dla, carer something or other and ctc?

wattdallas

rotoguys wrote: »

Simply, and as I have previously explained, I was made to feel that I must do.


As regards the Carers Allowance, everybody has a choice, let them have it. I didn't claim it because of the extra money - having it is making us feel that we are 'cheating' the system sort of.
The advisor from the council told us that we must claim it and would not accept our initial refusal as being reasonable or understandable. We felt pressured into filling out all of the forms, certainly the Pension credit one we did!

As regards my wife's AA claim, this was put in by two people who came from the Pension Service/DWP visiting team to our home. They were brought in by the council after we told them that we were having difficulty keeping up with the Council tax bill. We never asked them, and my wife made her comments to them when they turned up that no amount of money will help with her health. But they insisted we complete it.

Rotoguys - nobody can force you to claim anything- and if you dont want the money give up your claim.

I would care for my daughter without carers allowance but it helps as i cannot work and will never be able to work .My daughter 12 has very high care needs and cant do anything for herself she is totally depentdant on me for everything.She is profoundly disabled.

The care allowance helps us alot and im grateful for it .

rotoguys

tyllwyd wrote: »

If you are entitled to a carer's allowance then I think you should definitely claim it - if nothing else, you can put it away in a savings account and hopefully build up a lump sum that you can use if your son needs something in the future. You never know what might happen later but you can be sure that if you don't claim the money now, you've lost it for good.

So you would condone claiming it simply because it is there and you can have it, but have no real thoughts on how that money would be used.

There are many disabled people that can't manage on what they get, would it not be better if they had a bit more at the expense of you not claiming it.

It is far better to see that the small amount of money that the country can afford in benefit payments should go to the most deserving in society and not to those that claim it because they can?

This is where I see the advantages that will come with PIP and Universal Credit are. More to those that need and deserve it, but less to those that have smaller needs.

rotoguys

cosmic-dust wrote: »

If things were to change for example your husband left you, or god forbid he died you might think differently. Just because a parent claims Carers allowance doesn't make them greedy.

It does if they claim it for the wrong reason!

Because it is there to be claimed!

Peanuckle

lou-p-lou wrote: »

She also said I was supposed to claim for some sort of carer benefit because my son is getting the higher rate, but I am his mum, not his carer so am I allowed to NOT claim this (as in, they won't stop the dla because i'm not claiming the other one?)
thankyou for your time.

You don't HAVE to claim carer's allowance but your decision to claim (or not) has no effect on the DLA award. The forms are very simple, basically they ask do you care for someone who gets DLA middle or higher care award and do you earn less than £100 per weekl, nowhere near as complicated as the DLA forms.

I know what it's like to be a mum AND a carer to a disabled child, at the moment it might be no different to you than caring for any child but others will see the differences. If you decide to take the option of claiming carer's benefit then you could consider putting some of the money to one side to pay for a child minder so you can have a night out now and then. You might be lucky enough to have family who can help out but I know from experience that getting a teenager to babysit the way most parents can isn't an option with a child with disabilities. Also I hope your child's problem get less as they age, but bear in mind if they don't that caring for a teen who still throws tantrums is very stressful (on mind and body) and you will need a break now and then, believe me the pain of a 7 or 8 year old kicking out is nothing compared to a 17 or 18 year old doing it (and not understanding why it's wrong as they're still at a much lower developmental age before anyone comes up with a smart !!!! remark)

rotoguys

wattdallas wrote: »

Rotoguys - nobody can force you to claim anything- and if you dont want the money give up your claim.

I would care for my daughter without carers allowance but it helps as i cannot work and will never be able to work .My daughter 12 has very high care needs and cant do anything for herself she is totally depentdant on me for everything.She is profoundly disabled.

The care allowance helps us alot and im grateful for it .

I accept that.

But my argument is centered around (a) those that claim CA just because they can claim it and have no real justifyable reason to do so and (b) the pressure being applied on people to claim everything they can by making them feel that they 'are the odd ones out' or have a 'mental health' problem.

