Pension Credit Benefits

[daughter carer]

Dad is 97 and lives with us. He has vascular dementia, had a stroke 12 years ago and now he's incontinent, can't feed, wash, walk, talk or understand.
As he has no savings and gets a little pension credit, he should qualify for the severe disability premium of approx £65 a week.

It’s a bit ironic that the criteria for this benefit is that he be severely disabled, as it goes towards paying for his care. However he daren’t be so severely disabled that he actually needs the care, because if he lives with anyone, he loses this entitlement. As he did.
On these grounds one can only assume that nobody is ever actually entitled to this benefit!

I have queried this with the pensions department and was told rather rudely, that I couldn't have it both ways....as I was caring for Dad I'd be entitled to Carer's Allowance of approx the same amount. However, as I'm sure we are all aware on this site, you can't get the Carer's Allowance if you are in receipt of a state pension or have earnings of above £110 per week.
Does this make any difference with the Pensions department.....NO. I actually had to pay back the amount Dad had been awarded since he'd been with us.
Thanks for listening, this is more of a moan than a question!

 

[lin1]

Hello. Welcome to TP.
It don't seem fair at all does it.

I am not up on benefits but am wondering if your Dad may be entitled to Attendance Allowance (AA) .
It is also possible to get some relief for council tax sorry I am not sure of the criteria to claim this, others here will know and I am sure they will be along soon.

If you contact your local branch of the Alzheimer's society or the CAB they can do a benefit check to see you and your Dad are claiming all you are entitled too.

 

[balloo]

Hello. Welcome to TP.
It don't seem fair at all does it.

I am not up on benefits but am wondering if your Dad may be entitled to Attendance Allowance (AA) .
It is also possible to get some relief for council tax sorry I am not sure of the criteria to claim this, others here will know and I am sure they will be along soon.

If you contact your local branch of the Alzheimer's society or the CAB they can do a benefit check to see you and your Dad are claiming all you are entitled too.

I would of thought he would be entitled to AA as my MIL is and she lives with us as she could not cope alone .she now cannot even wipe herself properly .she gets the hire rate. I care for her and so does my husband but we cannot claim careres allowance as I work from home and earn more than £100 a week .my earnings has dropped from £25K to less than £8K because on my MIL .this is so unfare

 

[daughter carer]

Thankyou for your replies.
I do get the higher rate AA for Dad. In fact I have explored every avenue there is to make sure he gets every benefit he is entitled to. I just find the severe disability premium of the pension credit ridiculous.
If anyone is so disabled that they are entitled to get this premium, they are too ill to look after themselves and need someone with them at all times, which then takes away that entitlement to the benefit!
I'd be interested to hear if any of the carers on this forum have come across this before and have found a way around it.
Thanks,
Pippa, Daughter Carer.

 

[ElizabethAnn]

Welcome to TP Pippa...

Have you looked into your Dad's possible eligibility for the NHS Continuing Health Care ?

We're in the middle of applying for this for Dad (we're through the first stage and waiting for a Detailed Assessment) I'm not holding my breath... but your Dad sounds as if he may be a little further down the line than ours :-(

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2392.aspx?CategoryID=68

 

[Pegsdaughter]

I think you need to get some proper advice about this as you should not have to pay back an overpayment that has been made to him as its his debt. Cab, independent age, age uk should be able to advise about this.


Sent from my iPad using Talking Point

 

[daughter carer]

I think you need to get some proper advice about this as you should not have to pay back an overpayment that has been made to him as its his debt. Cab, independent age, age uk should be able to advise about this.


Sent from my iPad using Talking Point

Thank you Pegsdaughter. I will definitely look into that.
Pippa

 

[daughter carer]

Welcome to TP Pippa...

Have you looked into your Dad's possible eligibility for the NHS Continuing Health Care ?

We're in the middle of applying for this for Dad (we're through the first stage and waiting for a Detailed Assessment) I'm not holding my breath... but your Dad sounds as if he may be a little further down the line than ours

Thank you ElizabethAnn. Dad had an assessment in May this year. He is very obviously totally reliant on others for all his needs, but that doesn't count because he has no actual dependency on medical intervention. He doesn't warrant a district nurse, has no medical condition, so he's not eligible for CHC. He was a Desert Rat and they keep on surviving!
I don't mind because I prefer to look after him here at home where he is safe and happy.