# S1 Form For Healthcare Before State Pension Age



## chris&vicky (Feb 6, 2013)

I just phoned re my S1 form and was told I only get cover to 1/1/2015, but could get cover until 1/1/2016 if I send in my last payslip or P45. 

I am not sure what determines that extra year, I was told it was something to do with an earnings figure of £5,350, as anyone been through this and understands?

I thought I would get cover for 2 to 2 1/2 years, but looks like it's only a little over 1 year?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

chris&vicky said:


> I just phoned re my S1 form and was told I only get cover to 1/1/2015, but could get cover until 1/1/2016 if I send in my last payslip or P45.
> 
> I am not sure what determines that extra year, I was told it was something to do with an earnings figure of £5,350, as anyone been through this and understands?
> 
> I thought I would get cover for 2 to 2 1/2 years, but looks like it's only a little over 1 year?


it's 'up to' 2.5 years...............


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## chris&vicky (Feb 6, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> it's 'up to' 2.5 years...............


Yes but as I said I just spoke to Newcastle Overseas Healthcare Team. I get to 1/1/15 (1.25 years) or to 1/1/16 (2.25 years) depending on something I do not fully understand. 

How you can get 2 1/2 years is beyond me. I can't get the form until I have sorted out my address in Spain, then I have to fax details to Newcastle, then I wait for the Form, then I wait for Spain to deal with the form. I will be lucky to get a year! 

Maybe if I ask the UK government nicely they will give me back the many, many, tens of thousands of pound contributions I have made, but guess they need them to support all the immigrants in the UK who have contributed nothing!


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## JaneyO (Sep 24, 2012)

chris&vicky said:


> Yes but as I said I just spoke to Newcastle Overseas Healthcare Team. I get to 1/1/15 (1.25 years) or to 1/1/16 (2.25 years) depending on something I do not fully understand.
> 
> How you can get 2 1/2 years is beyond me. I can't get the form until I have sorted out my address in Spain, then I have to fax details to Newcastle, then I wait for the Form, then I wait for Spain to deal with the form. I will be lucky to get a year!
> 
> Maybe if I ask the UK government nicely they will give me back the many, many, tens of thousands of pound contributions I have made, but guess they need them to support all the immigrants in the UK who have contributed nothing!


 Send in your payslip or P45 to make sure you get the maximum you can. They issued our S1 pretty quickly, then you take it to the Seguridad Social in Spain with photocopies of passport residencia etc -copy the S1 as well they take it away. They will give you a note to register straight away with your health centre until the health cards arrive. Well that's what happened to us, things do differ in different areas.


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## chris&vicky (Feb 6, 2013)

JaneyO said:


> Send in your payslip or P45 to make sure you get the maximum you can.


I was given a fax number so I assumed I could fax a copy of my P45 when I have my address in Spain, is that correct?


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## JaneyO (Sep 24, 2012)

chris&vicky said:


> I was given a fax number so I assumed I could fax a copy of my P45 when I have my address in Spain, is that correct?


Yes I think so, when are you planning to leave? We got ours sent to our UK address before we left you have to tell them your departure date and it can't be sent out more than a month before you leave. I do wish you luck I know it all seems like a mountain to climb and is very frustrating but you will get there!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

chris&vicky said:


> I was given a fax number so I assumed I could fax a copy of my P45 when I have my address in Spain, is that correct?


Why do you have to wait for an address in Spain before you fax/send the P45?


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## Calas felices (Nov 29, 2007)

'many, many, tens of thousands of pound contributions I have made' - don't tell me this was just a guess wasn't it? What did you think the money was for when you visited the doctor, went to hospital, had dental work and the children's health visitor call. Was that all for free?


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

chris&vicky said:


> Maybe if I ask the UK government nicely they will give me back the many, many, tens of thousands of pound contributions I have made, but guess they need them to support all the immigrants in the UK who have contributed nothing!


Although I get what you're saying and agree with you, its health/national insurance and really its a bit like me going to my car insurance company and asking for the £1000s I've paid them over the years to put onto another insurance company. Cos I didnt ever make a claim  Not quite the same thing, but its life I guess!

Jo xxx


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

jojo said:


> Although I get what you're saying and agree with you, its health/national insurance and really its a bit like me going to my car insurance company and asking for the £1000s I've paid them over the years to put onto another insurance company. Cos I didnt ever make a claim  Not quite the same thing, but its life I guess!
> 
> Jo xxx


I think that's a pretty good analogy actually 

& there is discussion going on atm that Brits who live outside the UK who have paid enough contributions will at some point in the future be able to return to the UK for healthcare should they choose to....


