Can a disabled adult living in same household as parents claim housing benefit?

arrazello

BigAunty wrote: »

So you've lost child benefit, child tax credits, (any change to your HB?council tax) but gained ESA? What's the actual loss per week compared with before?

Does your partner work shifts or regular day time hours? If the latter, is there any chance you could work a few nights as you can earn up to £100 after tax and still retain your Carers Allowance.

Regular day time hours are worked.
I doubt I could work nights and cope with looking after my son all day too. Not without ending up ill myself. Plus then my partner would have to do night time care and that would mess him up for the days too. He has to operate machinery during the day, probably not a good idea to have had no sleep!

And also, no ACTUAL loss at the moment, I'm trying to work out what will happen.

cattermole

arrazello wrote: »

Yes, special school with two to one care.
And the meeting was about changes in respite care but also discussed was potential changes in help available financially. Although the SW could not advise because it is not his field, just make me aware.

I know we should be OK until the school year he is 19 but one thing I have learned over the years, is time goes quickly. We need to know how we will cope and not have it hanging over our heads - I get up in the morning and worry, I go to bed worrying, the less big those worries are - then the better off I'll be.

I know it's difficult and leaving things until the last minute is not advisable many parents do this and it's better to plan ahead. I know the worry of not knowing what is happening is horrible.

One friend of mine is already looking at respite options for her son at 18 even though he is 161/2. They will kick in the day they are 18.

She also applied for ESA at 16 as they don't get hardly any CTC's because of her husband's income and she has been waiting since early November and he is still in the assessment phase.

cattermole

arrazello wrote: »

Regular day time hours are worked.
I doubt I could work nights and cope with looking after my son all day too. Not without ending up ill myself. Plus then my partner would have to do night time care and that would mess him up for the days too. He has to operate machinery during the day, probably not a good idea to have had no sleep!

And also, no ACTUAL loss at the moment, I'm trying to work out what will happen.

What options in the day is the Social Worker suggesting after school finishes? They can't leave him at home in the day 24/7 with just you to care for him apart from overnight respite.

arrazello

cattermole wrote: »

...and she has been waiting since early November and he is still in the assessment phase.

I hope they hear soon. That's awful..

arrazello

cattermole wrote: »

What options in the day is the Social Worker suggesting after school finishes? They can't leave him at home in the day 24/7 with just you to care for him apart from overnight respite.

My son has no overnight respite at all. I get DPs and I use them on PAs for outings or sitting service while we go out. We are in the early stages of looking at what will happen. The SW needs to do an assessment, been out twice already, total of 8.5 hours and third visit booked. It's quite a complex case. Then he will pass the paperwork on to the person who draws up the actual plans. I expect you know how long these things take to click through the various stages. One step at a time.

cattermole

They are getting paid the assessment rate (not sure how much as haven't asked her) so they are no worse off as they only got the disabled element of CTC's before and CB for one child.

She knows they will have to back date it from 13 weeks onwards. It doesn't matter quite so much if you are not worse off. She is very clued up on everything and helps a lot of other parents as well. She's incredibly well organised and Governor of his school.

What she is considering is an action on the term they are using of ESA because her son will never work like yours and we feel quite strongly that it is wrong to use the term, actually very upsetting to families in this position. It also perpetuates the myth that everyone is capable of work.

cattermole

arrazello wrote: »

My son has no overnight respite at all. I get DPs and I use them on PAs for outings or sitting service while we go out. We are in the early stages of looking at what will happen. The SW needs to do an assessment, been out twice already, total of 8.5 hours and third visit booked. It's quite a complex case. Then he will pass the paperwork on to the person who draws up the actual plans. I expect you know how long these things take to click through the various stages. One step at a time.

You shouldn't have a problem transferring the DP into adult services to be honest in our area Learning Disabilities Adults is better than Children's services. It's gone down hill a bit since they made all the Social Workers generic and disbanded the specialist team though . Also Adult LD's get more funding from Health as well.

I'm a strong believer though in no matter how disabled someone is you do need to start moving towards a more independent life for them. I've seen so many cases of emergencies in older adults still with very elderly parents, its very tough then to find yourself without a parent.

arrazello

cattermole wrote: »

I'm a strong believer though in no matter how disabled someone is you do need to start moving towards a more independent life for them. I've seen so many cases of emergencies in older adults still with very elderly parents, its very tough then to find yourself without a parent.

You and I are like minded. One of the issues I discussed with the SW was I would like to think about respite where my son gets to sleep away from home. We are not going to last forever and I need to prepare my son mentally for the day we are no longer capable of looking after him. I cannot bear the thought of him unhappy and missing me. We want him at home for as long as we can though but I'm hoping there can one day be a half way arrangement when we can do half, and half away in preparation. My whole life has revolved around him since the day he was born. I don't know who I am or what will be left of me without him to care for . I am making myself quite sad, I have just under one hour before he returns so I think I'll go get a quick walk (it's sunny where we are) and try and clear my head before he arrives home. Thanks so much for the advice and the little chat.

P.S You are right about the stigmatism that is attached to the ESA. They do need a different category. I wish your friend the best of luck.

nannytone_2

im not in your position, but i really feel for you.
child relayed benefits are quite generous, and many families with disabled children face this drop in income.
it is a fact that the system pays more ( via ctc and cb) for a child than it does for a single adult.
your sons needs will not decrease on the day he turns 20, but as a non dependant, he will be treated as an adult and finances decrease accordingly
the only disabled people that gain from the present system, is those that live alone and so attract additional premiums.
the fact that the costs involved with independant living are higher quickly eat up these extra premiums though

bloolagoon

Depending on his wage you may also still get some WTC too.

Then HB is changed in your favour.

I'd be surprised if you are worse off financially.