Advice needed

[hillybilly]

Before rushing in to offer monetary assistance, I would want want to know more about how they have come to be in these circumstances.
They didn't just wake up one morning and find themselves penniless, they must have had an inkling that things weren't good some time ago. Why didn't they take action before now? Maybe one of the couple return to the UK to earn some money?
For all we on here know, they could be drug users or alcoholics. I'm sure that Jenny will tell us that isn't the case but none of us knows that. Would people be as keen to give them money then?
I also wonder why they "cannot" work. Are they both disabled, ill or injured in some way?

[mirandamac]

Re the cars for immigrants! I must tell my son in law so he can get one. Coming to this country has been an expensive exercise for them. He & my daughter married in the Dom Rep a year ago & they then applied for a spouse visa which cost about £500 & there were other incidental costs. She had to take all her documents to the British Embassy there to prove she has her own home, source of income etc. He had an interview at the Embassy in which he was grilled about her family (at that point we hadn't met him but he needed to know all about us). He then got granted the visa and came over here at the end of last May. In 2 years he has to take a 'life in the UK test', pay £750 (will probably have gone up again by then) & produce some incredible number of documents to prove they are still together & that he is settled here. Things like council tax bills, bank statements, etc etc. There is NO money for him from anywhere if things go wrong, or he loses his job. He had a good job before coming here but because of the difference in the cost of living etc, there would have been no way he could have afforded a plane ticket even

[spanish hopes]

You will probably be pilloried for your cynical doubts hilly but I bet they are shared by many of us.

[jennyshaw]

Oh its so frustrating for me because I respect them and feel it would be very wrong of me to put there personel details on here, there are other people in the village with access to the Internet and look on this forum, if I had not put my correct name as my user name it would have been better,.
There is'nt any work for foreingers in the area, theres even a 2 year wait for cherry picking.
I have been i contact with their family and I am waitng for a call back next week because I said i would take over money or things for them.

ICCSL I will try again, you might be able to give them some advice on selling.
Hindsight is a good thing is'nt it.

[Bongtrees]

Oh its so frustrating for me because I respect them and feel it would be very wrong of me to put there personel details on here, there are other people in the village with access to the Internet and look on this forum, if I had not put my correct name as my user name it would have been better,.

I have been i contact with their family and I am waitng for a call back next week because I said i would take over money or things for them.

Events dont quite add up to me, you say you have used your real name therefore the other ex-pats will not take long to work out who has the problem, and quite frankly what does it matter, indeed these people might be able to help.

You say the relatives will call back next week, do they not understand the urgency of this problem? Are we are supposed to believe that the relatives will then support them sending food parcels and money every week. Why? are your friends fortunes about to change or what?

Every time we are scammed for money it could mean that sometime in the future a genuine case is missed. It has nothing to do with hindsight.

[mijas-lady]

The family im talking about received 2 cars( the daughters -1 to drive her little girl to school as not on bus route and other daughter to drive grandmother about as shes too old to walk far) i too find it hard to believe but it happens a lot

[gerryh]

The family im talking about received 2 cars( the daughters -1 to drive her little girl to school as not on bus route and other daughter to drive grandmother about as shes too old to walk far) i too find it hard to believe but it happens a lot

Is it a case of newspapers doing their usual grabbing attention with headlines such as:-
"immigrants given cars"

When in fact the truth is probably that they have been given a loan to buy a car which they then have to pay back once they are working?

It's like me saying the bank bought me a car. When it was the case they loaned me the money to buy a car

Cheers
Gerry
i

[peteroldracer]

I must tell my son in law

If your son-in-law had entered the country illegally, claimed asylum saying he was under threat in his home country, and not admitted to speaking any English, he might have got the full package - house, benefits, car, free education, help with finding a job etc.
Fancy doing things honestly!

[ken2]

its been two days know from when this post started, are we to believe that the mother of this family, has not gone to a neighbor or into the village, and just ask for food for her children???? the Spanish people that i have seen, would share there last crust with any child,?? after reading all this, i must agree, it does sound a bit iffy?? I'm no miser, but i withdraw my offer,can find better things to do with my pennies,

[mirandamac]

I too feel for this family and yet I'm also a little concerned at the circumstances and wish there was someone near who could check it out. I hate to think of anyone in this situation, for whatever reason. Certainly there are bits that don't seem to fit but maybe that's because Jenny is only getting part of the story - not her fault and at least she wants to help.
As for my son in law doing things honestly - yep, big mistake maybe!!! But then I do know of a number of illegal workers around our area (they were working in restaurants in the main) who have been found and deported. No cash handouts, no help. I usually avoid reading the newspapers that sensationalise anything like this anyway.

[mijas-lady]

Gerry I normally agree with your comment about papers-but the families I'm talking about I have seen myself when I was last home and the reason I know about the cars etc is that my best friend teaches 1 of the children and helped the mother to fill in forms as she is Portuguese -the little girl has a slight foot problem which means she can walk ok but not run! therefore they got one of the cars supplied for her

[Raquel]

Mijas Lady is correct these people would have been given the money to finance a car. However not because they are foreigners but because of the disablement, because of the person relative not being able to walk long distance without suffering pain DLA will finance a car in place of weekly payment or maybe even with weekly payment. If they are in receipt of DLA they will then be entitled to a multitude of other benefits. DLA is irrespective of earnings and can even be paid to someone with high earnings.

