Can you simply take a flight to UK every 11-12 weeks and stay a couple nights at a Hounslow hotel?

Maybe do some shopping

No more 90 day reports due either

2 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Seems like It's only a male thing.

My friend had his mother return to Australia after being away, living in the states. She's in her 60's, been away from Australia for a decade, she went to Centrelink, renewed her Medicare card, her residency was re-established and receiving her Medicare card without delay, no wait period.

Body gender discrimination.

Sexism, it's rife in Australia.

Same for male and female.

Gender has nothing to do with it.

5 minutes ago, Will27 said:

Same for male and female.

Gender has nothing to do with it.

Nope

3 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Nope

Give some examples.

2 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

said:

Australians automatically lose their residencey when living outside Australia for more than 5 years.

You have to reapply for your residency and Medicare card after 5 years.

Seems like It's only a male thing.

My friend had his mother return to Australia after being away, living in the states. She's in her 60's, been away from Australia for a decade, she went to Centrelink, renewed her Medicare card, her residency was re-established and receiving her Medicare card without delay, no wait period.

Body gender discrimination.

Sexism, it's rife in Australia.

Here you go

2 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

, SAFETY FIRST said:

On 3/6/2026 at 6:37 AM, SAFETY FIRST said:

Australians automatically lose their residencey when living outside Australia for more than 5 years.

You have to reapply for your residency and Medicare card after 5 years.

Seems like It's only a male thing.

My friend had his mother return to Australia after being away, living in the states. She's in her 60's, been away from Australia for a decade, she went to Centrelink, renewed her Medicare card, her residency was re-established and receiving her Medicare card without delay, no wait period.

Body gender discrimination.

Sexism, it's rife in Australia

It appears that a male in his 60s returning back to Australia to reside, after five years away from the country, he loses his residency and Medicare card. It can take up to six months to get these his residency status and Medicare card re issued.

A woman in her 60's, goes back to Australia after having been away from Australia for more than five years, they get their residencey and Medicare card issued on the spot.

20 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

For some maybe I get the distinct impression, from all your doom laden warnings , that you have never even tried to "fool the system" I have , many times, I always got away with it and saved myself a fortune as an added bonus,

What's more I'm not the only one, I reckon people like you are a little jealous of those of us who successfully scam the system , but as long as there are people like you who "do as they are told" there is less chance of lazy inept civil servants looking too hard for the rest of us,,

So crack on you'll get your reward in heaven (as long as you pass the residency test)

Paying National Insurance contributions for 50 years then choosing to live abroad for the last 10 years is hardly 'getting away with it'. Our NHS are the ones getting away with it by getting our money in advance for services and treatment we don't use. Whenever I return to UK I get my vaccinations brought up-to-date and the five yearly NHS Health Check. Free eye test at my optometrist under the National Health Service too.

2 hours ago, The Fugitive said:

Paying National Insurance contributions for 50 years then choosing to live abroad for the last 10 years is hardly 'getting away with it'. Our NHS are the ones getting away with it by getting our money in advance for services and treatment we don't use. Whenever I return to UK I get my vaccinations brought up-to-date and the five yearly NHS Health Check. Free eye test at my optometrist under the National Health Service too.

I probably should have said "not been caught" you are correct, it is not "getting away with it " they are taking us for fools

Just now, scottiejohn said:

But not for routine searches. They must a get judge to sign off for said searches on a case by case/police etc investigation !

On 3/28/2026 at 9:12 AM, jori123 said:

Load of tosh,crap.means tested benefits are under spotlight,not OAP,read the rules,no checking,same living in the unfrozen,no checking at airports

i am afraid you are the one talking tosh, i stated that child benifit and pension credit were under the spotlight not the state pension which is different, but the new powers and AI make it much easier to track down, perhaps you do not understand the difference between the state pension and pension credit, maybe a kind sole could explain it to you, it is not really hard,

6 minutes ago, howerde said:

i am afraid you are the one talking tosh, i stated that child benifit and pension credit were under the spotlight not the state pension which is different, but the new powers and AI make it much easier to track down, perhaps you do not understand the difference between the state pension and pension credit, maybe a kind sole could explain it to you, it is not really hard,

You are talking Tosh. The state pension is classified as a benefit;

Stop UK Government and Departments from labeling "State Pension" as benefits! - Petitions

"The State Pension is described in legislation as a “benefit” in order to root it within the existing social security framework as a statutory scheme paid out of monies in the National Insurance Fund."

