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  • Breadcrumb

    1. Home
    2. Benefits and money
    3. Benefits and financial support
    4. Guide to benefits
    5. Before claiming a benefit

    Claiming benefits in Europe - EEA countries

    Your rights to claim benefits, tax credits or other financial support are protected by social security arrangements between the UK and other countries in the European Economic Area (EEA). This means you may be able to get UK benefits while living abroad in certain countries.

    Who can claim benefits in the EEA

    You may be able to get benefits and other financial support if any of the following apply:

    • you've lived, worked or studied (a recognised career qualification) in an EEA country
    • you're a stateless person or refugee and you live in an EEA country
    • you're a dependant or the widow or widower of anyone who was covered by the regulations (your nationality doesn't matter)
    • you're the widow, widower or child of someone who worked in an EEA country and was not an EEA national or a stateless person or refugee (but you must be a national of that country)
    • you're not an EEA or Swiss national but legally resident in the UK
    • you've lived in the EEA country long enough to qualify

    It's important you tell your Jobs and Benefits office if you plan to live permanently or temporarily in another country.

    EEA countries

    These are countries that have benefits arrangements or reciprocal agreements with the UK. The UK is Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales but not the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

    This means you may be able to get benefits in the countries listed at the following link:

    • Countries in the European Union and European Economic Area

    Jobseeker's Allowance

    If you're of working age but unemployed and actively seeking work, you may be able to get Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA).

    Contribution-based JSA may be paid to people abroad, providing you satisfy the National Insurance contributions in the UK and meet the other conditions for entitlement to benefit. 

    You may be able to get contribution-based JSA in the EEA for up to three months if you:

    • are entitled to contribution-based JSA on the day you go abroad
    • have registered as a jobseeker for at least four weeks before you leave
    • are available for work and actively seeking work in Northern Ireland up to the day you leave
    • are going abroad to look for work
    • register for work at the equivalent of a Jobs and Benefits office in the country you are going to
    • keep to the other country’s rules on registering and looking for work

    Benefits if you're expecting or bringing up children

    Statutory Maternity Pay

    To help you to take time off work when you have a baby, you may be able to get Statutory Maternity Pay if the following apply:

    • you've been employed by a UK employer in the EEA continuously for at least 26 weeks into the 15th week before the week your baby is due
    • you're earning an average of at least £116 a week (before tax)

    Maternity Allowance

    If you're unable to get Statutory Maternity Pay, you may be able to get Maternity Allowance to help you take time off work when you're pregnant or have a new baby.

    To qualify for Maternity Allowance you must have been:

    • employed or self-employed for at least 26 of the 66 weeks before the week your baby is due
    • have earned an average of £30 in any 13 weeks in the 66 weeks before the week your baby is due

    Child Benefit

    You will be able to get Child Benefit if you're bringing up a child or young person who is:

    • aged under 16
    • a young person under 19 (under 20 in some cases) who is either studying in full-time, non-advanced education (A level or equivalent) or on a government-funded training programme
    • 16 or 17 years old and has recently left school and registered for work or training with the Careers or Connexions Service or similar

    Guardian's Allowance

    If you're bringing up a child or children for whom you're getting Child Benefit, you may be able to claim Guardian's Allowance if both the child's parents have died.

    Sometimes you can get Guardian's Allowance if only one parent has died, for example, if:

    • you don't know where the surviving parent is
    • their parents were divorced or their civil partnership has been dissolved (certain conditions apply)
    • the parents weren't married and the mother has died but it isn't known who the father is
    • the surviving parent is in prison with a minimum two years left to serve, or is detained in a hospital by order of the court (certain regulations apply)

    Benefits if you're ill or injured

    Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance

    Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance will be paid to people within the EEA and Switzerland, provided you satisfy the National Insurance contributions in Great Britain and meet the other conditions for entitlement to benefit. You should claim in the usual way and your claim will be referred to the International Pension Centre.

    Severe Disablement Allowance

    You can't make a new claim for Severe Disablement Allowance but if you're already getting the allowance, you may be able to claim it in another EEA country if before 6 April 2001 you were unable to work for at least 28 weeks in a row because of illness or disability.

    Work accidents, diseases and deafness

    You may be able to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for accidents at or in connection with work if any of the following apply:

    • you were employed when the accident or event happened
    • the work accident or event that caused your illness or disability happened in the UK (there are some exceptions you can ask Industrial Injuries Branch about)

    You may also be able to claim Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for diseases and deafness caused by certain types of work.

    Statutory Sick Pay

    If you work for a UK employer in the EEA, you will usually be able to get Statutory Sick Pay. You will get this as long as you qualify under the general rules.

