9 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I'm aware of that, but most wouldn't, IMO. Not all expats are retired and cashed up millionaires.

I'm not cashed up ( or retired ) i'm merely saying you could go to Telephone bar 0900-1200 and go through that sort of cash easily - then go for a late brekkie lol

3 minutes ago, HashBrownHarry said:

I'm not cashed up ( or retired ) i'm merely saying you could go to Telephone bar 0900-1200 and go through that sort of cash easily - then go for a late brekkie lol

Or you could make it last by getting a freelancer every other day for a month = 15,000 baht.

16 minutes ago, Tony125 said:

Or you could make it last by getting a freelancer every other day for a month = 15,000 baht.

Correct, the choice is endless.

8 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If you don't live in the UK I understand that you are no longer entitled to free treatment on the NHS, which is as it should be.

Too many foreigners were ripping the system off when I was working in the NHS.

 

Even if it was free, if one is that sick, one would have problems being allowed to fly on a commercial flight.

 

So, you live and work in the UK all your working life, paying tax, a lot of tax, then retire to Thailand and 6 months later get diagnosed with an illness that needs surgery and you think that because you left the UK 6 months ago you should not be entitled to medical treatment under the NHS.  

 

Really?  

18 hours ago, HashBrownHarry said:

I'm not cashed up ( or retired ) i'm merely saying you could go to Telephone bar 0900-1200 and go through that sort of cash easily - then go for a late brekkie lol

That's why I started with "I'm aware of that". I doubt any that can't afford it would do so though. Never been to Telephone Bar, so can't comment specifically about that one. However, if one doesn't drink much and doesn't buy lady drinks or bar fine anyone, a night out in any gogo isn't expensive.

9 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

That's why I started with "I'm aware of that". I doubt any that can't afford it would do so though. Never been to Telephone Bar, so can't comment specifically about that one. However, if one doesn't drink much and doesn't buy lady drinks or bar fine anyone, a night out in any gogo isn't expensive.

Window shopping is no fun.

10 hours ago, Leaver said:

 

So, you live and work in the UK all your working life, paying tax, a lot of tax, then retire to Thailand and 6 months later get diagnosed with an illness that needs surgery and you think that because you left the UK 6 months ago you should not be entitled to medical treatment under the NHS.  

 

Really?  

From google

quote

Is NHS free for British citizens living abroad?

If you're a British expat living overseas permanently, you won't generally be entitled to access NHS treatment. The NHS is a residence-based healthcare system, so British expats aren't automatically entitled to medical treatment.

end quote.

 

I don't make the rules, but IMO if one isn't living in the UK, then one isn't entitled to free NHS treatment. Blame the scam foreigners that used to get free treatment, despite never paying tax in the UK, for that. We weren't allowed to ask if they even lived in the UK, and many surgery patients in a certain part of London didn't speak English. As I understand it, they'd fly in, stay with relatives, and go to certain GPs to get referrals for surgery. It's a good thing, IMO, that they appear to have stopped that.

 

BTW, a lot of people think they pay enough tax to cover treatment, but in reality, the proportion of tax they pay for the NHS isn't enough to cover a serious problem. When I had cancer while in the UK. the amount of tax I'd paid would never have covered the cost of all the scans I had, let alone the actual surgery and follow up, all of which were free for me.

7 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Window shopping is no fun.

LOL. Back before purachai, gogos used to be such fun that I could stay all night in one in Nana, and go to bed alone because all the good ones had gone long before I called it a night. Sadly, purachai ended all that.

In the latter part of my time in LOS, IMO gogos had become such boring affairs that unless one was shopping there wasn't much point in being in one.

11 hours ago, Leaver said:

So, you live and work in the UK all your working life, paying tax, a lot of tax, then retire to Thailand and 6 months later get diagnosed with an illness that needs surgery and you think that because you left the UK 6 months ago you should not be entitled to medical treatment under the NHS.  

 

Really?  

I paid into the system when I was young and healthy, in the expectation of being treated when I was old and sick.

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

From google

quote

Is NHS free for British citizens living abroad?

If you're a British expat living overseas permanently, you won't generally be entitled to access NHS treatment. The NHS is a residence-based healthcare system, so British expats aren't automatically entitled to medical treatment.

end quote.

 

I don't make the rules, but IMO if one isn't living in the UK, then one isn't entitled to free NHS treatment. Blame the scam foreigners that used to get free treatment, despite never paying tax in the UK, for that. We weren't allowed to ask if they even lived in the UK, and many surgery patients in a certain part of London didn't speak English. As I understand it, they'd fly in, stay with relatives, and go to certain GPs to get referrals for surgery. It's a good thing, IMO, that they appear to have stopped that.

 

BTW, a lot of people think they pay enough tax to cover treatment, but in reality, the proportion of tax they pay for the NHS isn't enough to cover a serious problem. When I had cancer while in the UK. the amount of tax I'd paid would never have covered the cost of all the scans I had, let alone the actual surgery and follow up, all of which were free for me.

I had n't been back to the UK for 17 years, no drama's to go back and get vaccinated and also no drama's to get percriptions FOC from the doc / pharmacy.

