benefits for 82 yr old mother

cw18

woof wrote: »

though my argument is that if she lived alone she would qualify for more benefits so families are saving the government lots of money.

Exactly the same for loads of other families

If one partner works and the other doesn't, then the working partner is supposed to support them both. If they lived in seperate homes as single people then the non-working partner (especially if s/he has young children) would be claiming benefits.

And if a person is the registered carer for someone, they get a whopping £50.55 / week for doing so (which is taxable!) providing they spend at least 35 hours/week caring for the person and earn less than £95/week for any job they may also hold down. The other option is to let the state care for the person, and spend those 35 hours in a minimum wage job earning just over £200, or indeed to work for just 9 hours a week in order to be on the same money !!

Oldernotwiser

krisskross wrote: »

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.

Woof says that the £80 per week doesn't include food, so presumably the £80 rent is just that! Who would charge their 82 year old mother £80 just to live in their house and expect EXTRA from the state as well?:eek:

Perhaps I've missed something?

margaretclare

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

Why assume that Mum's only alternatives are living with you OR an 'old folks' home'? Lots of 82-year old ladies are living on their own. If they have only basic state pensions, topped up by pension credit, they can also claim Housing Benefit (it has a new name) if living in rented property, and council tax benefit. On top of this there are free bus passes, the £400 winter fuel allowance, £10 Christmas bonus and £60 one-off payment this month, also the free TV licence that you mention.

So, for an 82-year old lady living alone, her housing costs are met but she still has to feed and clothe herself and pay for cooking and heating (electricity and/or gas) and water.

Are you saying you have extra costs because, as well as living with you, you're actually giving her 'care' with the normal activities of daily living - helping her to stay clean, dress, get up, toilet needs etc? Because in that case she could claim Attendance Allowance and you could put in a claim for Carers' Allowance for her.

If she's a fit, independent, active 82-year old however, this won't work.

Other than that, nothing else.

Limana68

Hi there
My elderly mum lives with us, we bought the house were in specifically to accomodate her. The reason for this was because she wasnt coping on her own due to memory loss and her physical health.
She has been getting attendance allowance for past 2 yrs due to all her problems and my hubby claims carers allowance for looking after her.
If it wasnt for her health, she would be still living on her own in her council flat, but she coped ok financially.
So it all depends of your mum has health probs and you ''care'' for her as to whether she can claim attendance allowance. How is her helath???

Li

calleyw

I think I am missing something here.

The OP would still have the same rent or mortgage as I assume they didn't move to house the mother.

They have the £400 winter fuel allowance and free TV licence and charge her £80pw to live with them excluding food.:eek:

The only extra's are heating might have to be on longer than normal which most would be covered by the Fuel Allowance. And even being generous an extra £100 a month on food. And she still have buy her own clothes etc.

The op has forgotten that there parents brought them in to the world and fed and clothed and housed and kept them warm for years free of charge. And at op's mothers age with no help from the state.

They are taking approx £346 per month before food from their mother and still want extra. That £346 should more than cover bills. Unless like I said you moved to house your mother. Then that is a different story.

if it was my mother I would probably take the fuel allowance off of her and maybe £50-£80 a month max just to help with the bills but that would it. And then refuse any extra money. As it just does not feel right to me.

Yours

Calley

hm71_2

me thinks this is a wind-up. why does the mum pay £80 rent? is the heating oil £22 pw extra for the mum or just £22pw?
free Tv licence & £400 winter fuel allowance my combined elec & gas DD are £456 for the period Oct-Mar so that would easily help with my costs.
Some people do like to think they are paying there own way- I know my mum (may she rest in peace) was always quite insistant on giving me money weekly when she lived with us. We just use to save it up & yes it came in handy if we had an emergency but more often than not we would use it for things for my mum. local OAP trips etc... that she showed an interest in & stuff.
all smells a bit stinky to me.

calleyw

hm71 wrote: »

Some people do like to think they are paying there own way- I know my mum (may she rest in peace) was always quite insistant on giving me money weekly when she lived with us. We just use to save it up & yes it came in handy if we had an emergency but more often than not we would use it for things for my mum. local OAP trips etc... that she showed an interest in & stuff.

My mum is the same. I always buying extras of things like bought her a mince pies and christmas pud from sainsburys as had 75% off. So cost me a couple of quid. But I refused money.

Everytime we have a meal at my mums we (husband and I) each put £1 in a tin and in november I give that to her as a christmas fund to buy presents and extras.

When I refuse the money my mum goes "Oh Calley" and pulls a face at me :rotfl:

To me I don't feel comfortable taking money from my parents apart from gifts at christmas and birthdays. The way I look at it is it cost them thousands to bring me up and no I can repay in a small way. And maybe a bigger way later on.

Yours


Calley

bestpud

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.

My fil lives in the sticks and he pays £400 for a tank of oil, and it lasts him the full year. More than a year in fact!

ianian99

but its not the mothers house so why free tv licence?

calleyw

ianian99 wrote: »

but its not the mothers house so why free tv licence?

if anyone in the household is over 74 years old you get a free TV licence. I don't believe it has anything to do with owning or renting the house it is where they live and where they call home.

Yours


Calley