Health post transition

I’m looking for information and advice for friends of ours.

They plan to move to Brittany in October, (renting for a year then buying) to be here before the end of transition so benefit from its terms.

Neither of them currently receives state pension, my friend’s wife will get hers in October 2021

The questions I am looking for information on are

What options should they explore to get health cover until October, given their age it won’t be cheap, are there options through PUMA?

Will they be eligible for the current S1 arrangements as although they settle here before end of transition it will not be until October that one of them is eligible to apply in theory for an S1.

The lady is applying for an Irish passport as her mother was Irish, will this have any bearing on the options?

Has anybody got information on what will be the position of current residents who are early retirees when they reach UK state pension age only after the transition period has finished?

Can anybody recommend a good English-speaking insurance broker/company to help them through this maze as their situation is a little unusual.?

this is the link to Fabien our trusted Insurance expert…

Not quite clear what question your are asking…

Their position re… what …??? :thinking: :thinking:

Will they benefit from the current S1 arrangements (those in place prior transition end) because they are here before then even though they are not reaching UK state retirement age until 2021.

S1 presumably.
The government is currently saying

Which is slightly ambiguous if you were in France prior to Jan 1 2021 but reach State Pension age afterwards.

Only the UK government can really answer the question - and you probably won’t get a straight answer at the moment.

I suspect that the only way for @strudball’s friend to proceed is to assume that they will not get an S1 and treat it as a bonus if it turns out that they will  be eligible.

If that would mean the difference between France being viable / not viable try contacting the S1 office and putting the scenario to them.

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Sadly… re Health… the worst scenario is the only way… in my view…

the UK govt have already been shown to change their minds on what they will or won’t do for Brits abroad…

Edit:

= IF you ARE… etc etc

thinking it through… certainly regarding Health … the friends won’t be in that category…

The request was for a good adviser more than just a salesperson

and also the key question to which they want an answer is

“if you are in France prior to Jan 1 2021 but reach State Pension age afterwards”.

who can advise on this……MHG must have a position as there will be a lot of under state age retirement people who will be reach retirement in the next few years

Yes, I read it as only guaranteeing an S1 if you are in receipt of a state pension on Jan 1 - though I think the wording would not preclude gaining an S1 at a later date (i.e when you reach pension age) as long as you were in France beforehand.

Wuh?

If you are referring to Stella’s link to Fabien then you did ask for:

Which, as far as I know (never dealt with him) is exactly what Fabien is.

I already told you who can advise - the S1 office.

So ask the S1 office.

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“Health cover until October”? I guess that’s from October 2020 until October 2021?

As other have said, speak to Fabian about health insurance with flexible end date. Once they have been here 3 months (or perhaps just before so before end December…:wink:) they should apply to join PUMA. And once accepted with attestation can cancel or downgrade the health insurance. They will have to pay the standard cotisation for the bulk of 2021, but it’s very good value for a great healthcare. On an income of say 20k you will pay 800 a year.

Irish passport could change things, but I don’t know if you’d get Irish S1 if you had not paid into Irish NI. It will mean they will have no problems staying here as will have freedom of movement.

Paul’s info is current. I don’t get state pension until 2023, but I did find something official that said I would still get an S1 in my own right then under withdrawal agreement conditions. I’ll see if I can find it again.Remember if one half of a couple gets an S1 they can ask for a dependant’s S1 for the other half.

Actually I missed that bit in the original post - it will certainly help with the freedom of movement side, not sure it will change thingson the S1 side of the equation.

the reason why I do not trust what UK Gov have said re possible future… is that they clearly promised one thing on their site… and I breathed a huge sigh of relief…

then a few weeks later… they completely reneged… and threw everything into uproar.

Now, they have gone back (somewhat) to what they originally promised… but I would not trust them further than I can … :roll_eyes: :flushed: :upside_down_face:

“Spit a rat” as Zaphod Beeblebrox put it

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we are on the same wavelength… :upside_down_face: :wink: :rofl:

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Serious stuff John. Only your Government can tell you. As for becoming Irish, that’ll help with residency but not healthcare, unless Ireland is her competent state, ie she gets the majority of her pension from there.

If you are a Brit covered by the Withdrawal Agreement then you will be entitled to an S1 when you reach UK state retirement age unless in the meantime France has become your competent state for healthcare because you have been working there & thus been enrolled in healthcare. This is all covered by the Withdrawal Agreement.

The OP can enrol with PUMA after 3 months residence & i theory will need comprehensive healthcare insurance until they actually have a social security number which by all accounts can sometimes take some months. Once enrolled with PUMA they will be entitled to a CEAM (EHIC) which will cover them for NHS access if visiting the UK.

@anon30081639. Thanks…that’s the site I was remembering had the info about people who are yet to be pensioners.

(Of course we still have to hope that the WA won’t be trashed!)

The WA can’t be trashed. It’s a binding international treaty.

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If Bumbler Boris did that just watch the reaction of the bond market and uk borrowing rates.

International treaties can be amended and re-ratified. It’s hell to do, but I put nothing past the UK government right now.