incapacity benifit questions on behalf of my mum please

mirrorimage0

hi all, my mum has worked for the same firm for over 20 yrs and had a fall last xmas there which has resulted in her not being able to work at the moment with back problems and it has aggrevated her arthiris in her back also.

i have managed to help her sort out her incapacity benefit finally (kinda muddled through it after her employer stopped ssp as she had been on it too long.

the question is as she has dropped quite alot in wages is there any other help she can get, i e prescription help. eye exams or any thing else.
she will be receiving £75.40 a week from ib and has been told this starts from the 17/07/08 so do they backdate till then as someone on the phone told her they only backdate 3 months. confused

dmg24

IB is not a gateway benefit, so does not automatically entitle the claimant to free prescriptions etc.

Some more information might help - does she live alone, does she have any savings/ capital or any other income, does she rent, how old is she?

mirrorimage0

she is 54, has no savings, lives in council accomadation so pays rent, she lives with her husband who has quite a good job but looks like he might be getting made redundant soon. sorry for all the questions but they have always worked and have never had to fill in any forms of this sort and they arent very helpful on the phone . x

cw18

She won't be able to claim anything else in her own right, as everything else is means tested and her husbands income (and savings) will be taken into account. If he is made redundant, then it will be a different story (dependant on joint savings)

mirrorimage0

ok cool, neither of them has savings so its just a case of waiting until if he is made redundant and what his payout will be and then finding out where to go from there then .
thanks for your help. x

cw18

if his payout is more than £16k they still won't qualify immediately -- though he may qualify for JSA (contributions based) if his NI history is sufficient.

mirrorimage0

he has been with the company for around 28 yrs so should be a good payout but he is 56 and doesnt think his chances of finding another good are very good although he will try. hopefully it wont come to that so they will have to sit tight and wait. thankyou

woody_56

Hi this is all so similar to my wife and i,once she has been sick with her back and arthritus for so long she becomes entitled to long term invalidity benefit,[is she already getting that] if so and she has trouble getting around you or her husband or someone close may be able to get some sort of carers allowance,subject to usual procedures a medical by the DHSS,that would at least be something extra? a bus pass obviously [aged 60 ] a blue badge if she drives or someone drives for her ?.disability living allowace can also be claimed subject to the medical i believe hope this helps jim.

mouseymousey99

Hi, Yes as Woody just thinking about DLA. Will need to see her gp and maybe sound him/her as to how bad it is? If your mum has mobility issues may well be worth applying. You can also get lots of help from
http://www.arthritiscare.org.uk
Your Mums local council may also be able to help with any adaptions she may need (again depends on the severity) the council can send an occupational physio (well worth doing) who can look at things and show/suggest better ways - ie another handrail or install a shower if she cant manage the bath etc etc
Best wishes

Oldernotwiser

I'm reading your post that your mother had her fall at work. Was this recorded at the time and was there any fault on the employer's side?

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I'm reading your post that your mother had her fall at work. Was this recorded at the time and was there any fault on the employer's side?[/quote

Even if there is no fault on the employer,if this was an industrial accident you can claim industrial injuries disablement benefit providing the injury sustained causes lasting effects.