confused about benefits for terminally ill mother

barneyboy

hello i was looking for any help about benefit, my mother was recently diagnosed with secondary cancer which has led to brain tumours , there is no cure for this and me and my brother had to find out the timescale , after finding out we have encouraged our dad to leave his job and we are now in the process of finding out about any help that there might be,we have been to advice works,the jobcentre and other places ,we seem to be getting little bits of info here and there to let you know my mum is 63 and she currently gets £88 per week d.l.a. as well as her state pension of £55 per week. my dad does not get anything but he has claimed for carers allowance of £48 per week and also will apply for pension credit top up, we have also applied for council tax help, if anyone can let me know if this is the right way to go about things could they let me know and also if there is any other benefits or grants available , i have heard about the macmillan grant and also heating grants but dont know too much about this.
My mum and dad live in there own house and currently have 6 years of a small mortgage too pay which me and my brother have taken over,what i am looking for is help from people who might know or were in similar circumstances and to keep things as simple as possible at this very difficult time any help would be great thank you

margaretclare

Try Disability Living Allowance.

There are special rules for the terminally-ill - that means you don't have to wait for 6 months to qualify for it. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/DG_10011731

HTH

Margaret

donnalove

margaret they already get d.l.a

you could try income support but is a means tested benefit so could be affected by any savings.

http://www.entitledto.com/ try putting details in here might give you a good idea

Yogibear

Hi barneyboy,really sorry to hear about your mum,I would get in touch with your local Welfare Rights office they are really great and will give you all the help and information you need,they will also help you to fill in all the forms.

If you put welfare rights office in a search engine for your area you will get the phone number and address.

good luck

dooby

donnalove wrote: »

margaret they already get d.l.a

Hi and to Barney.

Sounds like mum is getting higher rate mobility and middle rate care. She should qualify for higher rate care which would mean an extra £23 ish per week from DLA alone.

A supercession request is needed. Barney, get your moms GP or hospital to fill out a form called a DS1500 <<< they'll know what it is and should have a stock of them, send that in to DLA with a covering letter asking for a review because there has been a change in circumstances. If your mom has been handling her own affairs, just get her to sign the letter best she can and whizz it off to them. They'll pay the higher rate with effect from the date it is received at the office and backdate it to then. It should take only a few weeks to deal with.

You may find that certain places, like council tax, will only give a reduction if someone in the household is in reciept of the highest rate so if they knock you back when she's on the middle rate, try again when you get the higher rate award.

Good luck.

buff-tom

Sorry to hear about your mum, ask for DLA to be re-assessed but as someone has previously posted get help from local welfare rights, they have a wealth of experience. They wont get Income Support due to Pension Credits (they are essentially the same benefit).

Hope this helps.

Glyndwr_2

Firstly, sorry to hear about your mum.

Does she have a macmillan nurse? They should be able to give you lots of advice & help.

It doesn't sound like she's on the highest rate of care + mobility (together approx £100/week), so you should phone the disability benefits helpline (0800 882 200) & get a DS1500 filled in. Phone asap as it'll be backdated to when you phone. Her GP or consultant can fill this in (? or Mac nurse). This fast tracks the claim.

Have you thought about things like Blue Badge (would be automatically issued if you apply & she's on the highest rate mobility).

Does the hospital she's under charge for parking & if so are there any consessions for people who need regular treatment e.g. weekly rate passes? If they get pension credit / income support, then you can claim back the cost of travel to hospital (at about 10p a mile, but it all helps) & some hospitals will also allow you to claim for the parking.

barneyboy

thanks to everyone who has replied i have arranged for a home visit on tuesday with the pension credit people and told them the situation ,they will bring all relevant forms with them and let me know what is available, also seeing the macmillan nurse tomorrow so can speak to her about higher rate d.l.a. and the ds1500 form . cheers

dooby

Oh and dunno if she gets free prescriptions or not or would qualify when her benefits get reassessed but if not maybe a pre-pay prescription would save some cash.

When my uncle had cancer of the liver it cost him a fortune in incidentals, such as plasters and pads later on. Someone said that he could have gotton them prescribed, so not only would it have been cheaper for a pre pay but the chemists would have delivered the stuff too.

(Not my field though so ???)

ohreally

dooby wrote: »

Barney, get your moms GP or hospital to fill out a form called a DS1500 <<< they'll know what it is and should have a stock of them,

Your mum will be under the care of an oncologist.Contact his secretary and let her know you require a DS1500 to be processed.This is something the oncologist will do regularly and routinely, you can request the completed form be sent to yourself or direct to the DWP's.