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## chris&vicky (Feb 6, 2013)

Calas felices said:


> 'many, many, tens of thousands of pound contributions I have made' - don't tell me this was just a guess wasn't it? What did you think the money was for when you visited the doctor, went to hospital, had dental work and the children's health visitor call. Was that all for free?


What is sort of post is this? Don't get me going here you will put up my blood pressure up and I will need a doctor! 

I have worked for 43 years, so yes I have paid in a lot. Every time I need medication I am one of the few that pay my £7.65 per item, while 88%* get it free including all those who have never bothered to do a day's work in their life!

In my opinion the system stinks, handouts to wealthy pensioners who don't need it, even winter fuel allowances sent out to Spain, people who need help don't get it. A health system that does not support people that have paid in when living in another EU country, but supports people coming in that have not contributed much if anything.

Btw I had private health cover when working, you try and find a NHS dentist, and I have no children so the children's health visitor call is irrelevant, just like the rest of you post!

 

*before you post again it's a government figure not a guess by me!


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## chris&vicky (Feb 6, 2013)

JaneyO said:


> Yes I think so, when are you planning to leave? We got ours sent to our UK address before we left you have to tell them your departure date and it can't be sent out more than a month before you leave. I do wish you luck I know it all seems like a mountain to climb and is very frustrating but you will get there!


That is what I wanted, them to send it to me before I left at the end of this month. I was told I had to have an address in Spain that goes on the form. I explained that I will have a temporary address is Spain but that would change. The lady in Newcastle said I should wait until I have my address in Spain before applying for the form. I would rather get the form now if possible but she was adamant that was a waste of time.


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## chris&vicky (Feb 6, 2013)

jojo said:


> Although I get what you're saying and agree with you, its health/national insurance and really its a bit like me going to my car insurance company and asking for the £1000s I've paid them over the years to put onto another insurance company. Cos I didnt ever make a claim  Not quite the same thing, but its life I guess!
> 
> Jo xxx


I was only joking about getting any money back I was just trying to make my point. I just think it's wrong that they cut me off if I move to Spain and don't even allow me to return for treatment. Then they give handouts left right and center to people who just work the system to their advantage. But that's the system, like it or lump it.


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## chris&vicky (Feb 6, 2013)

snikpoh said:


> Why do you have to wait for an address in Spain before you fax/send the P45?


The address has nothing to do with submitting the P45, the address in Spain is required before the form is of any use as I was told.


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## JaneyO (Sep 24, 2012)

As basic state pensioners we are very grateful for our winter fuel allowance and we need it. WInters in many parts of Spain can be very cold and very wet, much colder in some cases than parts of the UK. Houses are built to shed heat not retain it and heating costs a fortune with our expensive electricity. Have you spent a whole winter here? 'Even winter fuel allowances sent out to Spain' implies an unnecesary waste of money by the Uk government. We too paid tax for over 40 years!


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## chris&vicky (Feb 6, 2013)

JaneyO said:


> As basic state pensioners we are very grateful for our winter fuel allowance and we need it. WInters in many parts of Spain can be very cold and very wet, much colder in some cases than parts of the UK. Houses are built to shed heat not retain it and heating costs a fortune with our expensive electricity. Have you spent a whole winter here? 'Even winter fuel allowances sent out to Spain' implies an unnecesary waste of money by the Uk government. We too paid tax for over 40 years!


My point really is that I do not think allowances should be paid to people based on there age, it should be more about their needs. There are pensioners who are millionaires, why should they get handouts at the expense of less well off taxpayers?

Yes I have spent winters in Spain, 24 degrees in Churriana in January, not the same as scraping the ice off you windows in the UK in January. But as you say it depends where you are in Spain, and maybe irrelevant as the UK government are talking about stopping the payments to warmer climates, probably just as I arrive


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

chris&vicky said:


> My point really is that I do not think allowances should be paid to people based on there age, it should be more about their needs. There are pensioners who are millionaires, why should they get handouts at the expense of less well off taxpayers?
> 
> Yes I have spent winters in Spain, 24 degrees in Churriana in January, not the same as scraping the ice off you windows in the UK in January. But as you say it depends where you are in Spain, and maybe irrelevant as the UK government are talking about stopping the payments to warmer climates, probably just as I arrive


