posts 87 Re: DLA some movement Having just got back from France, firstly I would like to thank ebaynut for being 'on the case' regarding his efforts in trying to ascertain from Blackpool, exactly what the ruling means, and passing on his findings of who to contact, if making any sort of claim. I have read through the entire statement on the DWP site in relation to the DLA/CA judgement, and must say I am a little bit confused. If I have read the statment correctly, are the UK government trying to link the exportability of DLA care component, to being in receipt of long-term incapacity benefit? As I must admit that is how I read it, if this is the case then if IB were to be taken away, then the DLA payment and thus an E121 would go with. Thus taking us back to square one. I will be telephoning Blackpool myself tomorrow, and writing a letter as advised by ebaynut. Still not having total clarity regarding the ruling, is putting us in an awkward position, as we have found a property we think we would like to make an offer on, but with all the indecision going on, makes our decsion all the more difficult.      Report

17/04/2008, 16:42 cooperlola Joined on 05/05/2006 72 - Sarthe - home of les 24 heures du Mans Posts 6,315 Re: DLA some movement An update today from another forum (shhh)!  "The Room No. [for retrospective claims] on the address has been changed (this week) to Room B215, as they needed a larger office to cope with the queries/applicants." Healthcare Issues Site    Report

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France Forum » Living » Health » DLA some movement

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