Help- Had Carers Allowance, I.S and SMI taken off me!!!

princessdon

Dunroamin wrote: »

Giving the things you say that she is able to do, I wonder what you actually mean by "personal care"?

Not necessarily. My GM has early vascular D. It is her physical that need addressing morning and night.

I can get her out of bed, dress her and leave her alone until I leave work in the evening.

That said - the fluctuating degree of the disease meant I have full peace of mind in a home with 24/7 care, pull cords, staff who check them, and where she can come and go (not a nursing home) the alarm goes off out of hours and call to me etc.

It's why I breathe so much easier, as 90% of time in her old home she'd manage that 10% led to sleepless nights.

Maybe the uncle lives there and is home by 4pm?

I don't know, but some people can do waking hours alone, some clearly can't and my GM wouldn't be paying for care if she didn't need it I guess so valid point.

SandraScarlett

TeeKay10 wrote: »

Considering your lack of full facts with the level of my nan's dementia you aren't able to give a valid viewpoint. She has mild to moderate dementia. If you are familiar with the condition you will understand, otherwise educate yourself before commenting.

She is fully able to function in watching TV, listening to the radio, taking her self to bed and caring for toilet needs etc. It is her meals, medications, cleaning, personal care and shopping that she needs help with. Her mobility is fine.

She has neighbour's numbers should she need urgent help.

TeeKay, sadly I do know a lot about this as my husband has Alzheimers. He has had dementia for about 8 years, and up till last year, he forgot things, and muddled things up, but was able to do the things you mention that are within your Nan's capabilities. He was also driving locally.

Then I noticed he was getting muddled with his tablets, so I took charge of those. Then, rapidly, things deteriorated to a stage where I couldn't leave him on his own for even 5 minutes as he was leaving pans to burn out on the cooker, having forgotten that he'd put them on the hob. :eek:

My husband is considerably younger than your Nan, only in his mid 70s, and now attends a day centre a few times a week, and I am with him the rest of the time. But I've made it quite clear to my kids (who are in their 40s), that if anything happened to me, that whatever they decided to do with regards to my husband's welfare, would be the right thing.

Nearly 25 years ago, my Mum, who was physically disabled, went into a nursing home after my Dad died, and I sold her house to pay for her care, which was worth every penny. I just couldn't look after her, hold down a full time job, and care for my family.

It's obviously taking its toll on you, with the stress and strain of driving backwards and forwards, on a tight budget (and we all know petrol's dearer than champagne! ), and would it not be so much better, bearing in mind your Nan's age, if she could spend the remainder of her life in comfort, with lots of care and company?

I'm sorry if you feel that people are expressing an opinion, without the full knowledge of your Nan's condition, but we only know what you've told us in your posts. I find it strange that although your Nan seems to be fit, able and capable, from what you say, that your Uncle felt it necessary to get POA.

I hope you find the right solution for your situation, and that your Uncle puts his mother's needs first.

xx

Billy_two_speakers

TeeKay10 wrote: »

ceecee1, I will definitely do that thank you for your useful reply.

princessdon, This is what I thought counted for eligibility too, but I'm just not sure. I do take her washing home, do her ironing from home, collect meds, do her shopping when she's not with me, etc etc.

Uncle has many agendas which I won't bother detailing here in case I'm shot down in flames with that too.
Thanks for your reply too, and missapril

Regarding the fuel payments - I had absolutely no idea it mattered. NO-ONE asked me. I haven't made on it so don't see the problem. It's the same as those on benefits who get a free bus pass surely?
To infer I'm stupid is unfair (and abusive), as mentioned before, I'm new to benefits so it can be very daunting.

the dwp wont treat you as stupid, they will take it that you knew you should not take £15 a day for petrol because regardless of what you spent it on, its income

oap have a right to a bus pass on benenfits as too do some disabled people but you have no right to £105 a week in cash while on Income support you are breaking the law as for having no idea thats rubbish you have signed paperwork in the past which if they catch up with you they will show you where you signed

FBaby

Why are you blaming everyone else for your situation and only see yourself as a victim?

YOU chose to give up your job, you didn't have to do that. You did so KNOWING that you woudn't fulfill the 35 hours rules. YOU knew that was committing fraud, but allowed to believe it was ok because your uncle told you not to worry about it.

You are now cross because you are being told that you can't continue to do so and either actually provide the 35 hours required or go and look for a job.

I appreciate that the CA claim was in effect 'false' as I didn't fully adhere to the rules, but there was a valid reason for it. All I was trying to do was help and I feel like it's been thrown back in my face. I gave up a good job (albeit P/T) to do this for my nan and am now in the !!!!, as is my nan.

