Incapacity Benefit Review soon, but living in Spain

[chloe01]

Hiya,

 

So I thought I had already started a Thread on this subject, but I can´t find it.

 

Anyway, here we go again.

 

When I lived in UK (I am a British Citizen and the UK is my competant State.

 

I have been in receipt of Incapacity Benefit (exempt category) High Rate since 1996. Last time I had a review in UK was in 2005 and DWP doctor signed me of for 5 years, I was in his office for 5 minutes, and he sent me home. I was my mother.

 

So fast forward. I moved to Spain in 2006 to be with my children. Now IB review is coming up at end July/beginning of August 2010.

 

I think that the IB Department said that they were going to send a questionnair to my doctor here in Spain and post it back to UK. and if they needed more medical evidence (I have a massive pile past and up-to-date, plus a new diagnosis since I moved here). So I am not worried about this. If the letter from GP is not enough then I will be sent the usual re-newal form and send it back to DWP.

 

After that if they are STILL not happy and as I understand it, although not confirmed, if needed, I would be able to see an approved DWP doctor here in Spain who speaks English (again not worried about what he will write) then he will send his/her report back to DWP in UK.

 

My legal advisor said that if they give me any grief then he will "step-in" and sort it out.

 

My question, I am not sure if there are many people who claim IB from Spain and are due for a review.

 

But if there are, or if anyone can give me any advice then I would be grateful.

 

Thank you

 

GS xxx

[chloe01]

Hello,

 

I did not receive one reply from my original post, so have bumped it up in case it was overlooked.

 

I am just writing to see if there is anyone else in the same position as me with regards to IB review from outside UK. As I said before mine review should be at the end July/August. I live in Spain (which the DWP know about), and have been in receipt of LTIB high rate (exempt category) since 1996. I moved to Spain in 2006 and exported my IB when I moved.

 

Any help would be appreciated as to how my review will take place, as obviously I cannot see Atos who I believe carry out fit/unfit medicals.

 

I also have an ongoing claim since 1997 for DLA claimed for first time from Spain which is now with Tribunal and am awaiting for my legal advisor to inform me when a decision has been made. Like I said in another thread he is 100% that this appeal will be overturned in my favour as all the necessary evidence, medical stuff etc, and it has been discovered that the DWP have Perveted the Course of Justice with regards to my DLA claim.

 

I will update on DLA claim when a conclusion has been made as this is all in hand. It is mainly the IB review that I am asking about.

 

Thank you

[debt4get]

i can only tell you what happens in uk not spain..i had a book to fill in asking all the questions that i assume atos ask...you know usual thing..how far can you walk...give details of how your illness affects everyday living...anyway to cut long story short..filled it in and got over 15 points and awarded ib for another year..no sign of atos....hurray

[chloe01]

i can only tell you what happens in uk not spain..i had a book to fill in asking all the questions that i assume atos ask...you know usual thing..how far can you walk...give details of how your illness affects everyday living...anyway to cut long story short..filled it in and got over 15 points and awarded ib for another year..no sign of atos....hurray

 

Hello, thank you for your reply.

 

I telephoned IB in UK and was advised that when the time came, a letter would be sent out to me explaining that my IB is now due for renewal and asking me to confirm that the contact details for my doctor here in Spain are still correct.

 

I believe that a letter/questionnaire will then be sent to either my doctor (which advises them not to inform the patient (i.e me) that the form has arrived), who then fill in the form and post it back to DWP.

 

If DWP need any further information, then a form will be sent to me to fill in. I assume this form may be sent to be because my doctor does not have my full medical history spanning some 20 years, but I do, as I had a copy made of my medical files before I left UK. Plus of course I have various other (new) evidence since moving to Spain i,e since moving to Spain I have been diagnoised with Bipolar by Psychatrist whom I now see every month, plus new medication details to treat BP, as well as my original anxiety/panic/depression medication etc.

 

So I assume that I can add this further medical evidence if my doctor does not put this on the form that she is sent.

 

I have been on LTIB since 1996 in exempt category and was signed of for 5 years.

 

Hope this is not confusing

 

p.s I have never heard of a "book" that you fill in before. May I ask how this came about, i.e you could not get to the medical. I would have assumed that Atos or someone would have made a home visit for your assessment! Hope you don´t think I am being nosey

Edited August 2, 2010 by chloe01

[chloe01]

Sorry how stupid of me, I think I have just repeated everything said in my original posting. Must be the Bi-polar Express on the move.

[debt4get]

the 'book' is the work capability assessment form...its about 20 pages of information you have to fill in....assume it is the same 'form' that they will send your doctor....it asks various questions..as above...how far can you walk...can you walk upstairs...can you sit comfortably for 5 mins 10 mins etc etc...there is very little in there on mental health..however this doesnt affect me so would not have filled that part in anyway...it seems over here in uk...they are getting as many people as possible of ib and esa and i must say i was pleasantly surprised to have got the required number of points without attending an atos 'medical'... i could have attended no problem..but was assessed on my answers on the form..and didnt have to attend...my last medical for ib was about 5 years ago when i first became sick...have problems with the old legs...viens completely blocked..legs swollen so cant even get trousers on some days and extremely painful to stand and walk anywhere

[debt4get]

have a look at this link it give some idea of the questions they ask

Incapacity benefit - the personal capability assessment test - Disability Alliance Factsheet F25

[chloe01]

Phoned IB in UK, don´t know if this is true but they told me I will not have to do the Work Capability Test as I don´t live in UK. Form for doctor to fill in still has not arrived after asking 3 times for it. Told not to worry as the form would be sent to me to fill in and I would then need to get my doctor to sign the back. I have been on Long Term IB since 1996, high rate, exempt category. To be honest I don´t think the IB department are 100% sure on what will happen to claimants not in the UK. But I have been told not to worry and my IB will still be called IB and will carry on as usual. We shall see.

