Thread: Benefit Britain

Originally Posted by Horatio Hornblower

Ayslum you have to keep on paying your NI contributions or the pension is set at the amount of contributions you have paid.

Same with self employed they pay less,if you want to have a full pension paid you have to pay into the system, though saying that self employed will be a thing of the past soon,they want all to be PLC.

No shit, Sherlock.

As I understand it, in order to qualify for a SPA one needs to have made a minimum of 10 years worth of contributions. Depending on those, over one's occupational life, one will receive a proportion of the full pension which is obtained after 35 years of contributions.

If you reside in a qualifying country the pension is index linked to the CPI. If not, as in Thailand, Australia and Canada, then it is frozen at the point one quits the UK.

What is wrong with that ( other than the unfairness of discriminating against some over others but that is another issue ).

Also, if you have no intention of resuming permanent residence in the UK, upon any temporary return, then you will not qualify for a range of benefits including access to full NHS care unless you are in receipt of a SPA. Quite right you were denied benefits and allowances. For too long we have had the lower end dross deriving disability benefits whilst languishing permanently here in Thailand pursuing a lifestyle unimpeded by their alleged " disability " which in most cases resolved to simply being work shy.

In the end, one has a budget and clinical decisions must be taken according to priorities. It's no different to any other function in a free market economy in partnership with central public funding, eventually the money runs out.
Tying a bloated sacred cow to a public totem worshipped on the high altar of British welfarism is not a solution.
Time to kill the beast and modernise.
As PJ Rourke said when entering the American debate on subsidised health care " If you think it is expensive now, wait until it's free ".

If you think it is expensive now, wait until it's free

thats a funny quote.

eventually the money runs out.

if it is collected, managed and spent wisely, then there really is no need for it to run out.

Originally Posted by taxexile

whilst i was in the uk i needed to have a gastroscopy (camera in the stomach), i have a problem with gastric reflux,.

Had one in the UK and one in Bkk at 11k, one in Bk was far better as they used anesthetic whilst UK was choking to keep it down. The cost of medical care in LOS is probably the biggest fear as you get older, visits and tests are cheap but serious stuff costs the earth. On the reflux, losec is your friend.

Tax/Ayslum

Oh right so because I've paid NI contributions I'm not allowed to live in my own fathers house and claim the benefits I was legally entitled to.

No one said I'd been living in Thailand.

Well you have to return to register.

Ye I was on the fiddle taking care of my terminally ill father.

As you may see i wrote the Tribunal was astounded by the DHSS decision, and awarded in my favour.

Do you have my problem with Dyslexia.

Our basic sense of fairness demands a welfare cap.

The Queen's Speech pledge to cap benefits per household at £23,000 is supported by most low-income workers, no matter what Islington liberals say

The doomsayers will be out in force today, with much wailing and gnashing of teeth as they confidently predict the end of the world as we know it.

Britain will become a third world country, with families thrown onto the street and starving children wandering barefoot picking up scraps of food from the gutter, and it will be ALL THE TORIES’ FAULT.

They will of course be talking about the Welfare Cap Mark II, announced in today’s Queen’s Speech, which will see the existing limit of £26,000 a year for a household brought down to just £23,000.

This, earnest Pinot Grigio-swilling Islington types will tell us, is an evil attack on the poorest in society by the richest one per cent. And they will be 100 per cent wrong.

A cap on welfare benefits is categorically not an attack on the poor. On the contrary, it was excessive welfare benefits in the first place that have been hurting the poorest in our society by enabling them to choose a life on the dole.
Yes, of course a cap on benefits affects the poor, but that’s not the same as an attack.
When the welfare cap was first proposed, it was criticised by Labour as unfair and unjust. Until they discovered it was incredibly popular with ordinary people, with 73 per cent support for the principle, even among Labour voters.

Again and again we’ve been told that rich politicians don’t have a clue how ordinary people live and how they could never survive on just £26,000 a year yet expect others to do so.

