what help can a OAP carer get

TAZ

can anyone help my mum out here, she is a carer to a lady that has lived with her for 20 year, the lady (82 year old with mild downs, and fits,) is receiving AA and basic pension and pension credit. my mum does not qualify to get benefit as she has a company pension and my dads pension but as she cares for this lady i think she is entitled to claim CA. up until now mum has been a bit put off claiming it as she thought that the lady received a premium on her income that she would lose if mum got carers but having been today and going through paperwork received from dwp today she just receives the above. am i right in thinking that she won't lose anything if mum claims CA.

edited to change header

cattie

I believe you have to have an income of less than £82 week to get CA, so with the pension income your mother has she may be over the income limit.

Have a look here for more info, or if still not sure try to get your mum to get advice from CAB or similar. Or try the benefits helpline 0800 882200 .

TAZ

if this is the truth then i feel a little peeved for my poor mum as she has cared for this woman for over 20 years and just because she worked all her life and so did my dad she has to pay rent and council tax etc.

oh well,
taz

cattie

Sorry Taz, I forgot to put the link in my post :doh:, here it is.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/lifeevent/benefits/carers_allowance.asp

Ted_Hutchinson

TAZ wrote:

if this is the truth then i feel a little peeved for my poor mum as she has cared for this woman for over 20 years and just because she worked all her life and so did my dad she has to pay rent and council tax etc.

oh well,
taz

The problem with CA is that it is an earnings Replacement benefit and therefore OVERLAPPS with other earnings replacement benefits and so only the higher and not the sum total of the benefits is payable so if your mum is getting a pension or IB then it won't be worth her claiming.

However there is nothing in your post saying how old your mum is or what her current income is. Assuming your mum is under the limit after certain deductions( see the DWP link) and assuming this 82 yr old is not getting Severe Disability Premium added to her benefit, Then there will be no harm in the claim going ahead.

If the 82 yr old is getting SDP then this cannot be paid of someone is claiming CA for looking after her. But there will be plenty of cases where the Disabled person is not getting SDP and no one can benefit from the spare CA which could be claimed.

TAZ

thanks ted, mum is 78 and gets her state pension plus 2 small ocupation pensions that both her and my dad paid into. (dad died 15 years ago)as such she pays full rent etc the only discount she gets with anything is because the lady she cares for is downs andlives with her she gets the 50% discount on her council tax. she, as far as i'm aware is not entitled to any benefits.

patacake58

Do they like travelling? There are certain discounts on rail travel etc here http://www.disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk/index.htm
She may not be able to claim herself but the lady living with her should be entitled to and they would both benefit.
Every little helps
pat x