Comprehensive Sickness Insurance for past years

[jytoth]

It might be a really stupid question to ask. I was a student between 2008 and 2012, came from a EEA country. My naturalisation application has been refused by a case worker as I was not covered by CSI and only had on and off work. The work does not entitle me to prove my residency and both the caseworker and the EU helpline says that the EHIC would not make a difference anyway. (My EHIC card was valid for 1 year 2008-2009)
I had valid health insurance in my country but it does not make any difference.

The only chance is to have comprehensive sickness insurance from 2008 and 2011 (from 2011 I was already self-employed). Is there any possibility to resolve this problem?
I did not need any medical treatment but I paid NI from my on and off work. Does it make a difference if I pay more NI on voluntary basis for that period and what would be the right amount? How can I find out? I am afraid they would still require comprehensive sickness insurance.

Thank you in advance for any contribution!

[herald2839]

Hi jytoth,

-If you had a *non-UK* EHIC, that should be acceptable evidence of CSIC, for the duration of its validity. However, if was not valid for the entire duration of your period as a student, it will not be any good.
-If you registered and obtained an RC during your time as a student, there might be scope disregarding the CSIC requirement, but I assume you did not.

These are irrelevant and won't help:
-Your NI contributions
-Your insurance outside the UK
-Your actual need or use of medical treatment

Therefore I'm sorry to recommend that unless you can obtain a backdated insurance policy (virtually impossible) or backdated non-UK EHIC, you simply wait until you have validly exercised 5 years of treaty rights in 2016 and park this issue here. Meanwhile, you should review what the (rather onerous) requirements for asserting self-employed status are and make sure that you meet them for your entire 5 year period (this may involve quite a bit of paper-work).

BTW, if you want to try to reapply (though I can see no basis), unless you are in an extreme rush, you should first establish (by applying on form EEA3) with the Home Office that you have obtained PR, which is a requisite for naturalization. The application costs 55 pounds (vs the much more expensive naturalization application) and can be filed as many time as you like.

It might be a really stupid question to ask. I was a student between 2008 and 2012, came from a EEA country. My naturalisation application has been refused by a case worker as I was not covered by CSI and only had on and off work. The work does not entitle me to prove my residency and both the caseworker and the EU helpline says that the EHIC would not make a difference anyway. (My EHIC card was valid for 1 year 2008-2009)
I had valid health insurance in my country but it does not make any difference.

The only chance is to have comprehensive sickness insurance from 2008 and 2011 (from 2011 I was already self-employed). Is there any possibility to resolve this problem?
I did not need any medical treatment but I paid NI from my on and off work. Does it make a difference if I pay more NI on voluntary basis for that period and what would be the right amount? How can I find out? I am afraid they would still require comprehensive sickness insurance.

Thank you in advance for any contribution!

[Elizabella]

Has anyone managed to acquire a backdated health insurance policy? If so, where?

I know the poster above says virtually impossible, but I assume this doesn't mean totally impossible.

[Jbkhan32]

Has anyone managed to acquire a backdated health insurance policy? If so, where?

I know the poster above says virtually impossible, but I assume this doesn't mean totally impossible.

This may be a deception or fraud

[tmonaghan]

Elizabella,
There is no way to work around the issue regarding the CSI. What it means is that you are set to spend another five years as a Qualified Person. However, Mrs May set out in her Policy paper on safeguarding the position of EU citizens living in the UK

Let's imagine this case scenario, for those like yourself who have been living in the UK lawfully would be able to apply for this new Settled Status even though you might had not enough CSI coverage during your stay in the UK.

The application process will be a separate legal scheme, in UK law, rather than the current one for certifying the exercise of rights under EU law. Accordingly the Home Office will tailor the eligibility criteria so that, for example, EU Citizens will no longer require evidence that economically inactive EU citizens have previously held ‘comprehensive sickness insurance’ in order to be considered continuously resident;

Which means that if you can wait until the new Settled Status is put in place, you will be able to apply for Permanent Residence even though you had not had a CSI coverage during your last five years.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... -in-the-eu

I would advise you to read through above proposal from Mrs May that may become Law if both the UK and the EU agreed upon it.

[Richard W]

Let's imagine this case scenario, for those like yourself who have been living in the UK lawfully would be able to apply for this new Settled Status even though you might had not enough CSI coverage during your stay in the UK.

How, if CSI was required but not held, would the person have been living in the UK lawfully?

According to the regulations, if you are perfectly self-sufficient in the UK and you’re not claiming benefits or anything like that, but you don’t have comprehensive sickness insurance, you don’t have a right of residence and therefore you could be removed.

I don’t actually think the Home Office is going to enforce this against say, the French wife of a British citizen. I think they’re using it against people they don’t like, like Polish rough sleepers.

The position of a Polish homeless person who hasn’t committed any criminal offences or claimed public funds is exactly the same as the wife of a British banker but doesn’t have CSI, according to the regulations. They’re both equally removable as far as the Home Office is concerned.

[Elizabella]

How, if CSI was required but not held, would the person have been living in the UK lawfully?

Lucky for me, my husband is now working, so is unquestionably exercising his treaty rights. We would therefore have been living in the UK lawfully for the past 3 years.

I am not sure when it happened, but the rules on CSI must have changed in the past 5 years as the first time I applied for an EEA2, we submitted EHIC cards issued in the UK for my husband and I and the Home Office accepted these as evidence of appropriate insurance. It's our own fault for not monitoring policy change on the issue, but I was somewhat surprised to read the new rules when the 5 year anniversary of my EEA2 card came up. And it is questionable whether the UK's interpretation of the legislation to demand CSI is lawful, but that's not going to help the plebeians.

[CR001]

And it is questionable whether the UK's interpretation of the legislation to demand CSI is lawful, but that's not going to help the plebeians.

CSI applies to most EU host states and is not UK specific as far as I understand.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/he ... dex_en.htm

[Elizabella]

CSI applies to most EU host states and is not UK specific as far as I understand.

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/he ... dex_en.htm

From what I understand about the EU, the focus is on EEA residents from other countries being treated like locals. If you click through to (http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/he ... dex_en.htm), it states that "When you move to another EU country you can get healthcare under the same conditions as other local residents." So I think the EU Commission concerns with the UK is that EEA residents in the UK are not being treated under the same conditions as UK residents. You can read some information about the non-conclusive infringement proceedings against the UK here:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP ... ?locale=en

Of greatest interest is the section that states "Under the Free Movement Directive, EU citizens who settle in another EU country but do not work there may be required to have sufficient resources and sickness insurance. The United Kingdom, however, does not consider entitlement to treatment by the UK public healthcare scheme (NHS) as sufficient. This breaches EU law."