Attendance Allowance

[Helena]

I applied for this for my Mother on 6th August and while I did not minimise her problems it was made clear that she lived alone and was dependant on friends , neighbour and my sister and self to take her shopping , do washing cleaning etc


Well yesterday I discovered they had deposited money into her Bank account

Today I got notification that they will be granting Attendance Allowance at lowest rate .........great but reasons they give :


You are entitled to the lower rate because you need to be constantly supervised with or without short breaks right through the day , so that you do not cause substantial danger to yourself or others.


Given this I have to wonder what criteria they use for middle or higher rate Attendance Allowance
Or do you have to be comatose to get higher rate under the new regime /

 

[Nebiroth]

Hi Helena. There are only two levels of Attendance Allowance. The lower rate means you qualify because you need help/supervision/etc during either the day or during the night.

The higher rate means that you qualify because you need help/supervision/etc during both the day and the night.

AA has only the lower and higher rates, I think that you are thinking of Disbility Living Allowance which does have more levels, but people over State Retirement age can't get DLA, only AA.

 

[Helena]

OK thanks for that must have got it confused somewhere

 

[Tender Face]

Does exactly what it says on the tin.....

My understanding of Attendance Allowance is that it is to help cover expenses associated with someone (whoever) being 'in attendance' ... it is not measured by 'how ill' a person is..

If I didn't shop/clean/cook/provide transport and escort to various appointments etc etc mum's weekly 'allowance' towards 'necessary' care would barely see her through a day.....

Hard financial facts, Helena.... I'm afraid....

Love, Karen, x

 

[Nebiroth]

Yes, that is right, but to qualify, it is "attendance" in regard topersonal care. This includes assisting with "bodily functions" (such as going to the loo, washing, eating/drinking, dressing, getting in/out of chairs, beds, climbing stairs and so on). Also "supervision" for example, making sure someone doesn't fall, being there to help them if they do fall, making sure they don't endanger themselves by wandering, making sure they take medications properly. Also, things that the person can manage to do but would benefit from being helped with also count. In fact you don't actually need to be receiving any help to qualify; it's based on the help you need, not what you currently receive.

The list is quite extensive, but things like shopping, house cleaning, cooking are specifically excluded. If you put these things on the claim form they are ignored as they do not count. As I recall, help with walking outside doesn't either (although this would come under the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance there's no equivalent under Attendance), but help with walking indoors (to the bathroom say) does.

However, just to confuse things that little bit more, activities like doing shopping, cooking, etc for someone do count when you think about how many hours you care for someone when applying for Carer Allowance. These things count when adding up towards the 35 hours.

 

[Helena]

Shows what a total nonsense the whole thing is
If someone like my Mother who cant walk far due to Osteoporosis needs help being taken shopping etc and dementia stops them caring for their clothes and their home these are everyday tasks of life fit people expect to do

If someone needs the kind of care described by Attendance Allowance £41 a week certainly will not pay for it

It would not even cover mine and my sisters petrol bills just to go there and back once a month

 

[Lynne]

On the bright side ...

Mum has just been advised that she will receive the lower rate of AA (£40/wk I think?). Contrary to expectations, this was granted on the first attempt, so I hope this encourages anyone who may have been hesitating about applying for this.
Once it's granted, you don't have to justify or detail what you propose to spend it on, or even use it right away. As things are manageable for us at the moment, I'm putting it into a new, separate bank account (Joint, in both our names) for the "rainy day" which I know will come, probably all too soon.
And apologies to anyone grinding their teeth in frustration who HAS had difficulty getting AA. Don't take it personally, keep trying.

 

[noelphobic]

Once it's granted, you don't have to justify or detail what you propose to spend it on, or even use it right away. As things are manageable for us at the moment, I'm putting it into a new, separate bank account (Joint, in both our names) for the "rainy day" which I know will come, probably all too soon.
And apologies to anyone grinding their teeth in frustration who HAS had difficulty getting AA. Don't take it personally, keep trying.

My mum has been on Attendance Allowance for longer than I can remember. However, I think it would have been better if she had spent more of it. She has been in residential care for nearly 2 years now and because she saved her Attendance Allowance up she is self-funding!

 

[Helena]

precisely .,.......your Mother saved the Attendance Allowance instead of spending it .........so now it is all spent on NH fees

Thats what I find so awful .........save any money and its ripped away

Spend it all ........you have enjoyed it and you still get NH care for free

I sure wish my Mother had spent her money on enjoyoying herself instead of being so penny pinching and miserable in her latter years

 

[Lila13]

My mother didn't get attendance allowance because they said she didn't need anyone there 35 hours a week, but whenever I wasn't there I still got the blame for it.

Lila

 

[Nebiroth]

Yes much to my surprise I got AA for my Dad on the first attempt too, from what I'd read it had sounded that it was going to be difficult.