But this ignores two crucial facts: first, that millions of people do survive on less than that sum, and secondly, that support for the cap among people who earn less than £20,000 a year is almost as strong as among higher earners.

There is also, according to a Survation poll in 2012, massive support for the cap to be lowered still further. Interestingly, people with the lowest incomes were more likely to want a lower cap than those on high incomes, which suggests that the people who live alongside these families take a less charitable view of their lifestyles than those who do not.

And that’s the real point. If you’re well paid in a rewarding job, earning enough to live in a good neighbourhood, you probably never come into contact with anyone of working age who relies entirely on state handouts to survive.

But for the people who go out to do dull or back-breaking work every day on minimum wage or just above, and still barely have enough to make ends meet, it is galling to see the family next door doing absolutely nothing while raking in an income higher than theirs.

They support the cap not out of spite but out of a very British sense of fair play.

Critics insist that the welfare cap is a side-show because it affects so few people and saves almost no money – but more than 58,000 families have seen their benefits capped since April 2013, typically by less than £100 a week. That’s an awful lot of “few”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/gene...lfare-cap.html

Well there'll be a mass migration of the British to Germany France etc, get better benefits over there.

Good to see you Watch Lizzie Tax.

i doubt very much if the germans or the french would be as accommodating as the british have been in giving benefits to unemployed immigrants who have no intention of seeking work.

i doubt very much if the germans or the french would be as accommodating as the british have been in giving benefits to unemployed immigrants who have no intention of seeking work.

You'd be surprised...

There's 6'000 Brits over there now claiming in Germany.

Originally Posted by taxexile

i doubt very much if the germans or the french would be as accommodating as the british have been in giving benefits to unemployed immigrants who have no intention of seeking work.

Thousands of Britons claim dole in Germany
More than 10,000 Britons are claiming unemployment benefit in Germany because they are not “hassled” in to finding work there.

One, a 28-year-old computer science graduate from Birmingham, worked for an IT firm in Berlin for two months before losing his job and claimed €560 (3474) a month for six months.

He said: “It's quite amazing that you can live here as a foreigner and claim benefits.

“In Britain I had to put up with patronising officials, some of whom tried to get me to accept a job as a cleaner despite my degree.”
He added: “I much preferred the German system because once you get on it, the money comes in regularly and there is no more hassle.”
Matt Johnson, 25, a musician from London, and his girlfriend use handouts to boost their income in Berlin.
"It sounds wrong to get on the dole for that reason but our generation has had it much worse than that of our parents," Mr Johnson said.

disgraceful attitude by the freeloading brit.

How will this poor sod manage on 23k, what about the kiddies? Fuk them and him

Benefits father of FOURTEEN claims £70k a year to keep family running | Daily Mail Online

Originally Posted by Horatio Hornblower

Well there'll be a mass migration of the British to Germany France etc, get better benefits over there.

Originally Posted by taxexile

Thousands of Britons claim dole in Germany
More than 10,000 Britons are claiming unemployment benefit in Germany because they are not “hassled” in to finding work there.

One, a 28-year-old computer science graduate from Birmingham, worked for an IT firm in Berlin for two months before losing his job and claimed €560 (3474) a month for six months.

He said: “It's quite amazing that you can live here as a foreigner and claim benefits.

“In Britain I had to put up with patronising officials, some of whom tried to get me to accept a job as a cleaner despite my degree.”
He added: “I much preferred the German system because once you get on it, the money comes in regularly and there is no more hassle.”
Matt Johnson, 25, a musician from London, and his girlfriend use handouts to boost their income in Berlin.
"It sounds wrong to get on the dole for that reason but our generation has had it much worse than that of our parents," Mr Johnson said.

disgraceful attitude by the freeloading brit.

From the Daily Hate, I suppose?
Misinformation, as usual. I wonder why people believe whatever is printed in that rag which has been shown to get it wrong again and again.
Anything which reinforces one's prejudices and pet hates will do, eh?

