Just moved back to UK after 10 years in Australia; any idea of entitlements?

[Misroc77]

Hi I'm 7 months pregnant and have just moved back to the UK and in with my Mum after 10 years in Sydney. I was offered and took redundancy before I left so am now unemployed for the first time in my life! Whilst I have some some savings and plan to look for work after baby is around 10 moths old, does anyone have any idea how I go about finding out if I am entitled to any benefits in the interim? Having not lived here for quite some time I am at a loss as to where to start or who to speak to. Thanks for any advice.

You'd have to meet the habitual residence test, which is vague so it's hard for anyone to advise whether you'd be eligible without actually going through the application. Also, for most benefits for those on a low income you'd have to meet the means test, if you have savings above £6k they'd be affected and if your savings are above £16k you wouldn't be eligible at all. You should be able to get Child Benefit, about £20 a week. I'd suggest going to the CAB to get advice.

How much approx do you have in savings, as this may impact on bemefits you're eligible for.

Thanks so much @sugarpush @rockchick1984. My savings are around the 16k mark funnily enough so am unlikely eligible for anything, which is fine and as expected. Will look into the Habitual Residence Test anyway and approach the CAB just in case. Cheers

You could try a job. I was hired in the UK at 5 months pregnant and worked until just before the birth and went straight back which worked very well.

this page may be of interest:

www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/1087.aspx?categoryid=68&subcategoryid=162

assuming that you are British, you are eligible to use the NHS from now. They may ask for evidence that you are returning permanently, and one of those pieces of evidence (it says) is applying for benefits!

so you look to be eligible, although those savings mean you probably aren't. However if your mum is not charging rent, 16K should keep you going for two years even with contributions to bills.

welcome home.

We spent a few years in New Zealand and I fell pregnant with ds3 not long after returning to the UK. We were eligible for NHS maternity care but had to show lots of evidence that we were planning to stay here permanently. Fortunately we were in the process of buying a house here, so were able to show that and other documents to help our case.

If you have UK national insurance contributions from before 10 years ago when you moved abroad they might count for getting you maternity allowance.

Thanks specialsubject and babyroobs. I am British (Welsh, but I presume there is a similar document). Whilst I am I intending to live here permanently proving it may be a little more difficult. I did not own property in Australia to sell and do not intend to buy in the UK yet either. My intention wasn't really to apply for benefits either (other than to find out about child benefit in general) as I have hopefully saved enough to get me through the time out if work.
Having been born and lived in the UK for 25 yrs always worked, paid taxes and my NI contributions before I went to Australia, I am a little stunned that on returning 10 years later I may have to pay for NHS care. I have already registered with a doctor & seen a midwife and this was without issue so fingers crossed that my first hospital appt on Wednesday doesn't prove difficult! Thanks again

Thanks mariajenny, I was paying my NI contributions before I left and intend to again now tbat I am back so will look into this. Cheers

Misroc, as far as I know the UK and Australia have a reciprocal health agreement. Which means that an Australian in the UK is entitled to heath care including maternity. Hopefully this will mean you are covered. It'd be slightly crazy if you weren't!

Congratulations and good luck.

NI contributions from 10 years ago won't count for MA, they only consider the previous 66 weeks before the baby is born. There is ESA for women who can't get SMP or MA, but you'd still need to pass the habitual residence test.

Thanks very much Kakaka, there is a reciprocal health agreement between the two countries, just seems crazy that healthcare may be an issue being that I'm a UK born citizen!

Thanks again Sugarpush, however can you expand the abbreviations ESA & SMA?! Cheers

ESA is employment support allowance (a benefit), SMP is statutory maternity pay (from your employer). It's a bit of a minefield, hopefully the CAB will be able to advise you on something that you could get.

Child Tax Credits are another benefit (payable once a baby is born) and that has an income limit but not a savings limit, so you might be eligible for that.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge sugarpush, really appreciate it. Next stop is definitely the CAB for me! Cheers