Watch out Carvoeiro expats

[HampshireRich]

I was informed by an ex-pat member of the forum about one particular person who was claiming disability benefit while in Portugal yet was doing bungee jumps for charity!

So? - disabled people can quite happily bungee-jump.

Wheelchair Bungee Jumping

[Michael Crane]

....So? - disabled people can quite happily bungee-jump. ....

While claiming to be unfit to work due to a bad back?

[HampshireRich]

....So? - disabled people can quite happily bungee-jump. ....

While claiming to be unfit to work due to a bad back?

With no legs or no arms or even blind - they will still be claiming disability benefit.

[sunman]

Here we go again, the same old arguement , "Its the Portuguese who force me to drive my untaxed, uninsured No Mot UK reg car.".
What a load of crap. In the UK we expect and complain ( D MAIl, D EXpress ) if foreign residents do not adhere to our rules.
But for some Brits in Portugal " stuff " the laws of the country they are unfair, illegal.

Like it or not we have chosen Portugal as our home ( part or full time ) and should accept the conditions of being here.

All this rubbish about the EU is just a cover up for illegal behaviour.

EMM, if you read my post you will see that I am buying a car in Portimao which will be taxed and insured, my family will ride around in it.

but whether you like it or not the high cost of that car is due to the imposition of an illegal tax so I am at full liberty to disagree with it, as I disagree with the new tolls on the A22 which are coming, we live in a democracy not a dictatorship.

The EU is meant to be a borderless state with free trade, free labour movement and the like; how on earth do you equate my views with illegal behaviour?

[EMM]

I do not equate your views with the illegal behaviour of others. It is these individuals who hide behind the ficticious view that the EU is a free market place that have something to answer for.

Every EU country ( UK ) included has and is able under EU law to implement local rules or ignore rules from Brussels.
Why does the UK not apply VAT in the same way as others , because it can. Its the same in Portugal with cars.

[Matryx]

There is no reason to believe that Carvoeiro does not have its quota of those seeking to gain at the expense of others or with a loose view of what they can or cannot get away with.
Many of us are familiar with the old UK reg cars ( some without tax ) that drive around the area and the bars the owners use.

How do they get away with that??
The GNR seem to have roadblocks, specifically targetting UK and other foreign registered cars, checking paperwork, licence, tax MOT and UK insurance, and demanding to see your fiscal number as well.

When we go back this winter, we will need to carry evidence of when we left portugal to return the car to the UK, and probably evidence of our date of return to prove we have not broken the 6 month rule.

The GNR guy told us all this the last time we were checked, and that they were now running a database to check for people who were running non portuguese registered vehicles.

What is the six month rule?

Maybe bluff.....but we were convinced

[Matryx]

Sorry, screwed up the post. What is the six month rule?

[EMM]

You are permitted to drive a " fully UK legal , tax insurance , mot " UK plated car in Portugal for 6 months 183 days from arrival in Portugal.
On the 184day you must remove your vehicle from Portugal ( a holiday trip to spain does not qualify ).

If you want to keep your car longer you have to start the matriculation process during the initial 6 month period.

[SJ & RE]

Re disability benefit and similiar whilst in Portugal.
Confirmed from the DHSS Dept.
1) Disab benefit with components of living/ mobility/ care/ ok on hols.
2) Allowed to live in Portugal/ EU if on this benefit for both living/mobility/care components if off benefit to ones health.
This rule also applies to Industrial Injury/ Incap benefit ( the latter til one is seen and complies with the new rules/ regs).
Strict rules apply to the above and have to be sanctioned by ones GP at all times and the Sec of Health if one wishes to move abroad or intends to have a longer holiday outside the one month time scale.

So therefore for the majority of cases under health directives one should not be pursecuted if one complies by legislation.
The only problem is with all the different govts depts putting their oars in,it is forever changing.

[EMM]

Have those in Portugal claiming such benefits actually informed the DHSS that they are no longer UK resident and carried out the necessary checks and medicals or are they ( as far as is known ) still thought to be living in the UK, have a UK address ( ficticious or otherwise ) etc.

Oldest taxout of date UK car seen today 02/08 cany anyone beat this.

[sunman]

EMM, at the risk of inviting one of your outpourings I'd like to draw your attention to this article,

I'd like to point out that I'm law abiding, pay my taxes, etc etc but that I find a lot of the rules here worthy of question and debate, lots of people question the rule and law makers because of the ridiculousness, illegality & draconian nature of lots of the legal and administrative system here, that doesn't make them non law-abiding.

I'm bringing it up not to provoke but to air my view that until the lawmakers/ government tidy their own act up it's unlikely that folk will blindly follow the rules

www.theportugalnews.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=1085-5

[EMM]

SO its OK to break the laws in Portugal just because you do not like them.

Come back to the UK and see how far that atitude gets you there.

Its no wonder in some Portuguese circles expats are not regarded very highly.

[sunman]

I suspected it might be a asking a bit much to ask for a balanced debate, and so it's proved,

it doesn't matter which country you're in; the vast majority of UK MP's got caught with their hands in the public purses till by lying and fiddling expense accounts and were rightfully hauled over the coals for it;
there's a new touristic development being built round the corner from me on what was a vineyard, planning permission was gained by greasing the palms of local councillors,
the toll on the A22 is highly dubious to say the least, wasn't the road built with EU money

until the lawmakers themselves play by the rules folk will go on abusing them

I'm trying to see anywhere in my posting that suggests that it's ok to break the law, or that I do, I'm simply saying that it's no surprise to me that people do in some circumstances

[EMM]

This discussion is not about the rights or wrongs of political life in Portugal but the acts illegal or otherwise of some expats who abuse the UK benefits system and UK/ Portuguese vehicle legislation.
A UK reg car which has two years out of date road tax, and no mot , plus questionable insurance has no right to be on the road in either Portugal or the UK.
This has nothing to due with A22 tolls, planning misdeads but is simnply a criminal act as is claiming those benefits which relate to UK unemployment benefits.

I do not think for 1 minute Sunman that you are defending this type of behaviour are you ??.

[sunman]

Emm,

you were rude to me in your previous post as you were in the one before that, quite unnecessarily

my point is that in life you generally get out what you put in; if the systems are run by corrupt individuals and this includes the UK MP's who register as non-doms and fiddle their expenses to avoid paying their dues then I see it as no surprise that the people they govern take their lead and fiddle the system likewise, whether it be benefit fraud, car tax fraud, taxi drivers not declaring half their income, whatever

that said, I'm bored with trying to have a reasonable conversation with you so for that reason, aam oot!