Elderly Relative Benefits?

Moody_Mare

Just wondering if anyone can help? for many years I have looked after my 92 year old grandfather. He has never claimed a penny of anyone all he gets is his state pension and a very small war pension each month. I do everything for him from bathing and clothing, preparing meals cleaning the house colecting pension and all his shopping and paying bills. This takes up most of my time each day 7 days a week and often through the night as well. I do not mind doing this and will continue as he does not want to leave his home.

His saving are running out as I have had to get a lot of alterations done to his house, I have been told he could claim DLA? or attendance allowance and I would be eligable for a carers allowance? this would be good as I only work 8 hours a weeks to fit around him. My questions are what do I claim? I have looked at some of the forms online but they all ask "what is his disabitlity" can I put frail due to old age with failing eyesight. He has mobility problems as he is so weak, I just want to find out if I can get some help or at least a grant for home improvements as he requires a shower cabinet as he is getting too much for me to lift into the bath and not enough room in bathroom for bath transfer chair but as I say money is getting tight. Please do not reccomend social services as he would not have them in his home. I have enough problems getting him to see a doctor occasionally. Any help much appreciated.

julie03

contact http://www.ageuk.org.uk/ they are a great source of info on the website and on the end of a phone.

idvi

it sounds like he would probably get attendance allowance if he has such high care needs: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/DG_10012425

you can get carers allowance if you look after someone with attendance allowance more than 35 hours a week and dont work full time yourself (so it looks like youd qualify): http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/CaringForSomeone/MoneyMatters/DG_10012522

just put whatever you need to on the forms, something like 'cant walk further than 2 meters unaided' etc. (or whatever the problems exactly are) would be useful.

on the forms, it asks what the care needs are, rather than focusing on the specific disabilitiy (ie. he sounds like he needs care needs to get around, to clean, to prepare a meal etc.)

he might be able to get a community care grant or money towards adaptations for his home to make life easier: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Caringforsomeone/DG_10018921

he would also qualify for a blue badge if he can barely walk

he can claim back costs relating to his health as well i think such as transport costs (ie. to hospital)

he may have to be involved with social services, especially for grants and adaptations as they would need to do assessments etc.

how badly is his eyesight failing? is he anywhere near the legal 'registered blind' limit? you can be registered 'blind' and still have some partial sight (you can see something)

Moody_Mare

Idvi thank you for response I will look into all of these. He cannot walk more than a couple of steps without his zimmer frame and me hanging on around his waist. Not too bothered about the blue badge as he does not come out of the house anymore. I did try to get one for him a couple of years ago but the local council stated he had to have a disability not just be frail from old age.

I am not sure about his eyesight it is very poor due to cataracts, he did see the hospital about this a couple of years ago but they would not operate due to his age. I may have to find the money for adapations then as he will not have buzy bodies as he calls the social services in his home. I personally think he is terrified they would order him into a nusing home so that they could sell his house. Well that appears to be the jist of his concept. Thank you for the advice.

Moody_Mare

Can I just also ask if I can get him attendance allowance could this be paid into his post office pension card? As it is very difficult for me to access anything from his bank. Normally he has to write a cheque out to me that goes into my bank so that I can then pay his bills on my card. He will not entertain a debit card of his own or a joint a/c with me which I do not mind but it is difficult to get his funds for him.

He loathes the modern way and is too tottery to go into the bank now in person, I am having enough problems getting him to cope with digital tv as he wants analogue back.

ERICS_MUM

Sorry, this is a long one, hope it's worthwhile


He might be entitled to attendance allowance. We claimed successfully for my mum a few years ago and it makes all the difference to her life. It's not necessarily for people with major illnesses or who need attending to 24/7 but also to pay for things they need for everyday living such as a shower, walking frame, someone to go in and clean taxi to the doctors. opticians etc.

The form is quite lengthy but you can get help to fill it out. I think many old people tend to minimise their health and mobility problems, but for the purpose of filling out these forms you need to be quite detailed (obviously honest) about the impact on his daily life.

