Hi Carolyn
First the council tax - yes, getting guarantee pension credit is another passport to no council tax, but so is a diagnosis of a mental illness, as AD is regarded for this purpose. I am not 100% sure now if receipt of AA is a requirement or whether it just ticks another box and makes it easier to argue for.
You can complete the form for AA online, it is a lengthy form, and you need to think carefully about ALL your answers, imagining the worst days and not the best ones. It is not means tested, purely depends on what care your mum needs (even if she doesn't get it), and is not taxable. It also doesn't count as income in any claim she makes for pension credit. Your mum has to have needed care for six months before they will pay it, but you can have the claim backdated if, say, you realise she has needed care for a year - she will get nothing for the first six months but should get a backpayment for the second six months.
As regards not wanting to claim, this is the sort of thing we all pay our taxes for, I am getting precious little for my mum compared to the thousands I have paid in, I'd like to think your mum got her fair share. Oh, just a thought, when I made my claim for mum last summer I discovered it was not possible to print a copy of my online application, so make sure you note what answers you have given. The application went through without hitch (but with the usual delay with government departments).
Good luck with the claim for pension credit - you want to aim for guarantee credit as it might mean mum also gets an increased savings credit and entitlement to free dental treatment. However, be warned that moving to a care home must be notified to them (and make sure you notify the Pensions Service section), as it will trigger a review of the pension credit and a cancellation of any Assessed Income Period she might be awarded (if you don't know what an AIP is, ask me). Now here is where I might have gone wrong, cos I only notified the AA people, not the Pensions Service, when mum first went into the care home. Had I notified the Pensions Service (I thought they were the same organisation so didn't think it was necessary), they would undoubtedly have asked me if mum had her own house and what the intention was regards that. They didn't ask, and I am not sure what is the "best" answer to give, but get all the advice you can from all sources before making any decisions.
Your mum's social worker should be able to advise on the financing of the care home, both if the house is retained or if it is sold. S/he MIGHT be able to advise on the impact on mum's pension credit if it is sold (well, I can tell you now, it will mean she gets no pension credit, assuming she hasn't got a mortgage or has only a small one). I am not sure what effect it will have if it is not sold. Probably the same, but check it out.
My issue with the Pensions service has been the lengthy delays in replying to correspondence, giving wrong advice, making wrong decisions, me acting on those decisions, and them then reversing them. Every phone call you make to them is recorded, so make sure you record in detail what is said, cos they can go back and prove you wrong. When you phone the Pension Service you get through to an "agent", who can vary from having no knowledge of the problem at all, to being fairly expert - you can usually gauge which category they are by the number of times they have to consult a colleague to answer your question. If you phone during normal office hours you can ask to speak to a pensions adviser, but despite the phone number being available till 8 p.m.? the advisers all go home at 5 p.m.
Now I know this is all practical stuff, and you said you were back in that frame of mind, but I was just like you, I did all the groundwork, put it all in place, and then sat and cried!
I still find it stressful to deal with any aspect of mum's care, from buying yet another box of tights to sorting out the huge financial arrangements.
You are doing a great job and it is X%£$&! hard work. And on top of it all is the emotion of "putting your mother in a home". But it seems as if her safety is now at risk. Mum did imagine people coming to the house (two men and a woman lived in her spare room for about 3 months!), but actually one night she did admit a man to the house (she thought it was mid-afternoon and he was selling her something she wanted). It was 10.30 at night and fortunately her nextdoor neighbour spotted him going up mum's path. She went round and asked who he was. Social Services, he said. She asked for his ID and he said Social Services were exempt from carrying ID (she works for Social Services!). She immediately went to the phone and dialled 999 and by the time she had finished dialling he had gone! But mum saw nothing wrong in letting him in, even complained that now she couldn't get whatever it was he was selling.
Sectioning sounds awful as an idea for a demented old lady, more for derranged and dangerous people, but if it were to happen I am sure your mum would never know, and it would be dealt with kindly and sympathetically - and probably isn't going to happen.
Take care of yourself too.
Let us know how you go on with mum.
