@graham … yes indeed. An elderly lady in our Commune did that, in retrospect, once she had decided she would stay here. Until that point, she was covered under her visiting rights.
To get back to the OP - have you actually found anything to suggest that working part time / ad hoc in the UK would entitle him to an S1? Because all the definitions of cross border workers that I’ve seen, suggest that it has to be a regular arrangement, eg
“If you work in one EU country but live in another and return there daily, or at least once a week, you count as a cross-border commuter under EU law (sometimes called cross-border or frontier worker).”
I still think that the amount of time he spends working in the UK is going to be key, and until HMRC know that, they won’t be able to decide if he’s eligible.
I doubt that at is the case if you are fiscally non resident in the UK.
The EHIC is for visitors only to the EU (European Health Insurance Card) and this right is withdrawn immediately you become fiscally resident in another EU State (even though you may still have the card in your possession).
I believe if you’re a Brit living in the EU and your healthcare comes via a UK-issued S1, your EHIC is also issued by the UK. It’s a little quirk of the system.
My husband is retired, with an S1 from the UK, and fully integrated into the French Health system with a Carte Vitale. I also have an S1 (as his wife, they kindly provided me with one when he reached retirement age in the UK even although my own retirement age was a few years away), but I don’t make use of it.
I have worked in France, and therefore have my own Carte Vitale as a French pensioner. I have a French European Health Card.
My husband has a UK issued European Health Card, which he can use in European countries except the U.K. and France.
If you are near retirement age, then perhaps await until then before permanently relocating? So many imponderables at the moment, and sorting this little lot out when you do arrive will take a little while - and that is before any Brexit conundrums… if you do move before, budget in a private healthcare cost.
If your husband produces his CV and EHIC in the UK he is entitled to the same treatment as a UK Resident…see link below…
Thank you, Stella, that is very useful to know. Thankfully, during our visits to the UK, we have never had to try to access any healthcare services… but when he was given this card, it was an issue. Great that common sense has prevailed. Let us hope that this continues into the Brexit negotiations!
I will remind him to take his Carte Vitale on his next trip, we normally take them out our wallets when we go over there!
Have a great Christmas!
Sandra
I did not realize there was any issue… until I read your post… and checked the info that had come with my card in 2010 (and I had not bothered to read at that time).
Phew… glad the current health legislation now includes nearly all us UK pensioners…
Hi
I don’t know if the regulations have changed but I did exactly what you would like to do. We owned our house for several years before settling here permantly when my wife retired (aged 60). We sold our property in the UK and held no assets there apart from a bank account. As soon as we arrived, my wife applied for an S1 and was granted one, so she became eligible for entry into the french health system (which is fabulous) straight away.
I am a couple of years younger than my wife and worked as a freelance IT consultant. My clients were all in UK (my french language skills weren’t good enough to work in France) so I commuted on a weekly basis to work - I paid NI (self employed) and income tax in UK. I applied for an S1 (primarily to join the french health system) and was granted one BUT I was told I could not do anything that could be considered work in France …No looking for new work, No Accounts, No thinking about clients issues, Nothing. I had to reapply for my S1 every two years. I continued
to do this until I reached 65 and retired - I then got an S1 as a pensioner. At this point I registered in the French Tax system as well.
It worked for me but you need to check things out properly, which isn’t easy … I remember going round in circles with HMRC etc.
Hope this helps.
I think this is an important factor when you apply for the workers S1. The main problem I foresee for the OP is, there seems to be no regular working pattern planned.
Yes I agree Anna u fortunately hard to know if without actively doing any client calls from France what work will come in. We’ve also been told that we mustn’t take or make any calls or do any business related paperwork whilst in France
Hi
Sorry I didn’t make it clear … I only commuted when I had work and
not every week. It wasn’t regular work and I had some contracts that
lasted 3 months and others thats lasted only a week (or less) …this
made it tricky because technically I wasn’t supposed to look for work in
UK when I was in France - So I had to search for my next contract and do
my accounts in my hotel room when I was working in UK.
Also I always traded through a UK registered Limited Company which I
owned for several years before we moved.
If I recall rightly, the biggest issue I had was proving to the UK
authorities that I had permanently left the UK. It was important that I
had no assets in UK.
Not sure if this helps.
Regards
Ian
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
We do have assets in UK as when my husband would commute to work he would stay at our one bed flat we keep in UK .
So complicated