Reclaiming Attendance Allowance

margaretclare

tinkledom wrote: »

I didn't think of that. So I could argue that even if all of my wife's needs are being met due to the considerable adaptions etc, she should still be entitled to the allowance.

I think she should, as I argued earlier. She can cope using all the technological and mechanical adaptations but could she, for instance, cope anywhere else, cope without them? What would happen if you went on holiday for example? Or if some disaster happened e.g. flooding or fire, and you had to live somewhere else? She can only cope in that domestic setting, not anywhere else. That's not what the majority of people do, what's considered 'the norm'.

tinkledom

SandraScarlett wrote: »

So, according to your previous posts on this thread, you get £230 a week (AA and DLA are not means tested) and you have £3000 capital. And you both get SRP, so obviously you're not on full pension.


You'd get Pension Credit, like the poster I was telling you about, who had an income of about £800 a week. He was a real card! I wonder why AgeUK told you differently? I'm so glad you're appreciating the site. :beer:


xx

Sorry but either I am confused or I have confused you. We currently get £80 AA for my wife, and two State Pensions totalling £230 a week. I get a full pension and my wife gets the married woman's pension as she has never worked for the past 35 years.
AgeUK said that our income was right on the limit so no Pension Credit.


£800 a week!!!!!!! and still managed to get Pension Credit, I really doubt that, more like a fairy tale.

cbrown372

tinkledom wrote: »

Sorry but either I am confused or I have confused you. We currently get £80 AA for my wife, and two State Pensions totalling £230 a week. I get a full pension and my wife gets the married woman's pension as she has never worked for the past 35 years.
AgeUK said that our income was right on the limit so no Pension Credit.


£800 a week!!!!!!! and still managed to get Pension Credit, I really doubt that, more like a fairy tale.

And why would you get PC when you had access to in excess of £125k or did you have that tied up in a Discrectionary Trust by any chance Andy :beer:

tinkledom

cbrown372 wrote: »

And why would you get PC when you had access to in excess of £125k or did you have that tied up in a Discrectionary Trust by any chance Andy :beer:

Am I to presume that you have asked me this question as you mention the £125.000? The £125,000 was the profit after selling the family home and buying our new home. It was all ploughed into the new home to provide for adaptions and equipment for my disabled wife. I asked AgeUK after this money was spent and one of the things they said was that it would probably be disregarded given what it was used for.


As for the comment about a trust, I have no knowledge of a trust being involved, why do you think that there is? And who is Andy? I would appreciate it if you could make your questions a little clearer in future.

margaretclare

I think you can argue that - never mind all the technological adaptation you've had done - your wife's underlying disabilities still remain and will not go away, may in fact get worse over time.

I am assuming you're a genuine person and not the famous troll andyandflo that people have referred to.

tinkledom

margaretclare wrote: »

I think you can argue that - never mind all the technological adaptation you've had done - your wife's underlying disabilities still remain and will not go away, may in fact get worse over time.

I am assuming you're a genuine person and not the famous troll andyandflo that people have referred to.

Thank you for that opinion. I have spoken to the helpline at the DWP and to be honest I didn't get a lot of sense out of them. I then contacted the DWP direct and spoke to someone at the 'change of circumstances' branch. After explaining that whilst my wife is at home she is now almost (99%) independent and not needing any help. However away from home she is back to what she was before the adaptions were installed.
The DWP say that for Attendance Allowance only the care needs arising at home are to be taken into account as she has the choice to stay at home or go out. He is to suspend the award pending the completion of a new claim form which he is sending her.


So things are moving on and hopefully we will eventually get the right answer. I'm sorry but I don't know who that is.
Thanks for the help and advice.

xylophone

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/EN-GB/Lets%20Talk%20Money/LTM%20Attendance%20Allowance%20Leaflet.pdf?dtrk=true

"You don’t have to spend Attendance
Allowance on a carer – you can spend
it however you like. Many older people
choose to spend their Attendance
Allowance on other types of help in
the home, or equipment to help them
maintain their independence"

margaretclare

The DWP say that for Attendance Allowance only the care needs arising at home are to be taken into account as she has the choice to stay at home or go out.

It's not always a choice. I know of people who have been flooded out of home, who've been unable to return home for weeks on end. Or whose homes were damaged as a result of fire and their insurance companies put them up in a hotel or B&B. It can happen to anyone.

margaretclare

xylophone wrote: »

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/EN-GB/Lets%20Talk%20Money/LTM%20Attendance%20Allowance%20Leaflet.pdf?dtrk=true

"You don’t have to spend Attendance
Allowance on a carer – you can spend
it however you like. Many older people
choose to spend their Attendance
Allowance on other types of help in
the home, or equipment to help them
maintain their independence"

Yes, they do. Gardeners, window-cleaners, 'Molly Maids' spring to mind. Or put it towards keeping the car on the road. Yes, I know 'mobility' isn't taken into account - after 65 you're not supposed to want to go out, but that isn't living in the real world where people don't want to be sitting looking at the four walls.

tinkledom

Thank you one and all. There seems to me to be some confusion on somebody that has care needs, receives Attendance Allowance because of them and how that money is spent and the reduction in care needs because of aids and adaptions at home.


Of course I will explain in the new claim form that the care needs are still there physically, she hasn't had a miraculous recovery, albeit that they do not now arise at home because of what we have done to the home. As an example she now doesn't need any help in getting into or out of the bath, she can do it herself. She doesn't now need any help with getting to, on and off the toilet, she can do that for herself now. She doesn't need any help to get into or out of the bed any longer, she can do that for herself.
I'll fill the form in as best I can explaining how with the adaptions etc she is now more or less like any normal person and can cope herself without help from me.