People living abroad but still using our NHS

You need to look at the gov.uk overseas health pages Dinahmo.
"Some former UK residents do not have to pay for NHS treatment when visiting England. This includes:
UK war pensioners
UK government employees
UK nationals living in the EU on or before 31 December 2020, once they have a registered, UK-issued S1."

If you ring the Overseas Team in Newcastle they will confirm it for you. You need to carry your S1 form when in UK and ring them if the hospital is not conversant with the guidelines.

We have 3 friends who bought small properties in EU many years ago, that she spent a lot of time and money renovating and learning the language - with the plan to retire there when they got to 65. They are now all selling up, as Brexit (and I am afraid there is NO pretending or avoiding the word, as it is what it is)- has made it impossible to fulfil that dream. They can no longer get S1, and the exchange rate for Sterling is so dire they realise that they would be struggling.

'they' not 'she'

Others have been caught out, and I have little sympathy (none in fact) for them. Those who retired early to France, and other EU countries and played the system. Never de registering in the UK, and never registering in the EU - and playing both systems in fact. They have had a very hard awakening! Those people kept an adress in the UK, sometimes a family member, and would go back and forth, using whichever system suited them best at the time. Same for taxes, number plates, insurances, etc.

One thing that is clear on NHS website, is that anyone who lives abroad, with or without S1- has to de-register from their UK GP, as the NHS is resident based. For several reasons a) to free a valuable space on their list b) so they stop being paid for you being on that list c) so your notes can be forwarded to your new GP abroad.

I find it sad that anyone would begrudge a check up for people saved at sea.

Very sad.

Oh yes, NS! despicable.

On my previous post. There are now 1000s still in the EU on UK numberplates- illegally and with insurance invalid (as not resident at the address given)- just popping back for MOT. And with UK driving Licences which are also no longer valid. (people registered to live there could just exchange their licence for that of country of residence- but they did not, so they could keep UK plates and insurance)- and they have the audacity not to complain bitterly about it!

Fleurpepper

As an aside - I am a little confused as to why people pay tax in two countries.
We lived in the Netherlands for nearly 20 years and I am not aware that the NHS paid anything towards our health care. We paid into an insurance scheme over there and had Dutch healthcare.
We have two pensions from the Netherlands but only pay tax on them in the UK.

It depends on the type of pension you get.

Why would the NHS pay anything for your healthcare in Netherlands? Were you retired after a lifetime of contributions in the UK, and therefore covered by S1?

You are right Fleurpepper we were earning at the time.

We get a state pension and an occupational pension from the Netherlands but get exemption from the Dutch tax authorities because we pay tax on them in the UK.

Yes, most EU countries have a 'no double tax' arrangement with UK, still. I know many from the USA who are giving up their US nationality and passport, once they have acquired another one- due to double taxation.

Fleurpepper have you got a source for the 1,000s in the EU with UK number plates and driving licences?
I have lived in France for 17 years now and although I remember UK registered cars back in the big wave of lifestyle migrants from the UK in the early 2000s, I honestly don't see them now.
Would be genuinely interested to know where your numbers are coming from?

I only see UK license plates on people visiting France, I don’t think they could get insurance cover if they stayed more than a year. Old cars are not allowed in my area or they pay a fine nowadays if they are caught.

As for NHS care thé few times I have had to use it I have offered to pay and it’s been refused. What surprises me is that although I have to pay 25 euros to see a gp here, and refunded, all the medicine on the prescription (as much as 8 different articles at a time) is free, where as under pension age or in work etc in the UK people are charged, aren’t they for each item?

Mamie

Fleurpepper have you got a source for the 1,000s in the EU with UK number plates and driving licences?
I have lived in France for 17 years now and although I remember UK registered cars back in the big wave of lifestyle migrants from the UK in the early 2000s, I honestly don't see them now.
Would be genuinely interested to know where your numbers are coming from?

