Reclaiming Attendance Allowance

tinkledom

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Obviously you need to check out how you are supposed to fill these forms in, but you could argue the answer to the question "Does your wife need any help in getting into or out of the bath?" is "Yes, she either needs someone to help her or she needs a special chair to help her".

I understand what you are saying, but I take the question to be a literal one. No she doesn't need any help as she is quite able to manage the aids that have been provided for her to enable her to get into and out of the bath on her own. That is the whole reason why aids and adaptions are there - to remove the needs she previously had. Hence why both Attendance Allowance and DLA forms ask about what aids and adaptions have been provided. It is a way of lowering the needs a person has because they have become more self sufficient.
That would be the same answer if say someone from the DWP came round and she demonstrated how the aids and adaptions all worked. It would be apparent that she can cope on her own without the intervention of anybody else.


Mind you if Flockofsheep got involved and used the dubious advice they come across from the famously rip off 'Benefits & Work' website, they would no doubt find some grey area that they would argue on!

cbrown372

tinkledom wrote: »

It depends on what I include as income and what I deduct as expenses doesn't it?


Comparing the two statements is a bit like saying that salt is the same as pepper as they come out of the same type of dispenser when on the table. That is unless you are more used to having an oil cloth or newspaper on it with a pint of opened sterilized milk, a bag of sugar, a Saxa salt container and ready ground pepper?


Total income from all sources is as I explained, the lower figure is what we have to live on

Oh dear that's awful I had no idea condiments were quite so expensive, I'd go easy on the salt though with all your medical problems.

How about having a look on the OS board or DFW for some tips on managing your money I'm sure they would be able to help you budget with your loss of £80 a week.

tinkledom

cbrown372 wrote: »

Oh dear that's awful I had no idea condiments were quite so expensive, I'd go easy on the salt though with all your medical problems.

How about having a look on the OS board or DFW for some tips on managing your money I'm sure they would be able to help you budget with your loss of £80 a week.

Thanks. My silly wife went out last year and bought a new battery operated set, the only trouble is she bought two pepper grinders!! Mind you it works just as good with salt, but we have to check what comes out first - salt or pepper.


We have managed to save on some things so the loss of the £79.15 doesn't now really affect us. however it wasn't just the £79.15 that we lost, we also lost the SDP of £119.00 and Carers Premium of £33.30. All in all we have lost a total of £231.45 because of the suspension of her Attendance Allowance claim. That extra £152.30 has really hit us hard, but upwards and onwards as they say.
Personally it is a shame as it did pay for the extras that we liked.

Indie_Kid

Diddums. Meanwhile there are people out there struggling to pay for things like food and heating.

mikey_bach

tinkledom wrote: »

T
That extra £152.30 has really hit us hard, but upwards and onwards as they say.

you could always go back to work then, may be an option, seems an awful big drop in household income

Maincarer

I do not think your wife's care needs have changed. For example, you say that your wife uses a hoist to get in and out of bed so someone must place a sling under her, attach the sling to the hoist and manoeuvre her on and off the bed. I would imagine she cannot do that by herself.
If I am reading your posts correctly she also has to be hoisted on and off the toilet.
So in terms of carrying out personal care your wife is still dependant on others for assistance.
My son has a severe physical disability. He is wheelchair dependant. Whilst the charge gives him independence it does not change the nature of his disability. I assume that is true for your wife too.

tinkledom

mikey_bach wrote: »

you could always go back to work then, may be an option, seems an awful big drop in household income

Why?? What would that achieve? I'm sick you know - I receive ESA and am in the Support Group.
Yes the £231.45 has caused a bit of a dent in our money, but I believe that you have to suffer a bit to get through it.

tinkledom

Maincarer wrote: »

I do not think your wife's care needs have changed. For example, you say that your wife uses a hoist to get in and out of bed so someone must place a sling under her, attach the sling to the hoist and manoeuvre her on and off the bed. I would imagine she cannot do that by herself.
If I am reading your posts correctly she also has to be hoisted on and off the toilet.
So in terms of carrying out personal care your wife is still dependant on others for assistance.
My son has a severe physical disability. He is wheelchair dependant. Whilst the charge gives him independence it does not change the nature of his disability. I assume that is true for your wife too.

To answer those particular points. We have tracks built into the ceiling in the rooms that need them, everything is on one level.


The equipment we bought and had installed is set up in such a way that the disabled person can operate it all by remote control. It would have been a waste of our money if my wife still needed someone to help her to use the equipment.
She wears a lightweight sling that she can attach to the various lifting straps which then enable her to move herself from place to place. She uses it to lift her off the toilet and it can be directed either to over the bath and then to be lowered onto her electric riser chair that then goes down into the bath water or directed towards the hallway where her chair is.
If you can imagine a mini transporter that you see at the docks that lifts those containers off a ship and then drops them on to a waiting lorry or on the dockside. The system had to be imported from America as they don't have it here in this country. The magic is in the ceiling rails, they have points that can be changed depending where you want to go.


Having said all of that and you say that her needs haven't changed how come that when I telephoned the DWP to tell them all about what we had installed and that she was more independent than ever they suspended her Attendance Allowance?

ab.da54

tinkledom wrote: »

I would not disagree that life is far far easier now for both of us. However that doesn't pay the bills. We still have to live and with the Attendance Allowance we just about scrape through each month. Without it will mean a considerable reduction in living standards. Our weekly income will go down from £310 to £230.

I thought you had said in another thread that your weekly income was £600?

pennyago

ab.da54 wrote: »

I thought you had said in another thread that your weekly income was £600?

I thought I had read him and his wife were carers for each other. How can she care for him if she needs all that equipment. I am very puzzled about benefits.