# Warning about S1 for those thinking of moving to Spain next year



## JaneyO (Sep 24, 2012)

The Uk government is proposing to stop issuing the S1 in April 2014. If it goes ahead this means that those who move here but are not state pensioners will no longer get a period of up to 2.5 years state healthcare based on their Uk contributions. For more details on the proposals see the thread about migrant access to NHS.

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...iving-spain/174090-migrant-access-nhs-uk.html


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

With all the political maneuvering between Spain and the UK recently, how do those of you who are possibly going to live all the consequences feel about this? What can you do, if anything, to influence policymakers to back down? I know I'd be writing to my senator by now, but what - if anything - can you guys do? 

I'd be pretty ticked off by now.


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## crookesey (May 22, 2008)

Just thinking, on the Benissa coast road between Calpe and Moraira the locals are mainly ex-pats, holiday home owners or none Spanish private rental (both holiday and long term) folk. In the last few years I've noticed many of the villas and apartments with shutters closed, no cars on drives and hardly anyone around.

The knock on effect has seen bank branches closing along with furniture stores, estate agents, bars, restaurants etc; etc. The Spanish government is doing everything that it can to hit none Spanish folk in their pockets, now the clever ******s are about to have a pop at pensioners, Spain actually deserves to go nipples up.


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

This is one of the proposals in the consultation. Another is that, providing you have at least 7 years NI contributions, you will be entitled to treatment on the NHS, even if you live in Spain. I think this is good for expats living here. Interesting point is whether this ability to return would be acceptable as the healthcare requirement for registration on the register of Foreigners.


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## JaneyO (Sep 24, 2012)

crookesey said:


> Just thinking, on the Benissa coast road between Calpe and Moraira the locals are mainly ex-pats, holiday home owners or none Spanish private rental (both holiday and long term) folk. In the last few years I've noticed many of the villas and apartments with shutters closed, no cars on drives and hardly anyone around.
> 
> The knock on effect has seen bank branches closing along with furniture stores, estate agents, bars, restaurants etc; etc. The Spanish government is doing everything that it can to hit none Spanish folk in their pockets, now the clever ******s are about to have a pop at pensioners, Spain actually deserves to go nipples up.


You are right in many ways but to be fair these proposals are coming from the British Government not the Spanish one. As Capn Billy says it would give us more rights to healthcare in the Uk. My concern is the Spanish may seize on it as an opportunity to MAKE us go back to the Uk for operations etc. We are more than happy with the healthcare we get here and would not want to return to the Uk, not very practical anyway if you have nowhere to live there meanwhile. On the other thread there is a link to the proposals and details of how you can contact them to express your views which I have done by email.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

crookesey said:


> Just thinking, on the Benissa coast road between Calpe and Moraira the locals are mainly ex-pats, holiday home owners or none Spanish private rental (both holiday and long term) folk. In the last few years I've noticed many of the villas and apartments with shutters closed, no cars on drives and hardly anyone around.
> 
> The knock on effect has seen bank branches closing along with furniture stores, estate agents, bars, restaurants etc; etc. The Spanish government is doing everything that it can to hit none Spanish folk in their pockets, now the clever ******s are about to have a pop at pensioners, Spain actually deserves to go nipples up.


it's actually a UK proposal - nothing to do with Spain


and from what I understand it's not pensioners who be affected in any case - they'd still get their healthcare paid for by the UK via S1s


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## JaneyO (Sep 24, 2012)

xabiachica said:


> it's actually a UK proposal - nothing to do with Spain
> 
> 
> and from what I understand it's not pensioners who be affected in any case - they'd still get their healthcare paid for by the UK via S1s


Pensioners are affected in that the amount that the UK pays to Spain for pensioner healthcare would be reduced by 5% who knows what the Spanish Government will do with that!


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

JaneyO said:


> Pensioners are affected in that the amount that the UK pays to Spain for pensioner healthcare would be reduced by 5% who knows what the Spanish Government will do with that!