 

I've contributed only 2 years of tax in mylife.

 

 

6 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

From google

quote

Is NHS free for British citizens living abroad?

If you're a British expat living overseas permanently, you won't generally be entitled to access NHS treatment. The NHS is a residence-based healthcare system, so British expats aren't automatically entitled to medical treatment.

end quote.

 

I don't make the rules, but IMO if one isn't living in the UK, then one isn't entitled to free NHS treatment. Blame the scam foreigners that used to get free treatment, despite never paying tax in the UK, for that. We weren't allowed to ask if they even lived in the UK, and many surgery patients in a certain part of London didn't speak English. As I understand it, they'd fly in, stay with relatives, and go to certain GPs to get referrals for surgery. It's a good thing, IMO, that they appear to have stopped that.

 

BTW, a lot of people think they pay enough tax to cover treatment, but in reality, the proportion of tax they pay for the NHS isn't enough to cover a serious problem. When I had cancer while in the UK. the amount of tax I'd paid would never have covered the cost of all the scans I had, let alone the actual surgery and follow up, all of which were free for me.

and what about Australia ? 

3 hours ago, HashBrownHarry said:

I had n't been back to the UK for 17 years, no drama's to go back and get vaccinated and also no drama's to get percriptions FOC from the doc / pharmacy.

 

I've contributed only 2 years of tax in mylife.

 

 

Your fiddling the system somebody keeping you on the electoral role and registered with the GP.

 

13 minutes ago, Irate priest said:

Your fiddling the system somebody keeping you on the electoral role and registered with the GP.

 

Not fiddling anything sunshine, if i am then it's a flawed system.

 

Re-registered with the Doctor in March, went back begining os July.

 

Use my parents address FWIW.

11 hours ago, HashBrownHarry said:

Not fiddling anything sunshine, if i am then it's a flawed system.

 

Re-registered with the Doctor in March, went back begining os July.

 

Use my parents address FWIW.

I was taken off my GPs register years before I became an expat as they hadn't seen me in > 15 years & am told by family that still live in the area that I would really struggle to get back on the list if I were to go home.  

 

Am curious, did you say that (or were you even asked if) you were re-patriating to the UK peremantely or just back to the UK for a holiday or did they simply not care that they hadn't seen you for years? 

 

 

6 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

I was taken off my GPs register years before I became an expat as they hadn't seen me in > 15 years & am told by family that still live in the area that I would really struggle to get back on the list if I were to go home.  

 

Am curious, did you say that (or were you even asked if) you were re-patriating to the UK peremantely or just back to the UK for a holiday or did they simply not care that they hadn't seen you for years? 

 

 

I contacted the doctor where i used to be registered and asked if was still on their system, they said NO.

 

I asked them what was required to re-register and they sent me a bunch of forms, filled them in - job done.

 

Think i had to supply 2 ID, passport and driving license, needed something for the address if i recall correctly.

 

This is in Scotland, maybe different in England?

 

I was actually surprised how easy it was tbh.

21 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

and what about Australia ? 

I've no idea and no interest in finding out as it would never concern myself, not living there.

Google may help you though.

On 10/13/2021 at 9:52 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

Is NHS free for British citizens living abroad?

If you're a British expat living overseas permanently, you won't generally be entitled to access NHS treatment. The NHS is a residence-based healthcare system, so British expats aren't automatically entitled to medical treatment.

end quote.

 

From the moment I step off the plane at Heathrow, am I still an "expat?"  

 

On 10/13/2021 at 9:52 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

I don't make the rules, but IMO if one isn't living in the UK, then one isn't entitled to free NHS treatment.

 

I disagree.  

 

In my opinion, if one lives and works all their working life in the UK, retires, and lives abroad, they should be entitled. 

 

On 10/13/2021 at 9:52 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

BTW, a lot of people think they pay enough tax to cover treatment, but in reality, the proportion of tax they pay for the NHS isn't enough to cover a serious problem.

 

Employed people pay their taxes, but not all employed people will be sick at any one time.  In effect, healthy tax payers are paying for those needing medical, and if / when the tax payer needs medical, other tax payer will be paying for them.  

 

On 10/13/2021 at 9:52 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

Blame the scam foreigners that used to get free treatment, despite never paying tax in the UK, for that.

 

I blame a lot of Brit's on welfare as well.  They are British, and also will never pay tax their whole life, but get free medical.  Yet, you refuse medical to those who have worked all their life in the UK but chose to live in the sun for their twilight years.  

On 10/13/2021 at 10:57 AM, BritManToo said:

I paid into the system when I was young and healthy, in the expectation of being treated when I was old and sick.

 

Yes.  I alluded to this in a subsequent post.  I don't think it's an unreasonable expectation.  

 

For some of my working life I was paying tax in the UK, despite not even living in the UK.  Even now, after retiring, with property and investments in the UK, I am still paying tax.  

13 hours ago, Leaver said:

 

Yes.  I alluded to this in a subsequent post.  I don't think it's an unreasonable expectation.  

 

For some of my working life I was paying tax in the UK, despite not even living in the UK.  Even now, after retiring, with property and investments in the UK, I am still paying tax.  