He'd have to work in Germany for a year before qualifying for 60% of his wage, for 6 months (ALG1), after that it's onto ALG2, around EU 360/month.

It reads like he used his international jobseekers allowance, a combination of his Brit and German employment credits.

And one does get hassled, specially after 6 months when one is obliged to accept jobs outside one's qualifications and previous income.
One needs to keep records of job-seeking and -application activities, or take massive reductions.

It's quite similar to the British system, except we don't have 0-hour contracts in Germany, thank goodness.

Originally Posted by stroller

And one does get hassled, specially after 6 months when one is obliged to accept jobs outside one's qualifications and previous income.

Indeed one does here in Bavaria. If you can't find work then they will happily employ you to clean the streets for 1 Euro a day top up of your entitlement.

The things they print in newspapers...and people still believe them....

from The Guardian

Tied up in German red tape

Peter Chivers is one of the thousands of Britons who have claimed unemployment benefit in Germany, where he received a higher level of support than he would have got in the UK.

I found it a very demeaning experience, but then that may have been the point
Peter Chivers, from Bradford
The 41-year-old, from Bradford, received €450 a month (£350) plus additional housing benefit, which worked out to at least £60 more than the sum he would have been eligible for in the UK.

Some 6,022 Britons are currently claiming unemployment benefit in Germany, compared with 1,470 German nationals doing the same in the UK.

Like many of these British nationals, Chivers had moved to Berlin – a popular destination partly because of its exciting cultural scene – and found the local job market difficult to access. He also found it challenging to sign on for German unemployment benefit.

Chivers, who speaks fluent German and has a language degree, said: “At the jobcentre, they said to me: ‘You must have learned a trade?’ I told them that an apprenticeship wasn’t crucial to start a job in the UK – you could get a job just with a degree. But they struggled with that concept,” he said.

When Chivers asked if it could assist with job training, the jobcentre refused. “To be honest, I found the authorities incredibly obstructive … They put every obstacle in my way that they could.”

David Cameron and Angela Merkel. Facebook Twitter Pinterest
David Cameron and Angela Merkel. Germany supports Britain’s call for a crackdown on ‘benefits tourism’, but says changes to the principle of free movement of people in the EU are non-negotiable. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
Since then, he has managed to find a job and no longer needs to battle with the system. If he were forced to go through the application process again, he said, he would seriously consider moving back to Britain instead.

His experience with benefit claims stood in stark contrast to that in Britain: “When I had to apply for benefit in the UK, I just turned up at the benefit office and had to fill out one form. Later, someone came around to check whether I really lived at my address. That was it.

“In Germany, I needed to certify everything from what kind of car I drove down to how I heated my flat. At times it felt like I was doing paperwork for paperwork’s sake. I found it a very demeaning experience, but then that may have been the point.”

British nationals in Germany without a job usually draw one of either two types of benefits: unemployment insurance, which is contributory, ie relative to their employment history and previous income, or the non-contributory unemployment assistance payment, which after reforms in the early noughties is usually referred to as Hartz IV.

To qualify for the first category, you need to have held down a job for at least 12 months in the two years before the claim, thus having paid into the employment insurance scheme. In return, you get paid around 60% of your previous income, or higher if you have children, to help you while looking for your next job.

Depending on the age of claimants and how long they were in full employment, benefits can be paid for up to two years. If they are still out of work afterwards, they have to switch to the means-tested unemployment assistance benefit, which is considerably lower. Single people currently get €391 a month and a further subsidy of between €229 and €296 for every child, depending on their age. To receive the payments, one has to agree to a contract, which obliges those on benefit to accept certain jobs offered to them.

Philip Oltermann in Berlin

http://http://www.theguardian.com/uk...im-benefits-eu


...and the article I posted two or three posts above is from The Telegraph.