[gerryh]

Thanks Raquel for your comments.

The original postings were claiming immigrants had been given cars. There is a big difference with disabled people, who might also be an immigrant, being given cars.

Cheers
Gerry

[mijas-lady]

thanks Raquel-but I still dont understand why an 82 yr old moves to Britain and then says she needs a car to get about! try that here in Spain and see what happens

[Raquel]

I whole heartedly agree it's not reciprocated and is wrong, not necessarily the fact that they are given it but that the Spanish do not take responsibility for their part. Talking from experience there, money, health care and the just the system in general...in Spain they like you to pay all your money into the system and receive nothing back in times of need. In UK pay nothing in and be given everything on a plate because of the bleedin EU..which sucks btw!

btw before anyone says yes you are entitled, EU law etc I say try it!

rant over lol!

[Jool]

Gerry,

I agree motability cars are an entirely different matter but I was talking about our experience where normal healthy immigrants were being given (not a loan to repay) second hand cars classified as a work tool to get them off benefit so they could work, whereas british or other UK born and bred youngsters who had left school and needed transport to get to work (no public transport in some areas) did not qualify. They also had their car insurance paid for the first year - this was in the wealthy south east of England.

[mirandamac]

So is it because our son in law has done everything properly that he would never get any help? They bought a 2nd hand bike for him when he started work. That got stolen from inside the hallway area of the apartment block (not cheap apartments, quite good area!), so they've now managed to get him a new bike. Using the bus meant he couldn't get to work as early so lost an hour's overtime a day & cost him about £30 a week. Certainly none of the immigrants round here have ever been helped with anything much. Must be more generous in the South!

[Bongtrees]

Seek. Certainly none of the immigrants round here have ever been helped with anything much. Must be more generous in the South!

As far as i am aware it happens all over, most people dont know because the government do not want them to know.

I know for certain that it happens in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire because close relatives have told me and they all work in government and/ or local authority.

Put an ad in Autotrader for a cheapish car say 1-1500 pounds and the majority who reply will have a foregign accent and all ask the same questions because they are given the questions to ask and tick off on a cue card.

[ICCSL]

its been two days know from when this post started, are we to believe that the mother of this family, has not gone to a neighbor or into the village, and just ask for food for her children???? the Spanish people that i have seen, would share there last crust with any child,??

Baza is a big town Ken. If they lived in a small village like ours the Spaniards here would be going around with food parcels and the lady in the shop would give them credit (possibly in the realisation that she would never be paid). Farmers would be dumping fruit and vegetables on their doorstep and the women here would be cooking things for them. However, it is not the same in large towns or in the villages which are wholly British. My last "helping birds with broken wings" episode was for a couple who were in exactly the same position as the couple in Baza (minus the children) and all their neighbours were British. Not one of the neighbours were prepared to help so they travelled over 20 kms to me to ask for help. However the sting in the tail is, as I mentioned previously, that they are now refusing to sign our authorisation agreement for the sale of their house. Would I help them again? The answer is probably "yes" because I am not likely to be able to change my nature no matter how many times I get stung.

[Graye]

Call me an old cynic but I can´t believe that

a) a couple so desperate that they are surviving on a handful of rice a day would not give a thought to their poor children, swallow their pride and ask for help locally, especially as there are apparently Brits in the village.
b) they could have got themselves in such a position without knowing what was coming and done SOMETHING to put food on the table previously. No one knowing they were about to be in such dire straits would just sit back and wait for the inevitable. There will always be neighbours who will give them a lift into town and I think this idea of it being an hour´s walk away is just romantic drivel.
c) food parcels with money? That sounds an unlikely story too. A parcel containing enough to maintain a family of two adults and two children for even a week would be enormous and cost the earth to send. Much better for the relatives to get on a plane and see for themselves what is really going on. And what sort of money? Pounds? How would they change them in this village with no bank and no access to one?

I think jennyshaw is being scammed here and is being regarded as a soft touch. She says she does not live in Spain therefore has found out this information from the relatives in England presumably? Does she actually know this couple or just their relatives? Are the relatives providing whatever she is about to take out to them or is she going to be expected to come up with things? If the family is so poor they can´t eat then there is no way they will be able to pay their bills on their house so the easiest thing for the relatives to do is buy them some cheap plane tickets online and send the info plus enough for their bus fare with jennyshaw and let her get on with enjoying her trip without all this.

And as for the free cars for immigrants, I think this has to be dismissed as an urban myth. I can find nothing anywhere on the internet confirming this and no one who has first hand documented evidence of it happening either, be it on this forum or elsewhere. Always someone who knows someone, etc. This is rather like the bar room lawyer, knows all the "right" answers but not a single fact has foundation and will get someone believing soul into serious trouble somewhere along the line.