Edit: Sorry I thought we were discussing Pensions but I see now the context of your post was about the NHS but I'll leave this post here as it might be of interest to guys who have not yet reached State Pension age.... For NHS it doesn't matter whether you've paid any Tax or NI, it's a Residence Based Health Care scheme so to qualify you have to be ordinarily resident in the UK I.e. technically, you're not covered if you go back for a visit.  

 

 

The Tax you pay is irrelevant to your UK State Pension, it's the National Insurance (NI) Contributions  you've made that count. 

 

You need to do a minimum of 10 years to get anything & 35 years gets you the maximum so no point in paying any more than that. 

 

If you're British & living overseas then you can continue to contribute to your pension via AVCs, this is (or at least used to be & still is for me) at the Class 2 (Self Employed) rate which is £3.40 per week (Vs Class 3 rate of £15.40) which I calculated pays for itself approx 8 months after retirement Vs 3.5 years with the Class 3 rates.

 

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/rates

 

     

 

2 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

You need to do a minimum of 10 years to get anything & 35 years gets you the maximum so no point in paying any more than that. 

You're wrong,

Contributions under the new pension scheme (started 2016) can add more.

I had previously paid 34 years contributions (some contracted out) giving me a pension of 150 pounds/week.

5 years voluntary contributions, 2016+ at a cost of 4,000 pounds raised my pension to 176 pounds/week (total 39 years).

(Maximum possible state pension currently 179 pounds/week)

8 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

You're wrong,

Contributions under the new pension scheme (started 2016) can add more.

I had previously paid 34 years contributions (some contracted out) giving me a pension of 150 pounds/week.

5 years voluntary contributions, 2016+ at a cost of 4,000 pounds raised my pension to 176 pounds/week (total 39 years).

(Maximum possible state pension currently 179 pounds/week)

You know I’ve paid 36 years & still told that I need to get another 4 in to get maximum pension but i thought that was because they’d messed up the 7 years AVC lump sum I did in 2018 but maybe it’s because I’ve been “contracted out” for most of my career (am sure it used to be that you couldn’t get full State Pension if you were.contracted out).

 

Are you doing AVCs at Class 2 or Class 3 rates? 

32 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

Are you doing AVCs at Class 2 or Class 3 rates? 

Class 3, approx 800 pounds/year for 2016 to 2021

You need to call DWP and ask if buying extra years will increase your pension.

0800 731 0175 (opens 8:30am)

Then you need to buy the extra years from HMRC (they'll ask if you called DWP)

0300 200 3500 (opens 8am)

 

I use Skype so all the calls are free $24 for a UK phone number, $8/month for phone calls.

And they don't know you're calling from overseas.

34 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Class 3, approx 800 pounds/year for 2016 to 2021

You need to call DWP and ask if buying extra years will increase your pension.

0800 731 0175 (opens 8:30am)

Then you need to buy the extra years from HMRC (they'll ask if you called DWP)

0300 200 3500 (opens 8am)

 

I use Skype so all the calls are free $24 for a UK phone number, $8/month for phone calls.

And they don't know you're calling from overseas.

Many Thanks for the phone numbers, I plan on giving them a call next time I'm in the UK as I also have a partial year (doesn't count as anything) which I'm sure is from a 50p shortfall I had when I made the lump top-up which they said they'd write off. 

 

 

And what about Australia system?

19 hours ago, Leaver said:

 

 

 

 

I blame a lot of Brit's on welfare as well.  They are British, and also will never pay tax their whole life, but get free medical.  Yet, you refuse medical to those who have worked all their life in the UK but chose to live in the sun for their twilight years.  

I don't refuse anything- the government does.

However, I agree that if one has an address in the UK and is currently paying NI in the UK one should get it for free.

Want to change the rules, lobby the government to change them.

 

If one wants free medical, go back and live in the UK- up to you.

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I don't refuse anything- the government does.

However, I agree that if one has an address in the UK and is currently paying NI in the UK one should get it for free.

Want to change the rules, lobby the government to change them.

 

If one wants free medical, go back and live in the UK- up to you.

Yes, they made a choice to leave the UK & free healthcare behind when they left.  Same with pension increases.  It's in the not so small print.

 

Now cry about their choice.  Did they write / lobby the gov't to change the policy before or after leaving, or just come to AN to cry about their choice.

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

Yes, they made a choice to leave the UK & free healthcare behind when they left.  Same with pension increases.  It's in the not so small print.

Don't tell anyone you've gone ........ problem solved.

10 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

Edit: Sorry I thought we were discussing Pensions

 

I was clearly talking about the NHS, and commenting on your opinion that it is acceptable that the NHS should be geographically based.  

 

Are you also suggesting pensions should be geographically based as well? 

 

So, pay into a pension scheme all your working life, but move away from the UK in your retirement and you should not receive your pension?  ????  

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

However, I agree that if one has an address in the UK and is currently paying NI in the UK one should get it for free.

 

If you are paying in, it's not for free.  You have made contributions.  

7 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

And what about Australia system?

35 years residency for full portability. Need to remain in country for first 2 years