Benefits help

Gwilsoncfc

My daughter aged 21 was diagnosed with cancer last year and as a result my ex wife was obliged to look after her and took sick leave from her own job to do so. She is now receiving zero pay from work and was advised to claim ESA which is now her only income. I am helping where I can after also being made redundant in December 14 . My ex wife is now full time carer of our daughter and claiming benefits for the first time is a minefield. She has tried to claim carers allowance to no avail ! And is still only receiving ESA despite my daughter being on the higher rate of DLA - we have done the benefits checker and have contacted the DWP on many occasions with requests for help which fall on deaf ears. I am certain that my ex wife should be due more benefits than just ESA ie carers allowance ?? Or increased income support
does anyone know what we can db next

We are seeing the citizens advice bureau shortly but thought it would be good to gain help on here l- thanks

merlin68

Is your wife on esa? If she is on contributory esa then she cant get carers allowance as well.

When_the_going_gets_tough

Your wife will not pass the work capability assessment if she is not sick herself. The appropriate benefit would be income support with a carers premium top up. You can't claim an income based benefit and carers allowance - well you can but the income from the carers allowance gets partially taken into account. Try using the turn to us calculator for some pretty accurate figures. Don't forget housing benefit and car aswell

pmlindyloo

As long as your wife has a fit note from her doctor then she is entitled to contribution based ESA as her sick pay has run out but she is still employed.

As already said, she cannot claim Carer's Allowance and contribution based ESA together. She would be awarded the higher amount of the two which is contribution based ESA.

If a fit note can no longer be issued, or if she prefers, then she would be able to claim Carer's Allowance instead of the contribution based ESA and work up to a maximum of 16 hrs at national minimum wage and still keep her Carer's Allowance. Would her work allow her to drop her hours and keep within the criteria for CA?

You mention that you were made redundant but don't say what income/savings you have at the moment. Some more details would help us assess whether there are other benefits that you could claim jointly or individually.