Ex-pats receive up to £23,318 a year from the German taxpayer at a time when many in the UK complain of EU “benefit tourists” heading here to drain public funds.
Those Britons claiming in Germany either moved there to claim handouts or had been working there but lost their jobs.

Under EU rules, countries must provide state handouts to EU citizens if their own member state has the equivalent benefit back home – a policy both Britain and Germany object to.

The claimant figure makes up around a tenth of the British expat population in Germany and many have praised the hassle free system in contrast to “patronising” officials in the UK who make people look for work.

One, a 28-year-old computer science graduate from Birmingham, worked for an IT firm in Berlin for two months before losing his job and claimed €560 (3474) a month for six months.

He said: “It's quite amazing that you can live here as a foreigner and claim benefits.
“In Britain I had to put up with patronising officials, some of whom tried to get me to accept a job as a cleaner despite my degree.”

He added: “I much preferred the German system because once you get on it, the money comes in regularly and there is no more hassle.”

Matt Johnson, 25, a musician from London, and his girlfriend use handouts to boost their income in Berlin.

"It sounds wrong to get on the dole for that reason but our generation has had it much worse than that of our parents," Mr Johnson said.

Thousands of Britons claim dole in Germany - Telegraph


both newspapers are considered trustworthy and reliable sources of information.

Originally Posted by taxexile

both newspapers are considered trustworthy and reliable sources of information.

Are you able to spot the difference in terms of detail, accuracy and misleading claims between the 2 articles or shall I hold your hand and walk you through it?

there is truth in both articles.

and thanks for the offer, but i shant be needing your assistance, all i need is your absence.

A bit of googling found this ditty from today:

'They do Red Nose Day and send it to Africa but what about our country?':

Mother who rakes in £20k in handouts criticises system for refusing benefits to her Polish boyfriend

Sarah Crafter, 45, from Essex hasn't had a job for more than 20 years

Her home has been fitted with £2,000 log cabin and 12ft swimming pool

In Benefits Britain she is filmed battling to get her new Polish boyfriend on benefits
She met him just two weeks earlier while having a cigarette outside Morrisons
By CAROLINE MCGUIRE FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 21:20 GMT, 27 May 2015 | UPDATED: 06:52 GMT, 28 May 2015



Sarah Crafter, 45, hasn't had a job for more than 20 years and along with her three adult children, Scott, Brian, and Sarah Jr, none of whom work, her household brings in around £20,000 in benefits a month.
The family live in a council home in Essex, which they used to share with Sarah's second husband, who she recently separated from.
Since they split, Sarah has found it difficult to keep up the life she became accustomed to on couple's benefits.
Sarah with her new boyfriend Robert, who she met just a couple of weeks earlier

Sarah with her new boyfriend Robert, who she met just a couple of weeks earlier
When they were together, Sarah and her ex had sufficient income on state handouts that they were able to buy a £2,000 log cabin for their back garden, which they filled with computers and laptops for their children.
They also purchased a 12ft swimming pool that cost £1,800, but doesn't get used because the lining broke and nobody has tried to repair it.

But despite her lack of money since her separation, Sarah says she is unable to earn money by getting a job because she suffers from vertigo, which is the sensation that the environment around you is spinning.
Speaking on tonight's Benefits Britain, which airs on Channel 5, Sarah says: 'We’re called bums, lazy bums, but what [people] don’t realise is when there’s someone like me who would like to work but I can’t work because I've got vertigo and stuff.'
Sarah celebrates as new boyfriend is signed on for benefits