But I think that they are inclined to give it to people with AD, as it is pretty obvious that anyone with that is going to need a lot of help - and they aren't going to get better. Though when I spoke to the benefit helpline the lady there said "a lot of people with Alzheimers don't put enough down to qualify, it's important to put everything in the form". This might be why the poster above didn't manage to get it.

As I said earlier, though I managed to get AA, after the experience, I would most strongly advise anyone applying to get help in filling in the form. People at Citizens Advice, Age Concern, etc, will know exactly what language to use, and will think of loads of stuff you ought to put on the form that you yourself wouldn't because you take it for granted as part of "normal" life. The rule is "if you're not sure whether it they need to know about this or not, put it in there anyway"

To my mind, there should be a list of illnesses that should automatically qualify you for AA - and AD should be included. So all you need do is to send in a certificate from your doctor, or whatever.

As has been said, use the money to improve quality of life; if you scrimp and save, you are just setting yourself up to having it all taken off you if you have to go into care - whereas those who didn't work, never saved, don't own their home etc will get exactly the same care, but for free.

You can spend AA on whatever you want.

I would say, apply for anything and everything. The worst that can happen is that they'll say "no".

 

[Helena]

I agree you need to in no way understate the case when applying for AA
My Mother has Osteoporosis , Rheumatoid arthritis especially in her thumbs ,high blood pressure and cant walk very far along with all the problems of VD

I also included the fact that she should be in a NH but until there is a crisis she cant be forced into one and that she is reliant of friends , neighbours and my sister and self
I also understand anyone in their 80s gets AA easier than younger folk which is of course rather unfair

 

[Lila13]

My mother was able to fill in her own forms and no doubt gave professionals a false impression of competence. Most of them weren't interested in the opinions of "the daughter".

She didn't want me there as a full-time carer (interfering too much with what was left of her independence) but did want me available on tap (it was the travelling more than anything else that defeated me).

(Sorry repeating too much.)

 

[Helena]

Lila
You have pretty much summed up the difference in how you or i would fill out the AA forms and how our Mothers would

Dementia robs them of the ability to see themselves or the truth

Travelling and this demand that we be there all the time is what creates the biggest problem

This evening my Mother who was barely coherent has been on the phone to my Sister asking where was she , why wasnt she here , she should be here etc

Could not get any sense out of her

2.5 hours drive away its simply not possible

Been there done it on a desperate call from a neighbour only to arrive to Mother saying " what the hell are you here for theres nothing wrong with me "

 

[jenniferpa]

I don't think it's just the dementia - part of the problem is "not letting the side down". When I filled my Mother's AA form out, I really laid it on with a trowel - even if she had been together enough to fill it out, there is no way she would have put some things down as it would have been too mortifying. I think we should have applied several years ago, but to be honest, I wasn't aware that there was such a thing. As it happened we ended up spending money to make it possible to do the things that the AA considers necessary. E.g. need help climbing stairs? We put in a stair lift. Can't get into the bath? Put in a shower. While she was still mentally O.K. she could cope with the technology needed to make her life alone possible, so she wouldn't have thought "help" was necessary.

Jennifer

 

[Tender Face]

Dementia robs them of the ability to see themselves or the truth

QUOTE]

Or to look at it another way, perhaps that's the one kindness it bestows on the sufferer .....???

Their self-perception and their 'truth' is just that.....

TF, x

 

[Helena]

Hmmmmmmmm

very difficult for the relatives / carers though when the arguments start

 

[Care Direct]

Helena,
have you thought about DIRECT PAYMENTS in supporting your mothers needs further? This may be an option for you via Social Services in helping caring for your mother.

Kind Regards

CD

 

[alfjess]

Hi
When Dad was diagnosed with AD, Mum had fractured her humerous? sp. and at the time they were still living in their own home. I lived 45 miles away, so I tried to get meals on wheels for them. I phoned Alzheimers Welfare Section in Glasgow, thinking maybe getting them fed would be welfare and within days a man came to visit my parents. He filled in all the application forms for attendance allowance, carers component, the whole bit. They were granted everything applied for, he was wonderful, although I still didn't get meals on wheels for them, because, to receivce that service, they had to have a carer and at the time Mum was in denial, still is (Egyptian River Syndrome) as a lady on the Alzheimers helpline called it.
Maybe a call to the Welfare Section of your local Alzheimers could help in trying to get attendance allowance
Alfjess

 

[Helena]

Care Direct

Thanks for the thought however Mother is unlikely to qualify for Social services payments and simply will not have any stranger in the house anyway

I am afraid that my Mothers incredible stubborness is her own downfall

If she had listened to our advice 10 years back she could have had life so much easier and be in a kind of sheltered housing with warden assistance but she slapped us down at every idea