No there wasn't a valid reason. If you couldn't do it because of you couldn't provide 35 hours of care, then you should have said you couldn't do it.

I think instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you should be grateful if you are not finding yourself having to pay all these benefits back. You are not a victim, you know the rules, you just want to do what suits you rather than what you are allowed to do. Unfortunately, most of us have to make choices that are not our preference, but that's life.

EvieSaver

I like the idea that money spent on petrol does not count as income. I wonder if we could try it? :beer:

FBaby

Just to add for your future information that claiming that you didn't know about a rule OR that no one asked you (and therefore that it is the other party's fault) is never considered excusable when it comes to fraud.

zoominatorone

FBaby wrote: »

Just to add for your future information that claiming that you didn't know about a rule OR that no one asked you (and therefore that it is the other party's fault) is never considered excusable when it comes to fraud.

Unless you're an MP:D

Robbie64

Just to point out something in addition to all the comments here. It is possible to claim Income Support as a carer without Carer's Allowance being in payment. The rules for this doesn't carry a 35 hours requisite unlike CA but the care must be of a good quality care and not merely looking in on someone an hour or two per day. The care must be "regular" and "substantial" but it doesn't have to be 35 hours a week.

The reason why this is included in the Income Support rules is that only one person can claim Carer's Allowance but more than one person may be involved in providing care to a person. The difference between this and a person claiming Carer's Allowance is that no Carer's Premium is payable. Instead just the normal amount of IS can be paid (along with any SMI which would apply to the OP).

benefitbaby

Robbie64 wrote: »

Just to point out something in addition to all the comments here. It is possible to claim Income Support as a carer without Carer's Allowance being in payment. The rules for this doesn't carry a 35 hours requisite unlike CA but the care must be of a good quality care and not merely looking in on someone an hour or two per day. The care must be "regular" and "substantial" but it doesn't have to be 35 hours a week.

The reason why this is included in the Income Support rules is that only one person can claim Carer's Allowance but more than one person may be involved in providing care to a person. The difference between this and a person claiming Carer's Allowance is that no Carer's Premium is payable. Instead just the normal amount of IS can be paid (along with any SMI which would apply to the OP).

Well said Robbie, if memory serves this is in Schedule 1 (4) of the Income Support (General) regulations 1987.

It is also worth noting that the OP has actually done nothing wrong she was providing 35 hours of care - this does not all have to be in the presence of the person for which you are caring, and I don't think the petrol money is an issue.

Compare it to these scenarios:
- someone on a means-tested benefit does volunteer work for a charity, travel costs are reimbursed (ignored for the purposes of calculating entitlement), or
- her uncle fills up her fuel tank once a week (not counted for benefit purposes), or
- it is a voluntary payment (disregarded for benefit purposes).
It is not the case that ALL income is taken into account when calculating benefit entitlement, many forms of income are disregarded/ignored.

The OP could reclaim CA and thus retain IS/SMI or the OP may also be interested in registering for Carer's Credit
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/healthcare-professional/benefits-and-services/carers-credit/

One thing to mention is that as someone with caring commitments if you do claim JSA you can seek to restrict your JSA agreement to take into account the number of hours work you would look for, the times you could not be available etc. This should be accepted by a decision maker unless you would have no reasonable prospect of gaining employment.

Billy_two_speakers

benefitbaby wrote: »

Well said Robbie, if memory serves this is in Schedule 1 (4) of the Income Support (General) regulations 1987.

It is also worth noting that the OP has actually done nothing wrong she was providing 35 hours of care - this does not all have to be in the presence of the person for which you are caring, and I don't think the petrol money is an issue.

Compare it to these scenarios:
- someone on a means-tested benefit does volunteer work for a charity, travel costs are reimbursed (ignored for the purposes of calculating entitlement), or
- her uncle fills up her fuel tank once a week (not counted for benefit purposes), or
- it is a voluntary payment (disregarded for benefit purposes).
It is not the case that ALL income is taken into account when calculating benefit entitlement, many forms of income are disregarded/ignored.

The OP could reclaim CA and thus retain IS/SMI or the OP may also be interested in registering for Carer's Credit
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/healthcare-professional/benefits-and-services/carers-credit/

One thing to mention is that as someone with caring commitments if you do claim JSA you can seek to restrict your JSA agreement to take into account the number of hours work you would look for, the times you could not be available etc. This should be accepted by a decision maker unless you would have no reasonable prospect of gaining employment.

there is no way the £15 a day petrol money will be seen as anything other than income

the dwp will treat it as income as you say he could have put petrol in the car but did not she got cash