Two British expatriates, John and Tina Hamilton, have received a sharp shock in the form of their UK disability allowance being cut short by the UK government.
The retired couple, who moved away from the UK in 2006, had been collecting a disability allowance since 2000 due to the rheumatoid arthritis that Mr Hamilton suffers. Upon moving to a “modest” home in the north of France the Hamilton’s soon discovered that their benefit payments had been disabled.
For unbeknownst to the retired couple the UK government had recently ruled that UK citizens on disability, who had moved away from the UK, were no longer entitled to the benefit allowance they would have received at home. This came as a big blow to the couple, who were incensed by the ruling. Speaking to the Telegraph Online, Mrs Hamilton remarked: “We were astonished when it was taken away from him. We’ve paid tax all our working lives, we still have family and close ties to England.” The £180 deficit has now forced the Hamilton’s to lead a more restrained retirement than the one they had in mind “Perhaps we were a bit naïve, but we didn’t know John would lose his benefit when he moved to France” she added.