Any help please x

hayley2012_2

Hi all im new on here but desperate need of some advice regarding carers allowence, its a long sory so please bare with me.

Back in august 2011 i was asked by my mother in law to claim carers allowence for her as we had not seen her for years and she told me to put the money towards thing for my three girls as she had not seen them for so long, she suffers from back problems and is in my oppinion an alcholic.

I was paid back dated monies in the sum of £ 600 , after 8 months of not speaking to her due to her drink problems she is demanding i give her the money back as she cant live i dont have the money to return to her and im worried she could get me in trouble, i cancelled the clain 2 weeks after is was opened as she didnt want money taken out of her benefits, so the only payment i recieved was the back dated money.

Any help would be greatly appretiated as i really dont know what to do, she can be very underhanded and i dont want her to get me and my family in any trouble,

thank you x

BigAunty

You can see the essential criteria for claiming Carers Allowance on the Direct Gov website. Off the top of my head, I think you are expected to care for someone for 35 hours per week.

I take it that you are worried that she will notify the authorities that you claimed Carers Allowance and didn't meet the conditions for it (i.e. fraud)?

Carers Allowance is supposed to be paid to the carer, not the person who is cared for who will typically be receiving a disability benefit for their care/mobility needs anyhow.

You have my sympathy at being potentially exploited by a manipulative person. The only thing I can think of is to say to her that you are happy to contact the relevant authority and pay the CA back to them or not bother to respond to any communication from her.

hayley2012_2

thank you, im so worried i think i will give carers allowence a call tomorrow and explain the situation to them and see where i stand x

BigAunty

Why not wait for a few more responses on this thread to get an idea of your options?

I do think that you can neutralise the nuisance and blackmail from your MiL if you take the sting out of it by confessing and offering to repay it back but other member will give you an idea of where you stand on this, a wider range of strategies.

McKneff

If your mother and you hadnt seen each other for years why would she suddenly ask you to claim carers allowance and for the same reason, why did you claim it when you werent 'caring' for her.

Dunroamin

You seem more worried about her "getting you into trouble" than you do about claiming money fraudulently.

paddedjohn

McKneff wrote: »

If your mother and you hadnt seen each other for years why would she suddenly ask you to claim carers allowance and for the same reason, why did you claim it when you werent 'caring' for her.

Beat me to it.;)

hayley2012_2

i was caring for her that isnt the issue, the issue is that since the claim had ended as she didnt want the care anymore she is demanding the money back from me ?? as she had deductions out of her benefit.

There is no talking to her she can be violent due to drink and i dont want her anywhere near my children the reason i dont sprak to her anymore, i am being bombarded with texts !

just dont know what to do anymore i feel like im the quilty party and im not x

hayley2012_2

Dunroamin wrote: »

You seem more worried about her "getting you into trouble" than you do about claiming money fraudulently.

this really is not the case ! i have never claimed any money fraudulently i am going to contact the carers allownence to see where i stand i am willing to pay any money i owe back to them , but not to my mother in law who the money has nothing to do with.

McKneff

Your OP wasnt very clear. Do you mean you started caring/claiming carers allowance for her for 35 hours a week since 2011.

When did you stop caring for her.

skintandscared_2

She was never entitled to the money - it's paid to the carer. My advice is go and buy a new PAYG SIM in the morning and change your phone number. Then forget about her.