Thats the point though ... if they class Spain as a warmer climate then they have got it wrong. OK, maybe for someone on the coast in the CDS, but have you ever been to Galicia in the winter???? Its like Scotland in the winter. So you NEED heating


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

The reason they want your last P45 is because the records have not been updated for 1012/3 (possibly because your employer has not sent in his copies) and your entitlement to the S1 and how long it is valid depends on your recent contribution history.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

chris&vicky said:


> My point really is that I do not think allowances should be paid to people based on there age, it should be more about their needs. There are pensioners who are millionaires, why should they get handouts at the expense of less well off taxpayers?
> 
> Yes I have spent winters in Spain, 24 degrees in Churriana in January, not the same as scraping the ice off you windows in the UK in January. But as you say it depends where you are in Spain, and maybe irrelevant as the UK government are talking about stopping the payments to warmer climates, probably just as I arrive


BUT the pensioners have paid into the system for 44 years. The "less well-off" have, in many cases, never paid in a penny just sponged off the system. 

Since living in Spain I have had frostbite (winter 2008/9) and the last time I had that was in 1963 in UK

bl**dy kids! Don't even know English, half of them!


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## JaneyO (Sep 24, 2012)

chris&vicky said:


> My point really is that I do not think allowances should be paid to people based on there age, it should be more about their needs. There are pensioners who are millionaires, why should they get handouts at the expense of less well off taxpayers?
> 
> Yes I have spent winters in Spain, 24 degrees in Churriana in January, not the same as scraping the ice off you windows in the UK in January. But as you say it depends where you are in Spain, and maybe irrelevant as the UK government are talking about stopping the payments to warmer climates, probably just as I arrive


Sorry to tell you 24 degrees in January is not the norm, except maybe in the Canaries or a few fortunate spots on CDS. Most of Spain is cold - sometimes very cold - in the winter. Then of course there's the money we have to pay for aircon in the summer, don't think many households in the Uk have that expense.


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## chris&vicky (Feb 6, 2013)

JaneyO said:


> Sorry to tell you 24 degrees in January is not the norm, except maybe in the Canaries or a few fortunate spots on CDS. Most of Spain is cold - sometimes very cold - in the winter. Then of course there's the money we have to pay for aircon in the summer, don't think many households in the Uk have that expense.


Ok but my partner lives in Churriana so i know what is is there, it's not really important though, is it? I only wanted to know about my S1 form


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## chris&vicky (Feb 6, 2013)

JaneyO said:


> Sorry to tell you 24 degrees in January is not the norm, except maybe in the Canaries or a few fortunate spots on CDS. Most of Spain is cold - sometimes very cold - in the winter. Then of course there's the money we have to pay for aircon in the summer, don't think many households in the Uk have that expense.


You may like to read this  Record numbers of expats claim winter fuel payments - Telegraph


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

chris&vicky said:


> You may like to read this  Record numbers of expats claim winter fuel payments - Telegraph



Yes, its complete drivel (not the report, the content

"George Osborne said the move would save up to £30million a year and said that paying the benefit to people who live in hot countries was not a "fair use of the nation's cash"."

So yes, it's hot in Spain in the Summer, but in some places it is colder in the winter than it is in the UK!


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## chris&vicky (Feb 6, 2013)

JaneyO said:


> Send in your payslip or P45 to make sure you get the maximum you can. They issued our S1 pretty quickly, then you take it to the Seguridad Social in Spain with photocopies of passport residencia etc -copy the S1 as well they take it away. They will give you a note to register straight away with your health centre until the health cards arrive. Well that's what happened to us, things do differ in different areas.


I have my S1 now with cover to 2/1/16 but what I an not sure about is you say I must take it with residencia but I thought I could not get the residencia (or whatever the cert is called now) unless I prove regular income into a Spanish bank account. I don't have a Spanish bank account yet I will open as soon as I arrive. I want health cover to start asap but how can I prove regular income until I have been in Spain for a number of months?


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## stevesainty (Jan 7, 2011)

When we got a rental agreement we signed on the padron, at the same time in the Ayuntimiento we applied for temporary sips using our ehic cards, padron and passports.

We came out with pre printed temporary sips there and then which we took to our local health centre and signed on, the doctor's name was already on the reverse of the temporary sip.

This of course was local to us, Rojales in Alicante province of Valencia. it may be different in other parts of Spain.

