Hundreds of British expatriates have been left out of pocket because the Government is refusing to pay them disability benefits.

The European Commission is now taking ministers to court over their decision to deny the benefits to British citizens living on the continent.

Campaigners say the withdrawal of the Disability Living Allowance to Britons living overseas has left many struggling to cope on severely reduced incomes.

The European Court of Justice ruled in 2007 that benefits such as the disability allowance were “exportable” and should continue to be paid even when an individual leaves his country of origin and moves to another member state.

Yet despite the ruling, the UK Government has stuck with its policy of withholding the payments – prompting a warning from the European Commission that unless Britain falls into line by the end of this month, ministers will be dragged back into court and forced to defend their decisions.

The approach contrasts with the stance taken by the British government on paying benefits to foreigners living in the UK. The Sunday Telegraph revealed last year that in order to comply with European Union rules, Britain is paying child benefit for 37,900 children who have remained behind in Poland while one or both of their parents work in the UK.

Roger Gale, the Conservative MP, who is fighting on behalf of an estimated 2,000 expats thought to have been stripped of the disability benefits, said: “These are people who have paid UK taxes all their lives and it is outrageous that they should now be denied the benefits they need and deserve, just because they have chosen to live in Spain or France.”

Mr Gale and other MPs will be raising the matter in Parliament on Tuesday.

A statement from Brussels said: “The European Commission has decided to take legal action against the United Kingdom for not paying certain benefits to EU citizens residing abroad.

“Under EU rules, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance and Carer’s Allowance are considered ‘sickness cash benefits’, meaning people covered by the UK system residing in another EU country are also entitled to receive them.”

The Commission said the Government was wrong to insist claimants could only qualify for the benefits if they spent at least half the year – 26 of the previous 52 weeks – in Britain.

It said: “This requirement goes against the European rules co-ordinating social security benefits and justifies the Commission’s decision to start an infringement procedure.

“It is the role of the European Commission, as the guardian of the European treaties, to rectify current legislation or administrative practices that are not in line with Community law.”

It is estimated it would cost British taxpayers at least £4.6 million a year to begin paying the 2,000 beneficiaries.

Mr Gale, MP for North Thanet, said: “A lot of people find it totally incredible that people can come from other EU countries and, despite having paid no taxes here, claim benefits such as child benefit, yet at the same time people born in Britain, who worked and paid their taxes here, are not allowed to claim benefits to which they should be entitled.

“Many of those who have lost their benefits as a result of the UK Government’s decision are retired and disabled – several have served in the armed forces – but now that they need the help of their country, their Government has turned round and told them it won’t pay. This is appalling behaviour. They are already suffering because of the fall in value of the pound against the euro and they are in dire straits.”

Among those who have launched individual appeals against the ruling is retired college lecturer John Hamilton, 71, who lost his £45 a week disability allowance when he and his wife Tina moved to northern France in June 2006.

She said: “That was a significant amount for us to lose, though of course it’s nothing compared to a taxpayer-funded banker’s bonus.”

It could be as long as two years before the European Commission’s case against the Government reaches court, however, and it is feared that many of those who claim they ought to be entitled to the benefit will be dead by the time the dispute is resolved.

Campaigners cite the case of Anne Hamilton King, a 67-year-old who died in March. Mrs King, an emphysema sufferer, was forced to live on her basic state pension after her disability living allowance was cut when she moved from Britain to a small town near Alicante, in Spain.

David Burrage, a retired police officer who represents a number of expats who have lost their disability benefit, said: “Mrs King was typical of some of the cases that have resulted from the UK Government’s decision. Because of her illness she was permanently on an oxygen supply and, having had her allowance cut, was forced to live in extremely straitened circumstances. By the end she could only afford to put her electric heater on for one hour in the evenings.

“The Government’s behaviour towards people like her has been absolutely disgraceful.”

Ministers this month refused to publish their correspondence with the Commission, in which they set out their case against paying disability benefits to expats, on the grounds of confidentiality. In a written Parliamentary answer, Angela Eagle, minister for pensions, told Mr Gale: “As we are currently in dialogue with the European Commission we will not be making our replies to their correspondence public.”

The Department of Work and Pensions said: “We have carefully considered the application of the 26 weeks out of 52 weeks ‘past presence’ requirement and believe it to be compatible with European Community law.”

When John and Tina Hamilton moved from Kent to a two-bedroom chalet in northern France they hoped it was to enjoy a comfortable retirement.

“Nothing luxurious,” said Mrs Hamilton. “Just modest.”

But unbeknown to them the Government had taken the decision to withdraw the disability allowance of all UK citizens who chose to move overseas, including those within the European Union.

Mr Hamilton, who walks with the aid of sticks following the onset of rheumatoid arthritis, had been receiving Disability Living Allowance since 2000.

Suddenly the Hamiltons discovered they were £45 a week worse off when they left Maidstone and moved to a small town near Calais in 2006. It made a significant difference to their lifestyle, forcing them to tighten their belts in order to live on a couple’s state pension of £180 a week.

Mr Hamilton, 71, a retired college lecturer and civil engineer, and his wife, a former research assistant at a City investment bank, were furious. Both had paid tax all their working lives and felt the benefit was no more than their due.

Mrs Hamilton, 47, who helps run the campaign group UK-EU Disability and Carers Group, said: “Perhaps we were a bit naïve, but we didn’t know John would lose his benefit when he moved to France. We were astonished when it was taken away from him. We’ve paid tax all our working lives, we still have family and close ties to England.

“All we and hundreds of others like us have been guilty of is moving abroad. Yet migrants from new European Union countries can come to Britain and after six months claim child benefit for children who may not even live there.

“Instead of denying people like us what we are entitled to, the Government should accept the ruling of the European Court of Justice.”

Original Source – Telegraph

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