JSA and caring for a sick relative

looby75

We have just been given the devastating news that my nan has cancer of the Liver and it's terminal. We had been led to believe that she had a benign tumour in her gallbladder, which could be removed, but after further tests the cancer was discovered.

My sister was made redundant about 12 weeks ago and is claiming JSA, because she is the only family member in the area that isn't working right now most of the caring for my nan has fallen on her. We all thought this was only going to be a short term thing so she continued to look for a new job, but now we know that our Nan isn't going to get better and is going to need a lot of looking after for the foreseeable future.

My sister has agreed to continue looking after our nan, but obviously this means she can't look for work anymore, therefore she won't be eligible for JSA.

What options does she have now, she can't afford not to work long term but there really isn't anyone else in the family who is in a better position to be nans carer. Is there another benefit my sister can claim, will she now be entitled to IS while she's looking after our nan?

Any advice appreciated, our family has never been in this situation before, if anyone was ever ill it was always our nan who helped do the looking after, but this time she is the one who needs caring for

healy

Assuming your Nan is over 65 she should claim Attendance Allowance and if she is awarded it your sister can claim Carers Allowance.

If she is not expected to survive more than 6 months she can claim under the "special rules" and will receive the Attendance Allowance at the higher rate quickly.

looby75

My nan is 75 and at this point doesn't claim any benefits of any kind other than state pension (not sure if that's classed as a benefit) she has some savings, these are all tied up in long term savings plans etc so she can't touch them at the moment (minimum notice periods etc). Would this affect anything she could claim?

Also I've just read somewhere that you have to have been looking after someone for 3 months before you can claim carers allowance, and my nan has only been ill for 2 months so far.

Phil_Welsh

healy wrote:

Assuming your Nan is over 65 she should claim Attendance Allowance and if she is awarded it your sister can claim Carers Allowance.

If she is not expected to survive more than 6 months she can claim under the "special rules" and will receive the Attendance Allowance at the higher rate quickly.

Don't wait to have a decission on the attendance allowance before your sister makes a claim for CA put them both in together so that there is no delay. If your sister is single and not living with a partner she should also put in a claim for Income Support to top up the CA, if she gets CA she can earn up to £84.00 per week and this will not affect her CA but it would affect any IS she gets. If your sister is claiming JSA then get her to speak to her adviser at the jobcentre who should be able to give her advice and the claim forms for CA & IS. You can also get the attendance allowance forms from there as well. Hope that this helps.

healy

looby75 wrote:

My nan is 75 and at this point doesn't claim any benefits of any kind other than state pension (not sure if that's classed as a benefit) she has some savings, these are all tied up in long term savings plans etc so she can't touch them at the moment (minimum notice periods etc). Would this affect anything she could claim?

Also I've just read somewhere that you have to have been looking after someone for 3 months before you can claim carers allowance, and my nan has only been ill for 2 months so far.

No, Attendance Allowance is not means tested.

The second paragraph is not true.

looby75

Thanks, I'll pass all the info on to my sister. I think she is due at the jobcenter next monday so hopefully she will be able to talk to someone about the situation then.