benefits for 82 yr old mother

woof_3

My 82 year old mother lives with us and I feel that we should be receiving something towards her care. Don't get me wrong, we do this gladly and feel that she contributes to our family in many ways. However had she not come to live with us she would be in an old folks home, paid for by the government as she has no savings and only receives a reduced state pension topped up by pension credit. Yes she gets the fuel allowance which she passes on to us and which we do use for heating oil as she needs more heat than we would normally use. The only other "benefit" we get is a free TV licence!!!
Can anyone suggest any avenues that perhaps I can pursue?
many thanks
Woof

cw18

She should be using her pension and pension credit to 'pay her way'. If she lived on her own these are what she'd have to live on, so it should be used for the same purpose now. If you decide to take less off her than it would cost her to live alone then that's your choice.

krisskross

woof wrote: »

My 82 year old mother lives with us and I feel that we should be receiving something towards her care. Don't get me wrong, we do this gladly and feel that she contributes to our family in many ways. However had she not come to live with us she would be in an old folks home, paid for by the government as she has no savings and only receives a reduced state pension topped up by pension credit. Yes she gets the fuel allowance which she passes on to us and which we do use for heating oil as she needs more heat than we would normally use. The only other "benefit" we get is a free TV licence!!!
Can anyone suggest any avenues that perhaps I can pursue?
many thanks
Woof

Pension credit is quite a repectable sum these days. Does your Mum give you housekeeping? The winter fuel payment is worth £400 so not insignificant. TV licence £130 a year, so already you are up by £10 a week.

Do you have to 'care' for her in any way? The only benefit I can think of is attendance allowance and your mother would need to have care needs for her to be able to claim this.

jackieb

If she was in an old folk's home, most likely she would only have a (very) small weekly allowance to buy essentials. The rest of her pension would go towards her care.

cw18

If she were to qualify for Attendance Allowance, then you could also claim for Carers Allowance (subject to caring for her for a minimum of 35 hours, and whichever of you is doing this not earning more than £95/week)

mouseymousey99

Just to say the winter fuel is £250, but that excludes cold weather payments. (wish it was £400 & for all low income much more realistic).....

bestpud

mouseymousey99 wrote: »

Just to say the winter fuel is £250, but that excludes cold weather payments. (wish it was £400 & for all low income much more realistic).....

I'd have said £250 was realistic to be fair.

Isn't it meant to help with fuel bills over the coldest months?

So bearing in mind you have to pay the gas/electric anyway, I'd have said it will more than cover the extra expense in winter, for pretty much everyone?

krisskross

mouseymousey99 wrote: »

Just to say the winter fuel is £250, but that excludes cold weather payments. (wish it was £400 & for all low income much more realistic).....

She is 82. It was £400 this year for the over 80s

mouseymousey99

Sorry what I was trying to say is that so many disabled people would love to receive this too!! Stuck at home all day and too scared to put the heating on...so yes, I agree £400 is very reasonable....& free tv licence not be sniggered at come to that - £11 something is a big chunk out of benefits every month and as said so many people are stuck at home too.

woof_3

Thanks for all the comments.
I would like to point out that pension (inc pension credit) for over 80's is £124.05 per week, rent £80pw, heating oil (no choice in rural area) is £22 pw leaves £22.05 for electricity, phone and food not to mention clothes, gifts for birthdays etc. The winter fuel payment is indeed £400 but does NOT cover the extra heat used during Oct - Mar
As bestpud says we do have to pay electric, etc anyway and as cw18 says " If you decide to take less off her than it would cost her to live alone then that's your choice. ", Yes , it is our choice to take less, though my argument is that if she lived alone she would qualify for more benefits so families are saving the government lots of money and not getting any recognition other than the free TV licence. However it seems we're not doing too badly so we'll keep plodding along as we are.

krisskross

woof wrote: »

Thanks for all the comments.
I would like to point out that pension (inc pension credit) for over 80's is £124.05 per week, rent £80pw, heating oil (no choice in rural area) is £22 pw leaves £22.05 for electricity, phone and food not to mention clothes, gifts for birthdays etc. The winter fuel payment is indeed £400 but does NOT cover the extra heat used during Oct - Mar
As bestpud says we do have to pay electric, etc anyway and as cw18 says " If you decide to take less off her than it would cost her to live alone then that's your choice. ", Yes , it is our choice to take less, though my argument is that if she lived alone she would qualify for more benefits so families are saving the government lots of money and not getting any recognition other than the free TV licence. However it seems we're not doing too badly so we'll keep plodding along as we are.

Flippin 'eck. Our winter fuel payment covers the whole of our direct debit for 4 months. So the taxpayer is paying for all the gas and electric we use, and we are very chilly mortals. We feel very fortunate.

So she gives you £80 a week housekeeping? Plus the £400 WFP and the TV licence. Seems you have a reasonable deal to me. Doubt an 82 year eats that much and mortgage, council tax etc would have to be paid anyway.

You need to look at it from another direction. Your Mum is probably more than paying her way in your household.

Or am I misunderstanding completely and the £80pw rent you mention is for another property?