Qualifying for Attendance Allowance

[scousemouse9536]

At the beginning of last year my mum became very depressed, confused and forgetful and after seeing a doctor she had some tests which included a brain scan. In August 2013 the doctor at the Memory Clinic diagnosed my mum as having early stage Alzheimer's. She was referred to a Psychologist in December 2013 who said she had dementia. In February 2014 we went back to the Memory Clinic for a follow up appointment and this time the doctor said he diagnosed mild cognitive impairment which may or may not lead to Alzheimer's thus changing the diagnosis I'd had for the past year slightly.

Last year the CPN suggested I apply for attendance allowance when we had the Alzheimer's diagnosis but as it was very early stages, I didn't follow it up. Recently I've been talking to a member of staff about my Mum's council tax and they have again suggested applying for attendance allowance as receipt of this May make her exempt from council tax which would be one less thing for me to worry about.

My question is, can I apply for it now that the clinic have changed the diagnosis? My Mum's memory is not improving, she needs support with her medication and finds handling her finances increasingly difficult. Her mood is better thanks to the meds. I can't say that I've seen any improvement in her memory problems.

Can someone advise please as it's all very confusing and I don't want to spend hours completing lengthy forms if it's going to be rejected.

Thanks.

 

[nitram]

The award of AA does not depend on any particular diagnosis but on how the application form is completed.

Words and phrases both on the form and used in completion have defined meanings, the completed form is judged using a 'tick box' approach.

The precise way the form is completed is paramount which means that the best approach is to make an appointment with the Citizen's Advice Bureau or AgeUK to help filling the form in.

 

[scousemouse9536]

Thanks for your very quick response, that's very helpful. I'll try Age UK first I think as trying to get an appointment with my local CAB is very difficult. Thanks again.


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[jaymor]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Council tax will be reduced by 25% if two or more are living in a property or cancelled completely if just one person . The reduction or cancellation is made if the person is diagnosed as being severely mentally impaired.

There are several different benefits that the patient needs to be in receipt of to enable them to claim council tax cancellation or reduction. Attendance allowance is one of the qualifying benefits.

Lower rate attendance allowance is £53 per week and to qualify the sufferer needs to require frequent help or constant supervision during the day or constant supervision through the night. The higher rate of £79 per week is paid when the above is required both day and night. The allowance is paid to the sufferer.

Hope this helps a bit.

Jay

 

[grove]

Hope This Helps ........

Hello & claiming for any Benefit is not all ways easy at times & agree with the last Poster make a Appt with C A B or Age Uk in having Expert * help with filling the form out ............... Hope this helps ( even if you do not fill the form out ) :

Go to the Helpful Website Forum & find my Thread >>> DWP / Benefits & Information >>>> Click on the Link * & then fallow the links to AA allowance ................The link is a new On Line Benefit DWP Advice Also tells you about other benefits which might be helpful


Grove x

 

[jeany123]

Hello Scousemouse and welcome to Talking Point I hope this link helps you
https://www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance


Jeany

 

[Grandma Joan]

We applied for AA on behalf of MIL because we had to show she was entitled to it in order to get Council Tax exemption. (MIL lives alone)

In order to apply for the council tax exemption the GP had to sign a certificate to say:
"For the purposes of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, a person is severely mentally impaired if he/she has a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning (however cause) which appears to be permanent"

 

[lizzybean]

Hi & welcome. I had to apply 3 times over a period of 18 months to get AA, first time did the forms myself (which I don't advise) and last two times Age Concern did them for me. I have just got the exemption for council tax for MIL. I would definitely go for it now cos I think the only reason we got it this time was cos I finally wore them down. Like it or not money is really short at the moment & they will keep on knocking you back so you have to perservere.

 

[scousemouse9536]

Thanks to everyone for the very helpful replies xx


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[Nebiroth]

At the beginning of last year my mum became very depressed, confused and forgetful and after seeing a doctor she had some tests which included a brain scan. In August 2013 the doctor at the Memory Clinic diagnosed my mum as having early stage Alzheimer's. She was referred to a Psychologist in December 2013 who said she had dementia. In February 2014 we went back to the Memory Clinic for a follow up appointment and this time the doctor said he diagnosed mild cognitive impairment which may or may not lead to Alzheimer's thus changing the diagnosis I'd had for the past year slightly.

Last year the CPN suggested I apply for attendance allowance when we had the Alzheimer's diagnosis but as it was very early stages, I didn't follow it up. Recently I've been talking to a member of staff about my Mum's council tax and they have again suggested applying for attendance allowance as receipt of this May make her exempt from council tax which would be one less thing for me to worry about.

My question is, can I apply for it now that the clinic have changed the diagnosis? My Mum's memory is not improving, she needs support with her medication and finds handling her finances increasingly difficult. Her mood is better thanks to the meds. I can't say that I've seen any improvement in her memory problems.

Can someone advise please as it's all very confusing and I don't want to spend hours completing lengthy forms if it's going to be rejected.

Thanks.

Yes, you can still apply.

Whether someone qualifies or not for AA depends on the help they need - not on the existance of diagnosis of any specific medical condition. There is no condition that automatically qualifies anyone for AA (with the exception of a terminal illness, where the person is expected to live less than six months - they are fast-tracked and automatically receive the highest level of benefit but the application has to be accompanied by confirming written evidence from a doctor)

A firm diagnosis of certain conditions can help support an application, though, because it is well known that some conditions create high levels of support needs.

I most strongly advise you get help with the application. It is essential to use the correct terms in the form and to put down everything which is relevant. The form should be filled in from ther aspect of the worst days.

Many applications fail because families fill them in without help and simply do not put a lot of stuff down because they think it is trivial or irrelevent, or worse, presume that the assessor dealing with the application will use "common sense" or to draw conclusions - they are specifically not allowed to do either and the application is considered solely on the evidence provided in the form.

So people may not write that someone who is paralysed is uable to rise froma chair unassisted - they think it is so obvious that it will be presumed. It isn;t. You need to put everything in the form.

It is impossible to write too much - anything irrelevent is ignored. It is very easy to not write enough though.

 

[PHILLGD]

Hi when my wife was diagnosed with dementia we went to the local age concern [now age uk] they kindly sent for the forms and then came to the house to help fill out this form and they sent it off on our behalf and they told us that we qualified for AA [high level] so best advice is to go to them or get help from your doc

it helps with the finance

good luck
phill