JaneyO said:


> I understand your concerns, but this is already happening with other EU countries. It's not been made up the British government to reduce costs. think the UK is just tidying things up. Information on other countries that operate the same here http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/retire/healthcare/index_en.htm., and presumably reduce the payments to Spain accordingly.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

It's clear that Spain isn't going to be the cheap destination for retired folk of slender means anymore.
Those wishing to become immigrants in Spain will have to do their sums more carefully than some have done in the past.


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## JaneyO (Sep 24, 2012)

CapnBilly said:


> JaneyO said:
> 
> 
> > I understand your concerns, but this is already happening with other EU countries. It's not been made up the British government to reduce costs. think the UK is just tidying things up. Information on other countries that operate the same here EU - Healthcare for pensioners living in other EU countries -Your Europe., and presumably reduce the payments to Spain accordingly.
> ...


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> It's clear that Spain isn't going to be the cheap destination for retired folk of slender means anymore.
> *Those wishing to become immigrants in Spain will have to do their sums more carefully than some have done in the past*.



which isn't such a bad thing really, is it?


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

where exactly does it say about not giving out the S1 i can see the thing about the 7 years NI contributions!

Oh well... Private health cover it is then!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

xabiachica said:


> which isn't such a bad thing really, is it?


But although we did our sums,planned for the worst eventuality, if the £ had stayed as low as it was when we arrived I wouldn't be sitting now writing this on our terrace by our pool, glass of wine in hand.we would have had to downsize.

You have to be prepared to be flexible as well as doing your sums and speaking some Spanish, making Spanish friendsand knowing how Spain works helps immensely if you find yourself in difficulties.
So far, so good.....but you never know what life will throw at you. Until I went for a check-up I didn't know I had a quite serious problem.


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> But although we did our sums,planned for the worst eventuality, if the £ had stayed as low as it was when we arrived I wouldn't be sitting now writing this on our terrace by our pool, glass of wine in hand.we would have had to downsize.


From another thread you posted on.


..............................................
Totally agree. Our net income is considerably more than yours -we pay much more UK tax between us - but our assets are less as we have been living high on the hog off the proceeds of sales of U.K. and foreign properties for over eight years...and loving it! We are spending as much as we can before popping our clogs as my son has no need of any inheritance.
...............................................


Your quoted answer confused me a tad.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

crookesey said:


> Just thinking, on the Benissa coast road between Calpe and Moraira the locals are mainly ex-pats, holiday home owners or none Spanish private rental (both holiday and long term) folk. In the last few years I've noticed many of the villas and apartments with shutters closed, no cars on drives and hardly anyone around.
> 
> The knock on effect has seen bank branches closing along with furniture stores, estate agents, bars, restaurants etc; etc. The Spanish government is doing everything that it can to hit none Spanish folk in their pockets, now the clever ******s are about to have a pop at pensioners, Spain actually deserves to go nipples up.


What the h*ll are you talking about? It's the UK government who are stopping the S1s for non-retired.


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

cambio said:


> where exactly does it say about not giving out the S1 i can see the thing about the 7 years NI contributions!


Section 6.8 page 48


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

Well this is not going to stop us from going for 2 reasons

1 may not happen

2 could always have happened

I am not happy about it, we are not exactly flush, It is an additional cost for the first two years but we were always going to have to get cover after that anyway, and I have always said, just because pensioners get cover now, it does not mean they will always get it. 

We will wait until January - we will know then when we are moving, and apply - which I think you can do, for a E106 or whatever it is called.

Life.. throws stuff


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

playamonte said:


> From another thread you posted on.
> 
> 
> ..............................................
> ...


No confusion at all. What it means is simply that at the current exchange rate we can afford a lifestyle we could not had the rate stayed at the 2008 parity level. It's about living within your means. Lower exchange rate means fewer euros means no can afford high rent. Simples.