She continued: 'I have had three jobs, I worked at Tesco but then went on a dinner break and came back and they sacked me for no reason.'
But there is a glimmer of hope for Sarah - she has found a new boyfriend called Robert Zelasco, 39.
Robert is Polish and until Sarah met him, two weeks before filming started, he was homeless.
The couple met outside Morrisons supermarket while Sarah was having a cigarette and just a couple of days later he had moved in with her.
She said of their relationship: 'We’ve been together for two weeks and I’m hoping that when the divorce comes through we can get married.
'I think it would be best if I close my [benefits] claim down and Robert claims with us as a couple as it would be so much easier.
'I want to go down to the council and have Robert put on the tenancy, then I have to try and sort out a divorce from my husband.'
Despite being on benefits, Sarah has a £2,000 log cabin in her garden

Despite being on benefits, Sarah has a £2,000 log cabin in her garden
She also has a 12ft swimming pool that cost £1,800
She also has a 12ft swimming pool that cost £1,800
When she brings up the topic with Robert, he tells the cameras: 'I don’t know, maybe I’ll claim benefits, I don't know, we’ll have to discuss.
'She told me that it’s difficult to survive on benefits, so I don’t know if it’s a good idea yet.'
Sarah interjects: 'If you get a job, by the time you have to pay full council tax, full rent, and other bills, you've got nothing, you’re worse off.'
Towards the end of the month, Sarah's benefits money starts to run out and little is left in the fridge or freezer for them to eat.
On the day before her next set of handouts is due to come through, the family are down to 12 pence on their electricity meter.



She says: 'Some days we can get really, really hungry. We’re slowly running out of food.
'We weren't always like this, it’s only since I’ve been on my own.
'This is why I’m glad I’ve got Robert in my life but we’ve got to sort [the benefits] out, we’ve really got to get money as a couple, whether he’s Polish or not.
'When the telly goes off [because of a lack of electricity] I don’t know what we’re going to do.
'This is a nightmare, I hate it. This is hell. And they think it’s good on benefits?
'How are we supposed to live? I know they do all of this Red Nose Day and stuff and send it all over to Africa and wherever but what about our country. Our country is in need as well.'

A few days later, Sarah goes the the council offices to discuss getting Robert on the dole but comes back despondent.
She says: 'I went down to the social yesterday and they’re saying about not giving us money as a couple because he’s got to have a job.
'It’s alright them saying go and get a job, but there’s no jobs around. We’re entitled to have money as a couple but they’re not even helping us.'
Robert says: 'For us Poles, there are no good jobs in the UK.
'If you speak English very well and finish your studies you can get a lot of good jobs, but without it you can’t do anything.
'So I don’t know what I’m going to do. I really I have to do something - if they’re not going to give me benefits, I have to find a job.'


Sarah reassures him: 'You’re going to be my husband soon and I’m going to be your wife. At the end of the day, they’ve got to accept that we’re a couple now.'
But the couple appear to have some luck in the following days as in the final scene of the show, they are seen coming out of the local council offices with big grins on their faces.
Sarah shouts to the cameras: 'Yes! He’s officially on benefits at my house. I don’t have to hide him anymore. Yes!'

Read more: C5's Benefits Britain shows mother who rakes in £20k in dole a year criticises system | Daily Mail Online

Britain doesn't need foreign slags to invade the country, it has more thna enough of its own.

Seriously England was never known for its beautiful women, but these things are just hideous . . . and there are a lot of them . . . but then one shouldn't wonder where people like piwanoi come from

Originally Posted by Stinky

The Daily Mail stiring up hatred and bigotry in the sheeple again to distract them from noticing that they are being fukt over far worse by the banks and the Tory scum government. How predictable of them.

Exactly, The Daily Mail is a notorious right-wing rag and it's articles are often incorrect. Just another example of the Tory press finding a scapegoat for the countries ills.

I would like to know how Brits abroad claim benefit when the requirements for Job Seekers Allowance, dole as some call it necessitate physically signing on at the Job Centre per fortnight? Horatio, the problem for you has likely been the constant changing of the rules and just who was administering benefits relevant to your case. Should it be the local council I would not be surprised given the frequent slowness, unhelpful and inefficient practices so often seen.

Ocker best not to go near the daily mail, to many inaccuracies in the article.