22 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

You are talking Tosh. The state pension is classified as a benefit;

Stop UK Government and Departments from labeling "State Pension" as benefits! - Petitions

"The State Pension is described in legislation as a “benefit” in order to root it within the existing social security framework as a statutory scheme paid out of monies in the National Insurance Fund."

i am talking about PENSION CREDIT which is a benefit and it can not not be claimed living abroad or taken abroad if you claim it in the UK , the state pension can be claimed abroad and it can be taken abroad if you move from the UK,

2 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

You are talking Tosh. The state pension is classified as a benefit;

A few weeks ago I received the summary from HMRC of my taxes paid for the year ended April 2025, then a separate page headed "Your taxes and public spending" - a breakdown of how the taxes are spent. Top of the list is Welfare (21.3%), followed by Health (20.9%), then State Pensions (11.9%), and so on.

So it appears that HMRC at least classify Benefits and the State Pension separately.

Incidentally, next on the list is National Debt Interest (10.8%), a horrendous figure. The last few Governments have maxed out the credit card.

4 hours ago, Eff1n2ret said:

A few weeks ago I received the summary from HMRC of my taxes paid for the year ended April 2025, then a separate page headed "Your taxes and public spending" - a breakdown of how the taxes are spent. Top of the list is Welfare (21.3%), followed by Health (20.9%), then State Pensions (11.9%), and so on.

So it appears that HMRC at least classify Benefits and the State Pension separately.

Incidentally, next on the list is National Debt Interest (10.8%), a horrendous figure. The last few Governments have maxed out the credit card.

It's the DWP rather than HMRC, but even thought they have two figures under the different headings, in law the State Pension (both new and old) is most definitely classified as a benefit.

On 3/27/2026 at 9:24 AM, Bday Prang said:

he had also been suffering on the flight, and was picked up by ambulance at heathrow , That may well have also caused some bureaucrats to look a little deeper,, But he clearly did not help himself

The whole charade is an absolute disgrace when illegal immigrants who have contributed and will contribute nothing to the system get treated better than those of us who have contributed for years, being economical with the truth is always the best policy they don't know as much as some would have us believe.and as another member has pointed out most people talk themselves into trouble,, Remember you have the right to remain silent, and should do so

What's the 90 day rule all about? people can go on holiday for more than 90 days if they so wish and it should have no bearing on their right to receive free NHS treatment

If they tried to issue me with a £15,000 invoice I would stick it in an envelope and send it straight back to them having wiped my arse with it first .

I'd wonder how any such invoice would hold up in a court of law if they tried enforcing it as a debt to pay?

2 hours ago, FriendlyHorse said:

I'd wonder how any such invoice would hold up in a court of law if they tried enforcing it as a debt to pay?

Clearly by what my Member of Parliament stated the answer is certainly yes

Clearly the legislation that (wrongly) entrapped me exists but doubtless rarely gets pursued. On this occasion they did after finding an extensive travel history (from whatever source) that could hardly be denied by me lol

The error they made was somehow thinking I had been out of UK for more than 90 days on an occasion. That was wrong as the most was 77

I have left a lot out of the overall conversations I had with the NHS recovery team subsequently as they would have added nothing to the thread. It was purely a warning to all and sundry that NHS services can be chargeable for British nationals under certain circumstances

There will always be people who say well I came back after (insert amount of years) and didnt get charged for my operation (or whatever)

Luck of the draw I guess. I still laugh at the guy on this thread who claimed I talked my way into trouble when the 100% opposite was true as I had said virtually nothing in the hospital and nothing on discharge until the original invoice arrived

On 3/29/2026 at 10:40 AM, SAFETY FIRST said:

It appears that a male in his 60s returning back to Australia to reside, after five years away from the country, he loses his residency and Medicare card. It can take up to six months to get these his residency status and Medicare card re issued.

A woman in her 60's, goes back to Australia after having been away from Australia for more than five years, they get their residencey and Medicare card issued on the spot.

If this is such an unacceptable inconvenience for you, why not consider getting a sex change operation in Bangkok? It's allegedly a bit of a 'hub' for that sort of thing.

On 3/29/2026 at 9:40 AM, SAFETY FIRST said:

It appears that a male in his 60s returning back to Australia to reside, after five years away from the country, he loses his residency and Medicare card. It can take up to six months to get these his residency status and Medicare card re issued.

A woman in her 60's, goes back to Australia after having been away from Australia for more than five years, they get their residencey and Medicare card issued on the spot.

What's all this got to do with Brits getting charged by the NHS for spending too long in Thailand? I'm really struggling to see the connection, you know! 🤒

31 minutes ago, OJAS said:

What's all this got to do with Brits getting charged by the NHS for spending too long in Thailand? I'm really struggling to see the connection, you know! 🤒

STOP struggling immediately, put your reading glasses on and your thinking cap, then go back to my first comment, it's a similar situation.

BTW, if English is not your first language, try Google translate

.

Edited May 10May 10 by SAFETY FIRST

Since my original post I've read of 2 other cases down here In Devon and Cornwall over Brits where whilst slightly different the NHS recovery department stepped in demanding payment via invoice

Suspect its more prevalent than we know