    Disability benefits

    If you have a disability or you are a carer and you leave The United Kingdom to live in a EEA state or Switzerland, you may be able to receive your disability benefit abroad.

    Your entitlement to Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment and the amount is based on the information you told the Disability and Carers Service or PIP Centre in the UK. If there are any changes to the information it is your responsibility to tell them.

    • Personal Independence Payment
    • Disability Living Allowance for children
    • Payment of disability benefits in other European countries

    Bereavement benefits

    If your husband, wife or civil partner died on or after 6 April 2017, you may be able to get Bereavement Support Payment.

    You could be eligible if your partner either:

    • paid National Insurance contributions for at least 25 weeks
    • died because of an accident at work or a disease caused by work

    When they died you must have been:

    • under State Pension age
    • living in the UK or a country that pays bereavement benefits

    State Pension

    You may be entitled to State Pension if:

    • you've reached State Pension age
    • you (or your husband, wife or civil partner) have enough qualifying years based on your National Insurance contributions (NICs)

    To find out about your rights in another EEA country, you will need to contact the authorities who run the pension scheme in that country.

    • State Pension for people living overseas

    Leaving the European Union (EU)

    For information on leaving the EU, including the impact on benefits if you are an EU citizen in the UK or a UK national in the EU, visit the following page:

    • Benefits and pensions for EEA and Swiss citizens in the UK
    • Claiming benefits if you live, move or travel abroad: Overview

    More useful links

    • Pensions abroad
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    Before claiming a benefit

    • Claiming benefits in Europe - EEA countries
    • Direct Payments and the different types available
    • How benefits and pensions are paid
    • How to claim benefit
    • How to find out if you qualify for benefits
    • Payment Exception Service
    • Understanding the benefits system

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    What to do next

    Comments or queries about angling can be emailed to anglingcorrespondence@daera-ni.gov.uk 

    If you have a comment or query about benefits, you will need to contact the government department or agency which handles that benefit.  Contacts for common benefits are listed below.

    Carer's Allowance

    Call 0800 587 0912
    Email 
    dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

    Discretionary support / Short-term benefit advance

    Call 0800 587 2750 
    Email 
    customerservice.unit@communities-ni.gov.uk

    Disability Living Allowance

    Call 0800 587 0912 
    Email dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

    Employment and Support Allowance

    Call 0800 587 1377

    Jobseeker’s Allowance

    Contact your local Jobs & Benefits office

    Personal Independence Payment

    Call 0800 587 0932

    If your query is about another benefit, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

    Comments or queries about the Blue Badge scheme can be emailed to bluebadges@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk or you can also call 0300 200 7818.

    For queries or advice about careers, contact the Careers Service.

    For queries or advice about Child Maintenance, contact the Child Maintenance Service.

    For queries or advice about claiming compensation due to a road problem, contact DFI Roads claim unit.

    If you can’t find the information you’re looking for in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) section, then for queries about:

    • Restrictions or regulations — contact the Department of Health
    • Travel advice (including self-isolation) — contact the Department of Health
    • Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations — contact the Department of Health or Public Health Agency

    If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

    For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk and for queries about your certificate, email covidcertni@hscni.net.

    For queries or advice about criminal record checks, email ani@accessni.gov.uk

    Application and payment queries can be emailed to ema_ni@slc.co.uk

    For queries or advice about employment rights, contact the Labour Relations Agency.

    For queries or advice about birth, death, marriage and civil partnership certificates and research, contact the General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI) by email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk

    For queries about your GRONI account, email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk.

    For queries about the High Street Spend Local Scheme,  email HSSS.mail@economy-ni.gov.uk.

    For queries about:

    • Car tax, vehicle registration and SORN
      contact the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Swansea
       
    • Driver licensing and tests, MOT and vehicle testing
      contact the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA), Northern Ireland

    If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

    For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk.

     

    For queries or advice about passports, contact HM Passport Office.

    For queries or advice about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), including parking tickets and bus lane PCNs, email dcu@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk

    For queries or advice about pensions, contact the Northern Ireland Pension Centre.

    If you wish to report a problem with a road or street you can do so online in this section.

    If you wish to check on a problem or fault you have already reported, contact DfI Roads.

    For queries or advice about historical, social or cultural records relating to Northern Ireland, use the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) enquiry service.

    For queries or advice about rates, email LPSCustomerTeam@lpsni.gov.uk

    For queries or advice about  60+ and Senior Citizen SmartPasses (which can be used to get concessionary travel on public transport), contact Smartpass - Translink.

    If you have a question about a government service or policy, you should contact the relevant government organisation directly.  We don't have access to information about you.

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