Later when we had residencia we went back to the Ayuntamiento with our S1's and applied for our permanent sips. We were issued with our temporary permanent sips there and then. We got our credit card type permanent sips about six weeks later.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

stevesainty said:


> When we got a rental agreement we signed on the padron, at the same time in the Ayuntimiento we applied for temporary sips using our ehic cards, padron and passports.
> 
> We came out with pre printed temporary sips there and then which we took to our local health centre and signed on, the doctor's name was already on the reverse of the temporary sip.
> 
> ...


As is usual in Spain it matters where you are (AC/Provincia/Población) and whom you see.


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## chris&vicky (Feb 6, 2013)

Two months ago I took my S1 to the Instituto National De La Seguridad in Malaga. My Spanish is not good so I may have misunderstood something, but these are the events that followed:-

I was told that I would receive a letter within 15 days. Nothing arrived. I went back and was told it is still being processed and I would receive a letter within 5 days. Nothing arrived. I went back again and was told they have lost my S1, they took a copy of everything again. I was told to come back in a few days. 

Today I went back and they have given me a E106 form and was told I have to take a copy of this every time I want to visit a medical centre, very odd, I thought I would get some kind of medical card? I think it's alI sorted now, or is it? 

I am sure I spent 50% of my time in Spain standing in queues with various pieces of paper!


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

chris&vicky said:


> Two months ago I took my S1 to the Instituto National De La Seguridad in Malaga. My Spanish is not good so I may have misunderstood something, but these are the events that followed:-
> 
> I was told that I would receive a letter within 15 days. Nothing arrived. I went back and was told it is still being processed and I would receive a letter within 5 days. Nothing arrived. I went back again and was told they have lost my S1, they took a copy of everything again. I was told to come back in a few days.
> 
> ...



This happened to us as well - several visits before they told us that some of the paperwork was 'never received' and this despite us having copies of all of it.

The 'E' forms are being phased out across Europe and replaced with the 'S' forms. However, some parts of Spain (it's not a national thing) are well behind in this transition.

Whether you have a card or not is actually immaterial - at least you have cover. You should NOT be asked to sign each time but they may get this wrong and ask you to.

On a positive note, at least they haven't asked to see your EHIC and to use that!


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## Allie-P (Feb 11, 2013)

The cards should come later - mine took 3 weeks - that of my husband, my dependent - a lot later.

As you are aware, you can sign on to the Health centre, initially, with their 'pieces of paper.'

Ours was a protracted experience - it was only later that we were told, by the clinic, that our repeat prescriptions could have been obtained by submitting our EHIC's at their A & E department.

Sadly, no use to us - my wallet, containing those EHIC's, was stolen from my bag, within the first few weeks of our arrival !!


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## sue-smiley (Jan 31, 2014)

chris&vicky said:


> Yes but as I said I just spoke to Newcastle Overseas Healthcare Team. I get to 1/1/15 (1.25 years) or to 1/1/16 (2.25 years) depending on something I do not fully understand.
> 
> How you can get 2 1/2 years is beyond me. I can't get the form until I have sorted out my address in Spain, then I have to fax details to Newcastle, then I wait for the Form, then I wait for Spain to deal with the form. I will be lucky to get a year!
> 
> Maybe if I ask the UK government nicely they will give me back the many, many, tens of thousands of pound contributions I have made, but guess they need them to support all the immigrants in the UK who have contributed nothing!


I agree I have paid in 41 years I was told 2.5 years from your actual date of retirement. Mine was 20th Dec. I am not moving out for approximately 6 months bug have heard about convenio especial which you are not entitled to until you have been resident for 1 year


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

sue-smiley said:


> I agree I have paid in 41 years I was told 2.5 years from your actual date of retirement. Mine was 20th Dec. I am not moving out for approximately 6 months bug have heard about convenio especial which you are not entitled to until you have been resident for 1 year


Just to be clear, as Chris & Vicky posted, they only issue them until 1st January, so yours would only be valid until 1/1/16 whenever you move, assuming they're still issuing them then.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

CapnBilly said:


> Just to be clear, as Chris & Vicky posted, they only issue them until 1st January, so yours would only be valid until 1/1/16 whenever you move, assuming they're still issuing them then.


Yes this is correct. 
They are issued Jan to jan. We have just been issued and ours are from January 2014 until January 16 therefore two years. If we left later in the year say July they would only be from July 2014 until January 2016 or whatever your contributions here. In the uk allow


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