Help! Overpayment of Attendance Allowance

Longships

My mother is 92 and has Alzheimers. She lives in a care home where she pays a contribution of around £1,000 a month for her care which is topped up by LA. She doesn't even know who I am most of the time and has no ability to deal with her own finances. I just received a call from the home to say she has had a letter saying that she has been overpaid Attendance Allowance by over £2,000 and they want it back. It was her mental health care visitor who applied for this for her when she was in sheltered housing before she went into the home.

I don't have Power of Attorney and frankly I don't want it (probably wouldn't be given it considering my own situation). She can't even sign her name so could not complete any forms.

At the moment she has a very small amount left every month for her personal expenses, but I know she also has around £2,500 in an ISA which she always said was for her funeral expenses. Can they take this? Other than this she has nothing.

MrsManda

Has anyone got Power of Attorney or a Court of Protection order for her?

Longships

No - there isn't really anyone else to do it.

Torry_Quine

If she has dementia to the severity you say then no-one will be able to get power of attorney as she has to sign and understand that she is doing it. The court of protection would have to be involved in this instance.

Who is currently looking after her finances as she is clearly not able to do this herself?

Was the DWP informed firstly when she went into the care home and again when she was no longer self-funding as this should have been done? How did they find out she was no longer entitled as the amount should have been included when assessing her income for care home fees?

Longships

I helped with filling out some of the financial forms when she went into the home around 16 months ago. It was difficult as a couple of years ago she threw everything away - all personal papers, certificates, family photos etc. Now everything goes into and out of her account each month and there aren't really any finances to look after.

Her situation regarding funding hasn't changed at all since she has been there. I don't know if the DWP were "informed" as such other than being given a change of address for her.

Torry_Quine

Longships wrote: »

I helped with filling out some of the financial forms when she went into the home around 16 months ago. It was difficult as a couple of years ago she threw everything away - all personal papers, certificates, family photos etc. Now everything goes into and out of her account each month and there aren't really any finances to look after.

Her situation regarding funding hasn't changed at all since she has been there. I don't know if the DWP were "informed" as such other than being given a change of address for her.

Someone needs to be responsible for her bank account etc. When the forms were completed was her AA listed under income? As she is not self-funding then her AA should have stopped 28 days after going into the care home and if the DWP weren't informed they are entitled to ask for the overpayment.

Longships

She is not completely self-funding but she does pay more or less all she has coming in. I am not saying they are not "entitled" to ask for the overpayment but she hasn't got it, so what can they do?

Torry_Quine

Longships wrote: »

She is not completely self-funding but she does pay more or less all she has coming in. I am not saying they are not "entitled" to ask for the overpayment but she hasn't got it, so what can they do?

Everyone who has no money other than pension or benefits pays the bulk of their money leaving them with just over £20 for personal expenses.

sleepless_saver

They can try to recover the overpayment from your mother, or secondly from anyone else whose failure to disclose material facts (i.e. the fact that she had moved into residential care) led to the overpayment. That would most likely be the person who completed the financial assessment forms which went to the local authority, and notified DWP of the "change of address" but not the fact that she had gone into care.

You could see if the home would write back explaining that your mother is not mentally capable of dealing with this, and that as far as they are aware no one has the authority to do so.

Longships

As far as I know she signed the forms herself as she was not so bad then. The home is going to send the letters on to me, so I guess I will end up having to deal with it.

If she could repay the money at a small amount per month by DD that would be ok as we could make sure she had enough, but how we could set up a DD when she can't sign I don't know. I am just worried that they would make her cash in her ISA and then her funeral expenses are gone. Although her physical health is good, she is 92.

pmlindyloo

From what you have said it seems that AA continued after your mother had gone into a care home because no-one informed them of her move. I am surprised that when the financial assessment was completed this wasn't dealt with.

However, what is done is done. Now, how to deal with it.

Under the circumstances I believe that your mother will be able to pay this back in installments. They should not touch her savings (ISA) as it is under the threshold of what she is allowed before receiving help with the care home fees from the LA.

The fact that your mother is suffering from dementia complicates the matter as she is unable to deal with this herself.

If it were me I would be hotfooting it to CAB for help. At the very least they could help you compose a letter detailing the situation. At the very best they might know of a charity that would help out with the overpayment. Try to find a large CAB where they have a welfare and benefits specialist. Also the Alzheimers Society might be able to help.

Good luck!