Low income, savings gone - what now?

SallyJane_2

Thanks beanielou & groatie queen .. I can drive dad to CAB office, so no problems there. Meant to say that the CAB advisor rang someone while I was with him and asked for a form to be sent to dad, so that's done and as soon as I get it I'm to ring CAB and make an appointment for me and dad to go in. Hopefully, form will be completed and sent off within next week or so.

beanielou

Gosh in our area the wait for apppointments is 2-3 months!

SallyJane_2

2-3 months? I'm very lucky then! Possibly due to my living in a very rural area of Wales and my nearest "town" has a population of only about 7,000.

SallyJane_2

Update - Dad has had DLA (Care component) forms to complete .. just to recap he presently receives DLA Mobility component. He's reluctant to complete the forms and dismayed at the thought of a medical - he's had enough of those with his various illnesses to last him forever.

If this allowance is means tested then dad won't qualify as he has too much in savings.

Will have to look at things again - maybe sell up and rent somewhere. Although dad has depression as well as lots of physical ailments he is still able to take care of his personal hygiene and prepare simple meals and this is what the questions all seem to be about. They don't seme to take account of shopping, housework, changing bed, clothes washing/drying, ferrying dad around, dealing with all his correspondence and financial affairs, etc, etc.

Undecided now as to what to do, but I'm an optimistic person and am sure things will work out - they could be a lot worse; a lot, lot worse going by some of the posts I've read on here.

Will post any developments & thanks to everyone who has tried to help and for all the useful advice.

beanielou

Hi again Sally
I know where your dad is coming from but please try to get him to think again.
This is money he is entitled to but he does need to claim it to be able to get it.You need to think of things on a bad day & not a good day.I have clients who have similar difficulties as your dad & do get care componnent.

SallyJane_2

Thanks beanielou .. that's cheered me up! Will speak to dad again in the morning about making appointment with CAB to fill in form. If he does and things go well it would make such a difference.

shoppergal

Sallyjane,

I can't offer any advice I'm afraid but I just wanted to say well done on how well you're obviously looking after your dad. You're obviously very selfless putting him first and I think in years to come you'll be so glad you did this for him.

hope everything works out ok for you.

buxtonrabbitgreen

Can I just advise you to get Age Concern to help you fill in the forms. They helped my mum with hers and she got a lot of benefits that I am sure she wouldn't have if we had tried to fill in the forms ourselves. They know just what to say. They also arranged a lot of other free help for her, such as foil behind radiators to save gas, a hook on a stick thing so she could reset the electricity every time the power tripped when a light bulb blew which I was really grateful for as she was too scared to climb on a chair so saved me doing it every time. Also a chain for her front door. When mum got the forms she was able to manage her personal care too, though that didn't last, but age concern still got her benefits sorted out for her. She did have some savings but not that much.

SallyJane_2

Hi shoppergal and thanks for the support. I'm no angel believe me, there are times when I almost hate my dad and feel very angry but they don't last and, of course, I would never show such feelings in front of him - I don't hate him; it's old age, illness and being short of money that I hate. I vent my anger by going for a long walk and having a good old rant to myself ... works every time. Live in a rural area so lots of quiet places to walk - just hope nobody is on the other side of the hedges listening!

SallyJane_2

Hi buxtonrq - glad you were able to sort things out via Age Concern, they seem to have helped your mum a lot. CAB said they will fill in forms, although not sure now if dad wants to go ahead. They asked me to just fill in the factual details - name, age, address, phone numbers, etc and to let them do the rest .. yes, there is indeed a way of filling in this type of form and using the right words.
Thank you for taking the time to write.