Carers allowance possible overpayment

jane0

I am a carer who was looking after a very ill gentleman for a number of years,known him for over 40 years as was a family friend and he himself had no family,a few months back he went in hospital for around 25 days then he came out for a day,then had to return to hospital due to a relapse,this time for around 32 days then he was discharged and returned home for around a week before returning to hospital for 2 days where he died.

Whilst in hospital,i was running his errands,affairs,paperwork,liasing with doctors,on his condition who had said he had at best 3-6 months to live when intially admitted,was meeting with social workers too and as part of his care package on discharge(which kept changing due to his condition)

Intially i thought i was allowed 12 weeks of CA,if a person is in hospital and had got to wrapped up in it all to let them know as i was nowhere near that time,upon now looking into it more,it seems like its only 4 weeks.

I informed the CA he had passed away and they were asking questions re hospital stays and may make enquiries at the hospital,i did'nt have dates or know the exact times he was in at the time as i was'nt expecting those type of questions and had so much on my mind as i am having to organise things like death certificates,town hall,social fund for him as he did'nt have much money in order to bury him,tell his friends,undertakers...the list is never ending and am really feeling the strain,stressed etc as no-one else is able to help me as he had no family....very hard to actually grieve with everything going on.

I know none of that is taking into consideration by CA,was just giving some background....

Can anybody tell what to expect from this?i have so much on my mind and at my wits end with worry now about this and with the death very recent its soul destroying.

rogerblack

jane0 wrote: »

Whilst in hospital,i was running his errands,affairs,paperwork,liasing with doctors,on his condition who had said he had at best 3-6 months to live when intially admitted,was meeting with social workers too and as part of his care package on discharge(which kept changing due to his condition)

Neglecting everything else - was this taking 35 hours a week?

Absolute worst case.
You say you thought it was 12 weeks, but it was 4.
8*61=500 pounds or so.
This is well below the criminal threshold for prosecution, so this is vanishingly unlikely to happen.
It is not unlikely that you will be required to repay some, or all of the overpayment.

Write a letter explaining what you were doing, and ask if it's possible for them to consider not recovering the overpayment on compassionate grounds - as you were caring for him, and doing important things he could not.

jane0

Thankyou for the reply...probably under 35 hours in all honesty,although the hospital was around 25-30 miles away,the thing is without me,he would have had no visits,social support,money,bills paid,things bringing in etc and would have lost his main carer upon discharge.

pmlindyloo

I really wouldn't worry too much about this.

Your Carer's Allowance would stop only when the person you cared for was in hospital for 28 days and their AA/DLA/PIP stopped. When they returned home their disability benefit would have been restored and your CA started again.

However, I do not know whether there is a linking period if they return to hospital within a certain time.

That is why they need to know the actual dates of your friend being admitted and then discharged.

It isn't to do with your caring when they were in hospital. It is to do with their not being entitled to their AA/DLA/PIP after 28 weeks.

Here's a link.

http://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/financial-support/help-with-benefits/carers-allowance

Once you have received their decision you can check that it is correct.

I will try and find out if there is a linking rule between going in and out of hospital.

pmlindyloo

Yes, there is a linking rule for hospital stays.

Have a read of this

There is a linking rule that applies if you go back into hospital after being at
home for fewer than 29 days. The two (or more) hospital stays are linked and
the numbers of days in each stay are added together and Attendance
Allowance stops after a total of 28 days. However you are still paid
Attendance Allowance for the days spent at home in between the hospital
stays.


I am unsure whether the fact that the AA is paid while they are at home means that you can be paid CA during this time.

Perhaps give AgeUK a call if you are unhappy with their final decision.

Would you be entitled to any other benefits instead of the CA?

jane0

So really it was only the 2nd period he went in which was over the 28 days limit(32 days)

I think there is a linking period but overall he has 9 weeks in hospital in the last 11 weeks and never been in before that.

#"If the person being cared for goes into hospital, the carer may be able to continue receiving CA for up to 12 weeks out of a 26 week period depending on length of service and breaks taken."

I did have a link to the above quote but as a newbie wont let me post it.

Thanks for your help so far,much appreciated.

jane0

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Perhaps give AgeUK a call if you are unhappy with their final decision.

Would you be entitled to any other benefits instead of the CA?

At the time whilst he was in hospital i was in reciept of IS and HB,now i am taking over the caring role of somebody else in the near future so will be claiming CA again.