When we initially refused to claim AA, CA and Pension Credit, the DWP more or less insisted that we do make the claims pointing out that they had come a long way to see us and we would have wasted their time. Good grief, we didn't even ask them to come!! The council did!

rotoguys

Peanuckle wrote: »

You don't HAVE to claim carer's allowance but your decision to claim (or not) has no effect on the DLA award. The forms are very simple, basically they ask do you care for someone who gets DLA middle or higher care award and do you earn less than £100 per weekl, nowhere near as complicated as the DLA forms.

I know what it's like to be a mum AND a carer to a disabled child, at the moment it might be no different to you than caring for any child but others will see the differences. If you decide to take the option of claiming carer's benefit then you could consider putting some of the money to one side to pay for a child minder so you can have a night out now and then. You might be lucky enough to have family who can help out but I know from experience that getting a teenager to babysit the way most parents can isn't an option with a child with disabilities. Also I hope your child's problem get less as they age, but bear in mind if they don't that caring for a teen who still throws tantrums is very stressful (on mind and body) and you will need a break now and then, believe me the pain of a 7 or 8 year old kicking out is nothing compared to a 17 or 18 year old doing it (and not understanding why it's wrong as they're still at a much lower developmental age before anyone comes up with a smart !!!! remark)

Thank you that was a very balanced view on the matter.

tyllwyd

rotoguys wrote: »

So you would condone claiming it simply because it is there and you can have it, but have no real thoughts on how that money would be used.

There are many disabled people that can't manage on what they get, would it not be better if they had a bit more at the expense of you not claiming it.

It is far better to see that the small amount of money that the country can afford in benefit payments should go to the most deserving in society and not to those that claim it because they can?

This is where I see the advantages that will come with PIP and Universal Credit are. More to those that need and deserve it, but less to those that have smaller needs.

If I thought that me not claiming a benefit would result in a posititive advantage to someone who needed the money more badly than myself, then yes, I would consider not claiming.

But the reality is that the system is so huge and unwieldy, you could never be sure that the money was going to a more deserving person. If I had been assessed as needing the money and being entitled to it, I would claim it - there is a beneft system set up to channel the money where it is needed, and if they have assessed me against the same criteria as everyone else, and decided that I should receive a certain amount of the money available, then why should I not accept that decision?

If I then decided to save the money to help my child in the future, or give it directly to a person or charity I considered more deserving than myself, then that's my choice.

cosmic-dust

rotoguys you do make me laugh. Preaching from that high horse of yours. Claiming you were forced to claim all these extra benefits :rotfl: yet you have no problem spending them week after week, month after month. Do us a favour.

Can see there was so much force from this thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/49881561#Comment_49881561

DorsetGirl_2

Oh dear, you have been busted rotoguys!

YORKSHIRELASS

FBaby wrote: »

When you decide to have a child, you accept that you are taking the risk of having to dedicate many years, in some cases, your life for that child. Isn't caring for your child the essence of what parental role should be???

I used to think this. Then I found myself with a 13 year old son who is so poorly that he cant go anywhere without a parent. He can only manage between 3-5 hours of formal education a week. He has had 15 medical appointments in the last six months, some up to 50 miles away. He doesnt sleep and needs constant care 24/7. Oh, and he is not going to get any better.

I worked up to 50 hours a week before he became ill and took 8 weeks maternity leave when my second child was born. Together with my husband I was proud to be supporting my kids financially and bringing them up properly at the same time.

My husband and I dont go out - ever. We dont drink, dont smoke and have few luxuries. My husband works damned hard to provide what he can for us but without the help of the welfare state we would be stuffed. I simply cannot work because of my sons care needs. As soon as this situation changes I will be finding a job as I hate living on benefits.

Yes I chose to have kids - but I didnt choose to have a disabled kid.

So to reply to the OPs question - yes you can get extra tax credits and you can get carers allowance but of course it depends on your circumstances whether you need these - and whether you claim them. Dont feel guilty about it though, the welfare state is there and its there to support people like us who genuinely need it.