[chloe01]

Just to let you know I today received the result for my Incapacity Benefit review. It is good news (if you look at it that way).

 

As you may remember I have been in receipt of Incapacity Benefit since 1996 and moved to Spain where I exported the benefit.

 

My doctor filled in the form with added documents from me.

 

The letter from the Pensions Service says the following -

 

"People with certain disabilities or severe illnesses are treated as incapable of work and do not have to satisfy the test"

 

"As you have one of these disabilities or illnessess, you are treated as incapable of work"

 

My question is I thought that Incapacity Benefit had been scrapped and is now called ESA of Income Support. But in the letter is says that my Incapacity Benefit will continue as normal.

 

Has anyone else had their review for Incapacity Benefit recently (escpecially if exported it to Spain) and did you have any problems.

[ErikaPNP]

Incapacity Benefit is scrapped for new claims only and has been since 2008. Current IB claimants will remain on IB for the moment though they are working on migrating IB claimants on to ESA. They have already started a pilot on this in the UK.

[chloe01]

Hi Erika,

 

In you reply to me it seems to indicate that all IB claimants will eventually migrate to ESA. I live in Spain so this is not possible.

 

The contents of the letter I quoted say I will stay on IB, as they have said that I do not have to pass any tests and that I am in the categoty where people are classified of incapable of work. So I am slightly confused as your answer.

 

Thank you

[ErikaPNP]

Your IB will continue for the moment, as will anyone in the UK who has had an IB review and advised that they are incapable of work and will stay on IB. They and you will remain on your IB until either there is a change in circumstances or the claim is migrated to ESA. IB can no longer be claimed as a benefit in its own right for people who are claiming on the grounds of inacapcity for the first time. This ceased to be the case on 27th October 2008 when ESA replaced Incapacity benefit and Income Support on the grounds of incapacity for any new claims. Existing IB claims are being phased out as part of the ESA migration; IB is to become an obsolete benefit.

 

As DWP have not started to migrate expats to ESA yet, and are only working on a pilot migration of IB to ESA migration in two areas of the UK, your IB claim will continue as normal, as your letter says. The same is true of anyone on IB in the UK who are not living within the areas currently being migrated.

 

It is not yet known (or at least it's not widely known unless DWP are playing cards close to their chest) when expats will be migrated to ESA. ESA © is exportable, but ESA (IB) is not. Just as Incapacity Benefit is exportable but income support on the grounds of incapacity is not. I would think that expats with existing IB claims are probably going to be last on the list of migration to ESA.

 

How this will be affected by the governments propsed Universal Credit remains unclear also.

 

For the moment, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Migrations take years for all current claimants to be transferred; by the time they get around to migrating ESA claims in the UK alone it will probably have changed again. Or will never actually happen - as is the case with many benefits being 'removed' as a part of Welfare Reform.

 

As an example: When child tax credits replaced the child element of Income Support and claims in 2003, they started off the same. New claimants to IS who had children could no longer get an included child element and had to claim child tax credit to support their children. Existing claimants were supposed to eventually have their child element removed from their IS claim and be migrated to child tax credit. Now, in 2011 - eight years later, and people who had an exisiting IS claim with an included child element are still getting it. They've not been migrated to Child Tax Credit as planned, and it doesn't look like they ever will.

 

They always seek to change but actually implementing it is often another matter entirely for existing claimants because of limited resources for the amount of claims that need to be dealt with.

[chloe01]

Hi Erika, thank you so much for your reply. I am now clearer on the situation.

 

I am not sure if I started a post a long time ago on my fight for DLA as a new claim from Spain. But, in 2007, and now 4 years down the line and many emails, submissions, sub-submissions, phone calls etc it is nearly at an end . It´s been really stressful and mind-blowing, but with the help of a very kind gentleman called Mr David R Burrage who is acting as my legal advisor, Judge Jones is now finally about to make a decision on my claim at Liverpool Tribunal.

 

Would you be interested in the outcome of my appeal, as if I succeed, it will be the first ever successful NEW CLAIM to have been APPLIED for after moving from the UK to Spain (or another EU Country), and not just exporting an existing claim from the UK.

 

It is a very exciting time for me and Mr Burrage has great faith in a favourable outcome. All escape routes attempted by the Secretary of State to disallow my claim have been blocked with unquestionable evidence and they have no where else to go. So fingers crossed. Plus DLA will be backdated to February 2007 when I first applied.

 

If possible it would be good to link this post up if indeed I do have a post already started, but as I can not find it, maybe you could as I do believe many people will be interested and indeed helped if in the same/similar position in the final conclusion which is expected at the earliest by the end of February.

 

Please let me know if this is possible to do.

 

Thanks Erika

[ErikaPNP]

Hello Chloe. You did start a post on your DLA claim. You can find it here.

 

For info, if you ever need to find a post that you started, go into your 'user CP' - located at the very top of each forum page and click on "list all subscriptions". This will bring up every thread you have posted on, so that you can find them easily.

 

Erika

[BorgCymru]

 

"People with certain disabilities or severe illnesses are treated as incapable of work and do not have to satisfy the test"

 

"As you have one of these disabilities or illnessess, you are treated as incapable of work"

 

 

Do you have a list of what these are please ?

[chloe01]

Sorry just seen this post, I'm probably too late now. You can find this list on the directgov. com website.

[bonnygirl]

Found this hope it will help you...

 

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/index.htm

[chloe01]

Thanks x