Getting long-term Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, widow’s benefits, bereavement benefits or State Pension when you are living in another EEA country

You may be able to get one of the above benefits from the UK when living in another EEA country. If so, you may also be able to get healthcare paid for by the UK for yourself and for any members of your family who depend on you and who live with you.

Note: Any medical treatment you need will be given by the health services in the country where you live. Contact The Pension Service (Directgov), to ask for form E121 as soon as possible before you go. You may need a separate E121 form for yourself and each member of your family. When you get them, give them to the authorities who run the sickness insurance scheme in the country where you live.

If you and any members of your family visit any other EEA country you will need a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) to cover any necessary medical treatment if you visit another EEA member state. You should get one from the sickness insurance authorities in the country in which you live.

If your UK benefit stops for any reason, you will no longer get the cost of healthcare paid for by the UK. Also, the UK might not give you healthcare cover if:

• you get a pension from the country where you live or go to live; and
• you can get healthcare cover under that country’s rules.

It is possible that you may have to pay into a sickness insurance scheme in the other country. The sickness insurance authorities there will be able to tell you if you have to do this. If you can, ask them about this before you go to live there.

Note: If you are going to live in Spain, you will be charged for treatment if you do not have form E121. If this happens, you may be able to get a refund. But only if you tell the local Spanish sickness office before treatment that you wish to be treated under the EEA rules and that you have applied for form E121. To get a refund, you must make a claim to the Instituto Nacional de Seguridad Social (INSS) when you have your form E121.

Until your form E121 has been registered at the local sickness insurance office, you are not covered for healthcare. There is sometimes a delay before you are issued with a residence permit in Spain. The sickness insurance authorities may refuse to register your E121 until you have the permit. Therefore, where you are submitting the form E121 for registration, but the application for residencia has not yet been approved, you should submit a copy of the residencia application form. Temporary healthcare would be provided until a full decision on the residencia application is made. Even then, they may not backdate the registration. You may wish to take out private medical insurance to cover you during this period.