Actually that applies to most people. If the £ crashed, we'd have to move into something we could afford. But although we wouldn't like it, we'd rather live in a shed than go back to Prague or the UK.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Thinking about it now, looking back over nine years almost, we didn't plan very well at the beginning. We took too much for granted. When we moved to Prague, the koruna/£ exchange rate was very favourable. Good living in Prague was cheap then, although a bit short on several things we Brits are used to. You could rent a nice apartment in Central Praguefor under £500 a month and start a business on a shoestring. I had retired by then but was still working in the UK and in Prague so allin all, life was good. 
Then one day in 2007 I bought some Czech currency..and nearly fainted when I saw what I got for my sterling. We stuck it out for a year but after losing a third in the value of my income and savings it was clear that we would be foolish to go on renting the admittedly nice house we had lived in for two years.
The fact is that it never really occurred to us that sterling might depreciate so much. We calculated on the basis of what we knew....then. When we decided to move to Spain we were older and wiser. We asked questions - this Forum, Strav and JoJo in particular, gave invaluable information about cars and rent and registration. 
I have met Brits desperate to return to the UK, some of whom came when the euro was cheap as chips. Like us nine years ago, they thought things would stay like that.
We have never had what we couldn't afford and we are used to tightening our belts. Our experiences have taught us to enjoy life while you are still fit enough to do so...But prudently. Anyone planning to move out of the UK should list every dire eventuality that may arise even if it seems farfetched...it may not be. Ask people from Coin who experienced the terrible fire last year.
We were lucky, we were young and fit enough to be flexible, hence our move to Spain. Moving to Spain or anywhere isn't an entitlement, its a privilege, one which for us like many immigrants was hard earned..
Life in Spain can be wonderful. But even in The Garden of Eden there was a serpent lurking...


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> Life in Spain can be wonderful. But even in The Garden of Eden there was a serpent lurking...


But if you research and plan properly, you factor in the potential pitfalls and budget accordingly. For us, we have never been so well off and that is because we aren't working all the hours under the (infrequent in UK) sun to keep up with a mortgage, Council tax to inefficient local authorities and profiteering utilities. Our standard of living and diet are so much better, we have more friends and acquaintances than we have ever had in our lives and we are content!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> But if you research and plan properly, you factor in the potential pitfalls and budget accordingly. For us, we have never been so well off and that is because we aren't working all the hours under the (infrequent in UK) sun to keep up with a mortgage, Council tax to inefficient local authorities and profiteering utilities. Our standard of living and diet are so much better, we have more friends and acquaintances than we have ever had in our lives and we are content!


All true, Baldy. But we decided to leave the UK at the end of September and were gone with all our possessions by the second week of December!!
Mind you, Sandra had lived and worked abroad and I'd spent a lot of time in various countries so we weren't totally inexperienced. But looking back now I can see that we really were a bit 'previous', as the saying goes.
We didn't consider taking our UK vehicles with us, which we could easily have done. So we sold them at a huge loss and bought a couple of cars in Prague for which we paid over the odds and which were basically moving scrapyards. Neither Sandra nor I know anything much about cars although it was our business in the UK. I didn't even know how to open the bonnet of my MX5!
Then we wasted money on satellite tv - we paid a lot to have a Czechsystem installed which we later found we could have had for free. We later got Sky, again at more than we need have paid.
We didn't even think of healthcare....
We made lots of little mistakes which all added up to a lot of money. 
The biggest shock was finding our £ no longer gave us 43 CZK but 28!!
In short, we were plonkers.
I don't regret what we did but we are now unable to top up the money we have left to last until we stand at the pearly gates as we don't work. It's got to last us now. So the move to Spain was planned with attention to detail, unlike last time, with a lot of 'what ifs?' discussed and planned for.
Mind you, the fact that my son and dil have property here helped, as did the Forum. 
But I think the fact we survived our first three years away was down more to luck than planning and judgment.


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