incapacity benefit and single person

pcboo

a friend of mine is 55, lives on her own and claiming incapacity for the past 3 years. she has her rent and council tax paid in full but is struggling to live on £89.80 per week. we have just found out that she is not entitled to free NHS treatment. how on earth is she supposed to pay for her glasses and dental treatment. is there anything else she can claim

NASA_2

Income Support I think, not certain on the legal position right now but cant see that it would be any other means tested benefit, if she had been credits only then ESA could have been applied for.

Prinzessilein

If she is relying solely on IB then she can get an exemption certificate on the grounds of low income.(Providing she doesn't have £16000+ savings)

She needs to ask for form HC1 at the chemist or doctors....and fill it in. Send this off, and she should hopefully get a certificate entitling her to free prescriptions, glasses, dental treatment.

KittyBoo_2

Prinzessilein wrote: »

If she is relying solely on IB then she can get an exemption certificate on the grounds of low income.(Providing she doesn't have £16000+ savings)

She needs to ask for form HC1 at the chemist or doctors....and fill it in. Send this off, and she should hopefully get a certificate entitling her to free prescriptions, glasses, dental treatment.

I sent off for this and was sent a certificate to say I was entitled.
It was such a relief as I was managing on the £89.80 too.

pcboo

have you tried claiming income support like nasa suggested. did you get it.

donnac2558

I very much doubt she will be able to get income support. I was on IB and could not claim anything until I was awarded DLA and then suddenly I could get IS as well.

I also filled in the HC form and on two occasions was not awarded free prescriptions, but did get some help with my dental and glasses treatment not free though.

pcboo

thanks everyone. i,ll tell her to try for IS and the HC1. will let you know what happens.

pcboo

thanks to everyone for the advice. my friend got IS of £1.90 per week.

NASA_2

pcboo wrote: »

thanks to everyone for the advice. my friend got IS of £1.90 per week.

That's good to hear.

The simple fact that Income Support is in payment (At more than 10p a week) opens the door to other benefits too.

Indie_Kid

Because she now gets IS, she won't need to fill in a HC1. All she needs to do is tick the box that says she receives IS.

Tufty

I'm a single person receiving £89.80 as a higher rate of Incapacity Benefit and I can't get any help with NHS charges for anything!

I am currently paying for 11 prescription drugs each month, I have to pay towards my rent and Council Tax and all these things take away the biggest part of my income.

Now, I find that I need quite a lot of dental work and, unless I can get help with charges, I just won't be able to afford treatment

I completed the HC1 form and have been told that I don't qualify for any assistance with charges. I applied for Income Support as well but I don't qualify for that either. Why can some people get it and not others when they receive the same benefits? :mad:

OK, I could pay £104 for a prepaid certificate for my prescription charges - but I don't have £104 to spend (I'm lucky if I have a tenner left at the end of the month after paying out rent, council tax and all the bills )

I can't believe that there is no help available at all :mad: :mad:

Is there anything else I can do???