SA29. Your social security insurance, benefits and healthcare rights in the European Economic Area
Benefits
16. Incapacity Benefit
UK Incapacity Benefit can be paid to people who cannot work because they are sick or disabled and are too young to get a UK State Pension – under 60 for women and under 65 for men.
The rules for UK Incapacity Benefit and the amount you get depend on whether your incapacity is short-term or long-term. Benefit is usually paid at three basic rates:
- short-term (lower rate) for the first 28 weeks;
- short-term (higher rate) from the 29th to 52nd week; and
- long-term rate from the 53rd week.
If you want to know more about the rules, read leaflet IB1 “A guide to Incapacity Benefit”.
UK short-term Incapacity Benefit in another EEA country
If, for any reason, you cannot get SSP in another EEA country, but you were last insured under the UK scheme, you may be able to get UK short-term Incapacity Benefit instead if:
- you fall sick while visiting another EEA country (for example, on holiday), but only if you need urgent medical treatment there;
- or you fall sick while you are living or working there;
- or you fall sick while you are looking for work there and while you are getting UK contribution-based JSA;
- or you are already getting short-term Incapacity Benefit in the UK and you go back to the country where you usually live or you go to live in another EEA country. But you must get your Jobcentre Plus or social security office to agree that you can carry on getting your benefit;
- or the Department of Health tells you that you can go there to get medical treatment. Look at the booklet “Health advice for travellers”. You can get a copy from any UK Post Office, or further information is available from the internet at www.dh.gov.uk/travellers, from the DH Publications Orderline on 08701 555 455 or by emailing dh@prolog.uk.com.
If these do not apply to you, and you are going to another EEA country for a short visit, you may still be able to get short-term Incapacity Benefit for up to 26 weeks. But you must be going abroad to get medical treatment for an illness which started before you left the UK; or to get treatment for an industrial injury; or you must have been unable to work for at least six months, with no gaps, before you go.
If you are getting UK short-term Incapacity Benefit in the UK and you are going to another EEA country, you should check with your Jobcentre Plus or social security office well before you leave. They will be able to tell you if going abroad will affect your benefit. Make sure you read sections 28-39 that tell you about health care, so that you can sort things out in good time.
When your period of UK short-term Incapacity Benefit runs out, you may then be able to get UK long-term Incapacity Benefit. For more information, read the paragraphs on long-term Incapacity Benefit later in this section.
Benefit for short-term sickness from another EEA country
If you have been working in another EEA country, you may have become insured for sickness since the last time you went there. If you have, and you claim benefit under that country's scheme, your UK insurance may help you to get it. The authorities there will ask HM Revenue and Customs for details of your UK insurance record.
HM Revenue and Customs Centre for Non Residents will send on to them form E104. They will usually need to get in touch with the employer you used to work for in the UK before they can send form E104. The authorities who run the foreign sickness scheme will decide your claim using their own rules.
If you have worked and become insured in another EEA country, and you then fall sick, you may wish to come back to the UK. If this happens, you may get the other country's sickness benefit in the UK. But you should claim the benefit before you come back to the UK.
UK short-term Incapacity Benefit when you come to the UK
If you are insured under the UK scheme and you fall sick while you are working for your employer, you can usually get SSP. But if, for any reason, you cannot get SSP in the UK, you may get UK short-term Incapacity Benefit instead.
If you claim UK short-term Incapacity Benefit in this country, the sickness insurance you paid in another EEA country may be used to help you get UK benefit. But only if you have worked and paid insurance contributions under the UK scheme as an employed or self-employed person since the last time you arrived in the UK.
Before you return to the UK, get a record of your sickness insurance from the authorities in the other EEA country. Ask them for form E104 and keep it in case you need it. If you do claim UK short-term Incapacity Benefit, give the form to the Jobcentre Plus/social security office dealing with your claim. Note that you cannot usually get benefit from more than one country for one lot of sickness.
If you have not paid any UK NI contributions since you last arrived in the UK, you may still get short-term Incapacity Benefit, but only if you:
- worked in another EEA country for a UK employer and paid contributions for the first 52 weeks of your employment abroad;
- and you were ordinarily resident in the UK for the whole time you were abroad and immediately before the start of your employment.
For further information, contact The Pension Service.
UK long-term Incapacity Benefit
If you have been insured for sickness in the UK only, you may be able to get UK long-term Incapacity Benefit anywhere you live or stay in the EEA as long as you satisfy the rules and continue to be unfit for work.
If you have been insured in the UK and in another EEA country, the benefit you can get depends on which other country or countries you have been insured in. This is because there are different rules for working out your benefit (see below for more information).
Benefit for long-term sickness from another EEA country
If you have been insured in the UK and also in any of the following countries:
- Belgium
- Finland (only for national pensions for persons who are born disabled or become disabled at an early age)
- France (except if you were employed as a miner or you were self-employed – but not as an agricultural worker)
- Greece (in the agricultural scheme only)
- Ireland
- Netherlands
- Spain (except the special schemes for civil servants, the armed forces and the judicial administration)
and from 1 May 2004, also:
- Estonia (only certain special schemes)
- Latvia (except invalidity benefits granted under Group I and Group II disability)
only one of them will pay you benefit. This is usually the country in which you were last insured when your sickness began. If you were last insured in the UK, you will get full rate long-term Incapacity Benefit and you may also get an increase for your dependants, if you satisfy the rules.
If you were last insured in one of the above countries, you will get that country's invalidity benefit. Previous periods of UK insurance may help you to satisfy the rules of the country from which you claim your benefit.
The country that pays your benefit may also pay you extra for an adult who depends on you. It does not matter if they live in another EEA country. As long as your husband, wife or civil partner does not work, you may also be paid extra for any children who depend on you.
Benefit for long-term sickness from more than one EEA country
If you have been insured at any time in the UK and also in any of the following countries:
- Austria
- Denmark
- Finland (except for national pensions for persons who are born disabled or become disabled at an early age)
- France (but only if you worked as a miner; or if you were self-employed – but not as an agricultural worker)
- Germany
- Greece (but not if you were insured under the agricultural insurance scheme)
- Iceland
- Italy
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Norway
- Portugal
- Spain (only the special schemes for civil servants, the armed forces and the judicial administration)
- Sweden
- Switzerland
and from 1 May 2004, also:
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Estonia (except certain special schemes)
- Hungary
- Latvia (only invalidity benefits granted under Group I and Group II disability)
- Lithuania
- Malta
- Poland
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
you may be able to get UK long-term Incapacity Benefit and also an invalidity benefit from each of the other countries where you were insured.
Each country where you have been insured will work out how much of their benefit they can pay you. Different rules apply to any extra you may get for an adult and child(ren) who depend on you. See also How your claim is worked out and the Getting extra for your dependants.
If you are getting benefit from only one of the countries where you were insured, ask the authorities that pay your benefit to send your claim to the other country or countries where you were insured. They will then consider whether they can pay you their benefit.