For example my mum has a weak bladder - we spelt out that she has slight incontinence, needs a catheter at night and runs a high risk of recurrent infections.

Failing eye sight can be truthfully described as partial blindness which could mean your grandad cannot sort out his own meds, manage to cook. Rheumatism or arthritis might have affected his ability to walk or stand for long periods, so he cannot get into the bath or stand in a shower - he needs a special shower chair, grab rails etc. Perhaps he has lost a lot of his hearing so cannot use the phone to call for help or hear a smoke detector in case of a fire.

Anyway sorry to ramble on, (I never manage brief posts). Once AA has been granted there might be other benefits - my mum got 100% council tax relief plus her personal pension allowance was increased so she gets a supplementary pension.

This website is very useful:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/DG_10012425

Good luck, let us know how you get on. Best wishes to your grandad.

Linda xx

julie03

age concern are also great at helping with form filling

idvi

Moody_Mare wrote: »

Idvi thank you for response I will look into all of these. He cannot walk more than a couple of steps without his zimmer frame and me hanging on around his waist. Not too bothered about the blue badge as he does not come out of the house anymore. I did try to get one for him a couple of years ago but the local council stated he had to have a disability not just be frail from old age.

I am not sure about his eyesight it is very poor due to cataracts, he did see the hospital about this a couple of years ago but they would not operate due to his age. I may have to find the money for adapations then as he will not have buzy bodies as he calls the social services in his home. I personally think he is terrified they would order him into a nusing home so that they could sell his house. Well that appears to be the jist of his concept. Thank you for the advice.

if he cant walk more than a few steps without a zimmerframe and assistance i can tell you without a doubt he is entitled to a blue badge, you dont have to have a named disability (for any of the above mentioned stuff, including blue badge) if i remember correctly you qualify if you cant walk for more than 50 meters or something.
(just in case you ever did want to apply for one)

i am worried that because of your grandfathers perception of social services he could be doing himself out of help social services wont put him in a home, far from it.. its all about care in the community these days to save money. they would try to avoid putting him in a home even if he needed it(!!) methinks.

at some point somewhere for most forms of help, assessments have to be undertaken (after all, public money all has to be justified.. except where its MP's(!!) lol).. things like attendance allowance can usually be done with doctors letter but even a medical examiner might want to come to his home (like they sometimes do with dla i think).

dont underestimate what the social can do.. if he needs rails put in and all that sort of thing, those literally are the people.. its what they are paid to do, not to order elderly people into care homes

if he accepts the help, various grants are available. there are lots of different things.. i think he might even be able to get free loft insulation and all sorts of weird and wonderful grants from various schemes

good luck :T

Moody_Mare

Thanks for all the help, alass I may be on to a non starter and have to struggle on as he will not have anyone entering his home. I have tried to persuade him for many years and he is having none of it. He would try to clout them with his zimmer I am afraid. I must admit I think his fear stems from his elderly friends as there is a bit of a pattern with our local council. There is plenty of support for independent living for tennents but of all his old friends the one's who owned their own homes were swiftly put in nursing homes and their houses sold. In his eyes they are after his money and they are not gaining entry. If their is the slightest chance of assesments then he will not allow me to apply for anything so I think I had better not. He will not even speak to my mother for the last 20 years because she got a district nurse into help him after an operation 20 years ago. Thank you all for your help it was much appreciated.

baza52

I had a friend in a similar situation.
His gran was very frail and would have benefited from living in sheltered accomodation or a care home as she too was housebound.
It turned out that her family didnt want her to go into care as they would lose the house when she died as it would be used to fund her care.

When you said you had to have a lot of alterations done why didnt you include the bathroom?
What did you have done? A DFG may have covered this.

julie03

my nan claimed attendance allowance for at least 10 yrs and nobody ever came to her home, age concern helped her with the form filling.