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Exportability of Disability Benefits


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I am new to the site, so if I make a mistake, I apologise in advance.

I have read some of the previous threads regarding my subject, but they are quite a few years old.

Does anyone have any up to date information, regarding the exportability of disability benefits to France, please?

The government website is very unclear.

We are looking to move to France, but we are seeking some clarity on moving enhanced PIP for both components and carer's allowance.

Can anyone help, please?
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 Personally I would go and see Citizens Advice and contact the PIP people and see what both say and the DWP, isn't it they they who do the career's allowance?

PIP as far as I know has fairly regular assessments, so how would you do those?

If that is an income you depend upon, I would be cautious about doing this.

You don't mention if you are retirement age and are eligible for an S1, for your health care, or are eligible in any other way for an S1, plus you would have to pay top up insurance for your medical requirements, and without an S1, pay for your health insurance completely.

Top up insurance, with an S1, I would reckon if we returned to France would be about 180€ a month, at least, for the cover we would want, for the pair of us as retraites, at least that is what friends in France have told us.

No idea how much full health insurance would cost and influence the price with, I would suppose, health problems, as you mention carer's allowance and PIP.

As you say, no posts for ages about this, and things have changed a lot over the last few years with regards to this too.

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PIP living component is exportable, but not the mobility element, you can thank Gordon Brown for that.

Carers allowance is exportable.

Contributory based ESA is exportable, but not the income based. ESA entitles you to a S1, but if in receipt of work-related ESA it would only last for a year.

PIP does NOT entitle you to a S1.

As already posted, nobody at this moment in time knows if S1 cover will continue in the event of a no-deal Brexit, but if you are not in receipt of ESA then you will not have one, and will have to pay into PUMA.

Best of luck if you decide to make the move, but now sadly with Brexit I think that decision would be a tough one.

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Just to qualify Idun's post.

Top-up insurance is not obligatory (although recommended in my opinion). My wife and I are both oap's and our top-up insurance costs us 98€ a month, we changed insurers last year when I was 70 and my wife 68. Existing medical conditions are not taken into account when taking out the insurance and you do not have to declare them.
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The price of top up varies as to how well wants to be covered. No no one is obliged to have it, but I know how much health care bills are and how much is not covered.

We were used to a certain level of cover when we lived in France and IF we ever move back would want at least the same level of cover, especially now we are older and

that would cost us getting on for 200euros a month. And could cost more, once looking into it. As far as I am concerned it would always be necessary to have good cover.
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Just to make concrete some points : yes, a mutuelle is optional.

Costs of mutuelles vary from area to area and department to department just as costs of the additional charges of some Drs and some specialists can do hugely.

Where Idun lived in France was a high cost health area where it was necessary, IIRC, to have minimum of 300% or even 400% cover.

Whereas in Brittany I was advised that 100% cover would do us very well. This was when I tried to argue that perhaps 200% cover would be more appropriate for us as retirees. This was when I did not understand the system as well as I do today.

Paris, I understand, is a minimum 400% area.
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Another aspect to add into the mix is the uncertainty over the exchange rate in the immediate and mid term future, depending on Brexit. UK pensioners and others whose income is mostly in sterling, be it from UK state or private sources, are very much at the mercy of the exchange rate. Don't underestimate the effect a 10% drop, for instance, could have.

On the other hand of course, you could do well out of it ...!
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