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Incapacity Benefit update


Tony F Dordogne
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Just been chasing up a couple of IB claims that are being 'reviewed' as part of the last Government's review process.  Spoke to the IB people in Newcastle who told me that there is a 'delay' in processing the reviews - those covered by the bi-lingual IB N 50 France forms - that they don't know how long the delay in reviewing them will be, that they are being processed in 'datal' order before being sent to the Medical Assessors.

The Medical Assessors will decide whether to continue payment without change, to ask for a medical examination or to withdraw the benefit.  The process will take about 6 months in all, so they say.

Whils the case reviews go through this process, benefit will continue to be paid.

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  • 4 weeks later...

We all know some people cheat the system be they in the UK or abroad. I honestly believe this is where the EU could be useful in that there should be a common system to test for incapacity to work, one glove fits all type thing. This would mean that any EU citizen can be 'tested' in any country and move their benefits around within the EU as they themselves move. I have no problem with genuine people claiming these incapacity allowances but where I do have a problem is when I see reports of people claiming them fitting new roofs, building extensions or taking part in sports activities etc.

With the winter fuel allowance I believe that it should be treated in the same way as healthcare, you get the same benefits as those in the country that you live. That means those moving to say the old Eastern Block, now EU, countries might get more because its colder fr longer and those that move to warmer countries where the winter is far more shorter and less severe get less. What also annoys me is those that claim that the winter fuel allowance not being paid means they can't afford to stay in the country they are living (I am thinking of the ex-policeman a few years back who lived in France, not too far from me as it happens, who said he would have to return to the UK if he doesn't get it because he could no longer afford to live here). If you rely on a payment of £250 a year from the state to be able to live in another country then you never really didn't do your research very well and obviously built no contingency plan for moving there.

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This makes me wonder about something.

We moved permanently to France before we were of pensionable age and so are not eligible for the Winter Fuel Allowance (from UK)

Are we eligible for some winter fuel payment from France?

Actually, we have been thinking of putting the heating on today - that tramontagne is blowing like billy-o and it is freezing here.

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Don't know about Annabelle's, bit I see that since the new government took office £17500 has been spent on wine for the foreign office. The bill for 2009/10 was £80662- a reduction of 30% on the previous year. Times are hard!
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