Does any have, or have had, au pairs?

Zara33

She isn't working just 25 hours per week is she.

sleepymy

I find it very strange that DLA would be awarded for occasional fainting fits...

If you have care needs

To get the care component of Disability Living Allowance, your disability must be severe enough for you to:

* need help with things such as washing, dressing, eating, getting to and using the toilet, or communicating your needs, or
* need supervision to avoid you putting yourself or others in substantial danger, or
* need someone with you when you are on dialysis, or
* be unable to prepare a cooked main meal for yourself (if you had the ingredients), if you are aged 16 or over

There are three rates of care component depending on how your disability affects you:

* the lowest rate, if you need help or supervision for some of the day or you are unable to prepare a cooked main meal
* the middle rate, if you need help or supervision frequently throughout the day, or during the night, or someone with you while on dialysis
* the highest rate, if you need help or supervision frequently throughout the day and during the night

You can get Disability Living Allowance for your care needs even if no one is actually giving you the care you need, even if you live alone.
If you have mobility needs

To get the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, your disability must be severe enough for you to have the following walking difficulties, even when wearing or using an aid or equipment you normally use:

* you are unable or virtually unable to walk, or you have no feet or legs, or
* you are both 100% blind and 80% deaf and you need someone with you when you are out of doors, or
* you are severely mentally impaired with severe behavioural problems and qualify for the highest rate of care component, or
* the effort of walking could threaten your life or seriously affect your health, or
* you need guidance and/or supervision from another person when walking out of doors in unfamiliar places

There are two rates of the mobility component depending on how your disability affects you:

* the lower rate, if you need guidance or supervision out of doors
* the higher rate, if you have any of the other, more severe, walking difficulties

Some people will be entitled to only the care component or the mobility component, others will be entitled to both.

I have friends with unrelenting chronic illnesses, who are refused DLA if they say that they can make a cup of tea or leave the house by themselves once a week. I smell a great big rat...

missk_ensington

If you;re being pedantic, but I'd hardly call sleeping working, or being in her room on the internet of an evening, or on playstation or reading.... just being alive and here! She doesn;t have to do one single thing as a carer other than if I blackout! It's hardly grafting, its what she would be doing anyway. Even when she's not "on call" and perefctly allowed to go out, she doesn't! She stay in, so I'm not paying her for doing what she'd be doing anyway.

Edinburghlass_2

missk_ensington wrote:

In all jobs, when you are "on call" you either don't get paid at all, or get paid a drastically reduced wage. I don't see how she is any different.

I also think that £75 for less that 25 hours a week work in real terms, as well as all your food, rent, utilities..... is more than enough.

Do you have £75 a week PURELY DISPOSABLE INCOME? cos I certainly dont

You have had £50 up until now

MJMum

In all jobs, when you are "on call" you either don't get paid at all, or get paid a drastically reduced wage. I don't see how she is any different.

In many jobs (mine included) you actually get more pay, to take the anti-social hours into account.

missk_ensington

sleepymy- those occasional blackouts could be the one and only time my son runs out the front door onto the main road and is killed. It only takes one occassion of my being unconscious for him to cause major injury.

sarahlouise210

missk_ensington wrote:

PS. If I didn't have my son I would only lose my tax credits, not my DLA or Direct Payments. My son only "earns" me £100 in Working/Child tax credits.

Hardly a gravy train.

I think you would find it hard to get DLA without him ...the DLA is given in cases like yours(:rolleyes: ) to enable YOU to be supervised to avoid danger to your young child. You blacking out is in DLA rules "unlikely to cause serious injury to yourself or others) and as such you would not get DLA ..or if you were lucky would get lower rate (thus no additional tax credits) - you yourself have mentioned time and time again that you have the dla and carer for the safety of your son. You also said you were going to get £200 per week in direct payments...imagine you made a mistake then:rolleyes:

missk_ensington

£50 SOME weeks I said, and that's at the top end of the scale. Put it this way, if I have £50 a week left over after I've paid everything I'm very happy because it doesn't happen all that often!!

Most weeks I have £30-35 a week disposable income.

Zara33

if I blackout!

Correct term there IF

sleepymy

What's looking after your son got to do with DLA?

It's assessed on your personal care and mobility not on what your son 'could' do when you 'black out'.