Love
Margaret
First the council tax - yes, getting guarantee pension credit is another passport to no council tax, but so is a diagnosis of a mental illness, as AD is regarded for this purpose. I am not 100% sure now if receipt of AA is a requirement or whether it just ticks another box and makes it easier to argue for.
You can complete the form for AA online, it is a lengthy form, and you need to think carefully about ALL your answers, imagining the worst days and not the best ones. It is not means tested, purely depends on what care your mum needs (even if she doesn't get it), and is not taxable. It also doesn't count as income in any claim she makes for pension credit. Your mum has to have needed care for six months before they will pay it, but you can have the claim backdated if, say, you realise she has needed care for a year - she will get nothing for the first six months but should get a backpayment for the second six months.
As regards not wanting to claim, this is the sort of thing we all pay our taxes for, I am getting precious little for my mum compared to the thousands I have paid in, I'd like to think your mum got her fair share. Oh, just a thought, when I made my claim for mum last summer I discovered it was not possible to print a copy of my online application, so make sure you note what answers you have given. The application went through without hitch (but with the usual delay with government departments).
Good luck with the claim for pension credit - you want to aim for guarantee credit as it might mean mum also gets an increased savings credit and entitlement to free dental treatment. However, be warned that moving to a care home must be notified to them (and make sure you notify the Pensions Service section), as it will trigger a review of the pension credit and a cancellation of any Assessed Income Period she might be awarded (if you don't know what an AIP is, ask me). Now here is where I might have gone wrong, cos I only notified the AA people, not the Pensions Service, when mum first went into the care home. Had I notified the Pensions Service (I thought they were the same organisation so didn't think it was necessary), they would undoubtedly have asked me if mum had her own house and what the intention was regards that. They didn't ask, and I am not sure what is the "best" answer to give, but get all the advice you can from all sources before making any decisions.
Your mum's social worker should be able to advise on the financing of the care home, both if the house is retained or if it is sold. S/he MIGHT be able to advise on the impact on mum's pension credit if it is sold (well, I can tell you now, it will mean she gets no pension credit, assuming she hasn't got a mortgage or has only a small one). I am not sure what effect it will have if it is not sold. Probably the same, but check it out.
My issue with the Pensions service has been the lengthy delays in replying to correspondence, giving wrong advice, making wrong decisions, me acting on those decisions, and them then reversing them. Every phone call you make to them is recorded, so make sure you record in detail what is said, cos they can go back and prove you wrong. When you phone the Pension Service you get through to an "agent", who can vary from having no knowledge of the problem at all, to being fairly expert - you can usually gauge which category they are by the number of times they have to consult a colleague to answer your question. If you phone during normal office hours you can ask to speak to a pensions adviser, but despite the phone number being available till 8 p.m.? the advisers all go home at 5 p.m.
Now I know this is all practical stuff, and you said you were back in that frame of mind, but I was just like you, I did all the groundwork, put it all in place, and then sat and cried!
I still find it stressful to deal with any aspect of mum's care, from buying yet another box of tights to sorting out the huge financial arrangements.
You are doing a great job and it is X%£$&! hard work. And on top of it all is the emotion of "putting your mother in a home". But it seems as if her safety is now at risk. Mum did imagine people coming to the house (two men and a woman lived in her spare room for about 3 months!), but actually one night she did admit a man to the house (she thought it was mid-afternoon and he was selling her something she wanted). It was 10.30 at night and fortunately her nextdoor neighbour spotted him going up mum's path. She went round and asked who he was. Social Services, he said. She asked for his ID and he said Social Services were exempt from carrying ID (she works for Social Services!). She immediately went to the phone and dialled 999 and by the time she had finished dialling he had gone! But mum saw nothing wrong in letting him in, even complained that now she couldn't get whatever it was he was selling.
Sectioning sounds awful as an idea for a demented old lady, more for derranged and dangerous people, but if it were to happen I am sure your mum would never know, and it would be dealt with kindly and sympathetically - and probably isn't going to happen.
Take care of yourself too.
Let us know how you go on with mum.
Love
Margaret
