Am I eligible for Carer's allowance?

Echo23

Hi, I posted some months back following my husband's RTA where he was left disabled with multiple broken ribs and a spine fractured in three places. We have today learnt that he is eligible for DLA, both care and mobility at the lower rate. I wonder if anyone could help me as I have been told by someone that I may be entitled to carer's allowance but I thought that my husband had to be receiving the highest rate of DLA for me to be eligible? Is there anything else we might be entitled to. At present we are appealing an ESA decision so are receiving ESA at the appeal rate, child tax credit, child benefit, housing benefit and council tax benefit. Is there anything else we may be entitled to and will it impact on any benefits we already have coming in? Thank you in advance for your time. x

Caz3121

DLA needs to be at medium or high rate for carers allowance

Horseunderwater

I think that to get Carers you do have to get DLA care at mid or high rate. But I suggest that you should perhaps appeal the DLA care as I assume with a broken spine that it will quite some time before he is up and able again. What prognosis does his consultant say is likely? If he is having to be washed in bed/fed there and obviously cannot say cook himself a meal and or if he needs help to get himself out of bed to go to the loo/ get dressed every day, then MRcare ought to apply for the time being. But I do not know your circumstances. Will he be walking again once healed. My opinion worth looking at again. If his disability will go on beyond another 6 months then DLA appeal def worth doing. And should you win, the Rate will be backdated to original claim date.

rogerblack

If he has been found entitled to LRM - this is almost certainly not related to the spinal, but mental problems.
LRM is granted for (generally) requiring assistance of someone else to find your way around.

First thing to do is to phone them up, and request a written statement of reasons, as well as a copy of any evidence used to make the decision.

The grounds for not awarding HRM would be that he can walk 30 yards (broadly) without too much pain, in a reasonable timeframe, and without causing risk to his health.

Or that he has not been this disabled for 3 months, and/or will not be disabled this much in 6 months time.

Echo23

Thank you for your replies. I am in two minds whether to appeal or just be grateful we were awarded anything. I wouldn't like to push our luck.
The doctor who came out to assess my husband didn't even ask how far he could walk. TBH I wouldn't even know how far my DH could walk right now as it is only for hospital appointments that he actually leaves the house. At the hospital he walks very gingerly with the aid of a stick from the car to the front doors, depending which department we need I will sit him in a wheelchair and wheel him or he will hobble along at a slow pace for a short distance. He is in pain all of the time due to the three fractures, the broken ribs and also two protruding discs in his lumbar region which were a problem before the RTA. My husband does also have mental health problems so what you say about the LRM may be correct. I will need to read the report.
As for prognosis we have no idea, silly as it sounds. I have never actually met the surgeon/specialist and the nursing staff on the ward were too busy to sit and talk anything through with us. We only know where the fractures are and how they were treated because we read it on the hospital discharge letter. On the follow up appointment the specialist wasn't even present. My husband had some xrays done and we were told by the physiotherapist that everything was looking good and to take it very very easy for the next six months. It feels like we are in limbo right now as we don't know whether he is expected to make a full recovery or not.

sunnyone

Horseunderwater wrote: »

I think that to get Carers you do have to get DLA care at mid or high rate. But I suggest that you should perhaps appeal the DLA care as I assume with a broken spine that it will quite some time before he is up and able again. What prognosis does his consultant say is likely? If he is having to be washed in bed/fed there and obviously cannot say cook himself a meal and or if he needs help to get himself out of bed to go to the loo/ get dressed every day, then MRcare ought to apply for the time being. But I do not know your circumstances. Will he be walking again once healed. My opinion worth looking at again. If his disability will go on beyond another 6 months then DLA appeal def worth doing. And should you win, the Rate will be backdated to original claim date.

You assume wrongly that all spinal fractures are serious, the truth is very diffrent and Ive seen patients walk out of the spinal ward a week after their accidents without any major problems and their minor difficulties were caused by their back braces and they only had to wear that for four weeks so not long enough to claim DLA.

Straight forward spinal fractures without any cord/nerve damage mostly dont result in any longterm impairment what so ever.