“A small cohort of claimants not explicitly covered by the Withdrawal Agreement” will keep receiving their disability and carer benefits while living in the EEA or Switzerland, after the Department for Communities signed off targeted amendments. The regulations are scheduled to take effect on 10 December 2025, in step with Great Britain.

What changes on the ground? Three benefits are locked in for those already protected: Carer’s Allowance, the care component of Disability Living Allowance, and the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment. This is a tidy fix for people who have been getting paid from Northern Ireland while living elsewhere in Europe.

Eligibility is tight by design. You must have been living in an EEA state or Switzerland on 31 December 2020, be continuously in receipt of the relevant benefit since that date, and not have been habitually resident in the UK at any point after 31 December 2020. If you moved back and re‑settled in the UK after that date, this protection doesn’t apply.

Officials are clear this is not an opening for new claims from abroad. Payments to this group have been made on an extra‑statutory basis since Brexit-these regulations simply put those ongoing payments on a firm legal footing so people aren’t left worrying each renewal.

Northern Ireland is matching Great Britain. Whitehall introduced near‑identical regulations for England, Scotland and Wales (SI 2025/1198), also timed for 10 December 2025. For readers in the North of England with relatives abroad-or staff seconded to EU locations-this parity matters because it removes one more divergence between DWP and DfC rules.

The baseline principle remains the same as since Brexit: if you were already living in the EU, EEA or Switzerland by 31 December 2020, many benefit rules continue under the Withdrawal Agreement and related treaties. The new NI rule covers edge cases that policy makers intended to protect but which weren’t captured cleanly at the time.

For families along the Irish border-and for northern households with relatives in Spain, France or Poland-the detail matters. It means a carer in Donegal or a long‑term resident in Spain who has been paid from NI since 2020 should continue to receive the same support, without needing to chase fresh approvals. Keep your 31 December 2020 residence evidence handy just in case officials ask.

The Communities Committee at Stormont nodded the change through back in September, noting it provides a legal basis for continued payments to this small group. That early scrutiny means administrators can move quickly and provide certainty to claimants before Christmas.

If you think you’re covered, you shouldn’t need to re‑apply. But do keep paperwork that proves you were living in the EU/EEA or Switzerland on 31 December 2020-things like residency documents or dated bills-and contact DfC or the International Pension Centre if asked for evidence. The Department’s screening paper lists a Belfast contact point for queries.