Benefit help for my mum

Irishmummyof2

My mum has developed arthritis and has had injections etc but doesnt seem to be getting any better or giving her any ease. Her arthritis is in her hands and knees and some days she is fine but other days very painful. She was been signed off work for the last 18 weeks and it looks like she won't be fit to return but she is panicking that she wont be able to afford not to work. Her and my dad own their house or paying a mortgage, dad works full time and mum has worked for the last 20 odd years. Would they be entitled to any benefits or help? and anyone know roughly how much? we tried asking cab but they were useless and so were the social sercuity agency. Thanks

Caz3121

Is she receiving SSP from her employer?
If not, she may be able to make a claim for contributions based ESA if she has paid sufficient NI contributions, this would initially be £71 per week and may rise or stop following the medical at around 13 weeks

Irishmummyof2

Thanks for the reply, at the minute she is being paid sick pay by her employer that can last 6 months. After that she doesn't know where she stands.

pmlindyloo

Irishmummyof2 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, at the minute she is being paid sick pay by her employer that can last 6 months. After that she doesn't know where she stands.

If at the end of the 6 months she may be entitled to contribution based ESA (as already stated)

Depending on your father's income and their savings they may be entilted to other benefits.

You can use the calculator on here to find out:

http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

Housing costs (Support for mortgage interest) and Council tax Benefit are means tested and therefore it will depend on their income and savings.

They might be entitled to some working tax credit but again this will depend on their income (usually assessed over the last tax year but can be assessed on an estimation of the next tax year)

The only other benefit may be Disability Living Allowance which is not means tested and is awarded for care/mobility needs. You can google to find out more about this one.

If you tell us your dad's income and about any savings we may be able to assess if they might be entitled to other benefits.

Means tested benefits are awarded based on the household income/savings so it is possible that other than the possibility of DLA then your mum may not be entitled to anything after her contribution based ESA ends (a year unless she is placed in the support group)

They might like to start looking at reducing their expenditure (trying to get their utilities at cheaper rates etc etc)

There is lots of useful information on this site for doing this.