I would like a question answered please. A friend said i MUST tell Work and Income if i am going out the country and when i return. I laughed and said i have been to Australia 5 times i fill in a form to say i am going where i am staying and when i will return, what the hell has it got to do with W&I, I never stay longer with my daughter than 10 days I am 77 why on earth should i tell them . I phoned and M.Ps office lady laughed and said if you are going for three months but not for a few days,it is all on computer anyway. I hope to go next year to see my G. Grandaughter. What do others know about this as some have told me they have never told W&I. Nana

You are supposed to tell them ( WINZ) when you leave the country and then notify them when you return...why I dont know but thats what I was told.

Like you I found it hard to believe but checked with them last time I went to Oz. I know my sister has been out of the country several times before she found out

Isn't it because if you stay out of the country for a certain period of time they stop the pension? (Don't know the length of time).

If you are on a sickness benefit you can go out of the country for a week without it effecting your benefit. You have to provide them with dates and boarding passes (to ensure you were back within that time frame).

My parents went to Oz and never told WINZ. No-one stopped them at the airport.

You just have to hope that your friend doesn't dob you in.

There are two things to consider for us "Oldies" when we travel overseas. One is of course the National Superannuation but the important one is "The Disability Allowance".

As I understand if you travel overseas it doesn't affect the National Superannuation unless it is for an extended time our trip in 2005 was 42 days and made no difference. However we get the The Disability Allowance as well and were told that that stopped after 31 days and we needed to tell them what date we were leaving NZ and "Contact" them on our return (a phone call was sufficient).

One needs to remember that this was 5 years ago and things may have changed.

I'm trying to find out about this restriction too. We aren't 65 yet - but when partner is eligible I don't want to be stuck in NZ.

My understanding is that you lose super if you stay out for more than 26 weeks - but we can probably work around that - but if you start to have a pattern of staying out for 25.5 weeks will they get stroppy? You can live well in parts of Asia on the NZ pension figures - and have good weather at the same time -it seems like a no brainer -but few NZers do it?

If one was going to live outside NZ for extended periods as you suggest there are all sorts of things to consider as well as "Supper" for instance there's health and insurance for starters.

When we did our extended trip in 2005 I had a pre-existing health problem that I had no problem getting cover for at a very small cost but now it has degenerated to an extent that I very much doubt that any insurance company would touch me even to go to Australia. What would be the case if I was living out of NZ for an extended time?

We had an argument about my partners pre-existing condition last time we travelled - but they covered him in the end for a $100 extra payment (it was a credit card insurance so otherwise free). Frankly health wise I'd rather be somewhere in Asia - the costs are significantly lower and the quality of care probably better. As it is we have no NZ health insurance - as we were in Australia for a few years and you can't put domestic insurance on hold for more than a year - so we are resigned to paying for major health issues.

Australian health care costs are pretty outrageous but you are covered for emergencies there as a NZer (except for the ambulance) - I would hightail it to Philippines or Malaysia if something happened there