Mamie, you don't live in a part of France with a lot of expats, do you. Go to Dordogneshire and region and you will see. This is what friends who live in the region tell me, same for friends in Ariège and other regions.

They are the ones bitterly complaining on expat Forums and Connexion, etc.

mokryna

I only see UK license plates on people visiting France, I don’t think they could get insurance cover if they stayed more than a year. Old cars are not allowed in my area or they pay a fine nowadays if they are caught.

That is my point. They have UK Insurance, using a relative's address- going back for MOT when necessary. Insurance is of course invalid.

But as you say, they are slowly being caught out and fined. Many were told they had to exchange their driving licences at the time of Brexit, but did not, and are now caught out.

1000s in the EU, not just in France.

Actually we did go to Dordogneshire on holiday, but impossible to know the proportion of holidaymaker's cars. I still think it is hard to know the numbers of illegal cars across Europe without data though.
I tend not to put too much faith in the forums, many of which have died a slow death. 😂

Fleurpepper

Yes, most EU countries have a 'no double tax' arrangement with UK, still. I know many from the USA who are giving up their US nationality and passport, once they have acquired another one- due to double taxation.

There is double tax relief, available to most people so that if you have taxed from one country and have to declare your total income in your place of residence you get a credit from the tax deducted/paid in the first country against the tax due in your resident country. It's a bit complicated but most people don't lose out.

Yes Mamie, as said not only talking about France, but other parts of EU with a lot of 'expats'- some fully and legally registered, others not. Southern Spain too.

And of course figures are not available, THAT is the whole point, no? Many friends who have done it all by the book and know about those who have not. You won't know if you are on holiday- those who live there do.

Slightly different to your post Mamie

"UK government employees and war pensioners

You are exempt if you are a member of Her Majesty's armed forces. This will include your spouse or civil partner and any children under 18, as long as they are lawfully present in the UK. As the principal exempt family member, you do not have to be in the UK with your family at the time of their treatment.

You are also exempt if you are:

a Crown servant
employed by the British Council
employed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
working or volunteering in employment overseas that is financed in part by the UK government

However, you must be visiting the UK as a requirement of the above employment, or you have been ordinarily resident in the UK immediately prior to taking up your current post or another of these posts in the past.

This includes your spouse or civil partner and any children under 18, as long as they are lawfully present in the UK. As the principal exempt family member, you do not have to be in the UK with your family at the time of their treatment.

If you, the qualifying employee, were not previously ordinarily resident in the UK and are only exempt because you are visiting the UK as a requirement of your employment, your spouse or civil partner and any children under 18 will only be exempt when visiting the UK with you.

War pensioners or those who receive armed forces compensation scheme payments are exempt. This includes your spouse or civil partner and any children under 18, provided they are lawfully present in the UK with you."

Dinahmo I was quoting from the gov.uk pages just to clarify that S1 holders do have the right to be treated in the UK. The other groups were just part of the quote.

Fleurpepper I live in the eastern part of the Dordogne (perhaps it's less desirable than the part west of Perigueux) and in our commune there are around 650 people, only 19 of whom are permanent resident Brits. There's at least that number of Dutch residents, if not more.

Regarding car registration we have a French friend who lived in Paris but now spends more time at her holiday home in the next village and she is regularly told by the gendarmes that she needs to re-register her car in the Dordogne.

'Mis-use' of the NHS by ex-pats and foreigners is a drop in the ocean compared with the staff, equipment and building repairs shortages caused by this Tory government's underfunding. Wasting resources on chasing this is just like worrying about benefits 'scroungers' when tax evaders on a far, far larger scale are allowed to get away with it by the Tories. The Tories put far more resources into alleged benefits fraud than into tax evasion.

I don't have a problem with Ex-pats returning to the UK for medical treatment provided they are paying tax, perhaps on a UK-based pension. However, falsely registering residence at a relative's address and having a "bogus" registration with a local G.P. is an entirely different matter, and is illegal for multiple reasons for all concerned.