Living the Dream

Millions of people dream about having a place in the sun. Thousands have been able to turn that dream into a reality, but what happens if things go wrong? The Insider has put together what it considers is a worst case scenario (using actual stories) and looks at the results.
1) You have invested your life savings and bought your dream home. You are fortunate you don't need a mortgage.
2)You have a steady income, though limited, but sufficient to meet your needs on a daily basis.
3)You have taken out a loan from a Spanish Bank either to but some necessary household items or make some improvements to your home. Your current income can meet that additional cost.
4) You suffer as a result of the economic crisis and your limited income is suddenly reduced dramatically due to the low exchange rate. This results in you not being able to meet your monthly loan repayments. You have a choice, pay the bank the full amount and starve or ask them to reduce the payments to a level you can afford.
5) They don't respond to your letters and take yo to court, but you cannot afford to hire a lawyer to act for you.
6) Eventually, they repossess your house which was used as security against the loan, and you out on the street, having lost everything. Remember, you cannot afford a lawyer, and you only have 5 days to lodge an appeal. You have only just found out that you could get "Legal Aid", but it takes at least3-4 weeks for this to be approved, and you might be lucky in getting a lawyer who speaks English, it depends on your luck, which so far you have not had much of.
The only thing left to do is return to Britain and start again to rebuild your life.
The dream has become a nightmare, but alas, it doesn't stop there, because o0n the way back, your wallet is stolen, together with all your identity -Bank Cards, Driving Licence etc, not to mention your passport. So its off to the Consulate (after spending over an hour at the police station filing your case. You need an emergency passport which costs 114 Euros, but you've no bank card, therefore no bank details (without looking at your card, do you know the card number and the 3 digit security number on the back?). Apart from that, you don't have enough money anyway to pay for the passport (everything has been stolen). You have your chequebook, but they won't accept that, it has to be a debit or credit card. Result - snookered - unless you can find someone who can pay it for you.
You eventually arrive in Britain, but your emergency passport is retained by Passport Control at the airport. Again, you are left without any ID.
The income you had in Spain was sufficient to meet but the cost of living in Britain is higher and you are now in extreme financial difficulties.
You have paid into "the System" for years, now you need the "System" to help you not only to live but start rebuilding your life.
Here is what to expect
1) You have no ID papers. The Emergency Passport was retained at the airport, and the Consulate cannot supply a photocopy.
2) You cannot get a copy Birth Certificate as you do not have any identification to verify that you are who you say you are.
3) You need to complete a Habitual Resident Test as you have not been living in the UK for 185 days during the year.
4) You declare you had a property abroad and that it has been repossessed. You provide a copy of the Court Order verifying this.
5) The value of the property is more than the value of the loan secured against it so you state you are looking to recover the balance from the sale of the house (depending on how much it sells for).
6) 5 weeks later, you still haven't heard anything although you are constantly chasing the matter with the DWP. Eventually you are told that your claim has been rejected as the "Decision Maker believes you will return to Spain once the issue of the house has been sorted". What have you got to go back to ? You have nowhere to live.
The result, No benefit being paid so you lodge an appeal to which the tell you it will take up to 50 working days to deal with it, - another 10 weeks. Yo cannot get any assistance from the state - no Crisis Load (no benefit  to deduct the repayment from), You cannot apply for any other benefits (you have a claim on appeal), so you have to survive as best you can. You are still required to sign on, but you have no money to pay for bus fares. If you don't sign on, your claim is cancelled.
These are actual events which have been reported to us. This is actually happening in Britain today.
The media is full of comments about Musa Kusa being given a 6 month visa to come and go as he pleases., yet British Citizens returning from abroad are refused the help0 they need.
David Cameron is on about a tidal wave of immigration which is ripping the communities apart. No doubt the majority of them are receiving benefit (although they have never contributed anything to the system). Are they completing a Habitual Residence Test?
It['s election time, so ask your MP what they have to say about this scenario and let us know their response by e-mailing theinsider@btconnect.com
It is useless writing to your MP or the Secretary of State for Works and Pensions. They can choose whether or not to respond (see an earlier post).
We are not looking for much, just fair treatment for everybody and a bit of understanding. It's not too much to ask.
Till next time
The Insider