Northern Ireland will put long‑promised protections into law next month for people living in the EEA or Switzerland who already receive certain UK disability and carer benefits. From Wednesday 10 December 2025, the Department for Communities will have the legal cover to keep paying Carer’s Allowance, the care component of Disability Living Allowance, and the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment to a “small cohort of claimants” abroad. The department has been making these payments on an extra‑statutory basis and is now formalising them.

Who qualifies is tightly defined. You must have been living in an EEA state or Switzerland on 31 December 2020 when EU social security coordination rules still applied to you, have been in continuous receipt of the relevant benefit since that date, and you must not have been habitually resident in the UK at any time after 31 December 2020. If you meet those conditions, payment can continue after 10 December without interruption.

This change is about continuity, not opening the door to new claims from abroad. It simply provides the statutory footing to carry on paying existing awards to that small group who fell outside the Withdrawal Agreement wording but were always meant to be covered. Officials say numbers are limited and stress that the measure closes a technical gap rather than extending eligibility.

There are clear limits. Only DLA’s care component and PIP’s daily living component are exportable; the mobility components are not. Carer’s Allowance can be paid in these circumstances, but standard temporary‑absence rules still apply in other cases. Anyone assuming “all of PIP travels” will be disappointed.

For many Northern families with ties across the border - Derry–Donegal, Newry–Louth - or for those who moved to Spain, France or Germany before Brexit, the detail matters. If you’ve stayed within the EEA/Switzerland and remained in scope since 31 December 2020, your position is broadly unchanged and now set out in black and white.

Timing aligns with Great Britain. The UK Government signed off parallel regulations for England and Wales on 17 November, with the same 10 December start date. Northern Ireland’s instrument mirrors that approach, so households are treated consistently across the UK’s social security systems.

A word of caution on the “habitual residence” test. Short visits back to the UK are not the same as resettling, but the assessment is fact‑specific and can be complex. If you’ve spent significant time back here since 2020, take advice before assuming you still qualify under these continuity rules. Start with official guidance and, if needed, speak to the International Pension Centre or the Disability and Carers Service in Belfast.

This move follows earlier clean‑ups to Northern Ireland’s rules, including last year’s amendment clarifying that claimants covered by EU coordination need only show a “genuine and sufficient link” to the UK. Together, these changes aim to keep post‑Brexit promises workable for people with long‑standing ties to Northern Ireland.

It has taken time to codify what most assumed was settled. The department acknowledges payments have been running on an extra‑statutory basis while the paperwork caught up. Putting it on a legal footing should ease anxiety for those who have spent months double‑checking bank statements and wondering if a letter would land.

Practical next steps are simple. If you are in scope, keep your address and bank details up to date and keep evidence that you were resident in the EEA/Switzerland on 31 December 2020. DfC says guidance will be issued to staff; claimants should watch for official correspondence and keep copies of anything they submit.

The policy has been on the Communities Committee’s radar since September, when members were briefed on a revised SL1. That scrutiny matters: it reassures families that, while the cohort is small, the issue has not been lost in the shuffle of wider welfare reforms.

Bottom line for Northern readers: if you’ve been continuously paid Carer’s Allowance, DLA care or PIP daily living while living in the EEA/Switzerland since 31 December 2020 - and you haven’t re‑established habitual residence in the UK - the payments should continue after 10 December. This is about certainty, not expansion.