Mobility benefits

oldtrout

My 85 yr old mum is receiving Attendance Allowance to help with her care needs. She is becoming increasingly less mobile and I was checking if there were any mobility benefits she is entitled to. Apparently, she is too old to apply for DLA, which has a carer's part and a mobility part.

Does anyone know if there is another benefit which pays for help with mobility, please.

Caz3121

there is an article here that seems to confirm there is nothing specific for mobility
http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN07160

xylophone

I don't think that there is - I gather that if a person has been receiving DLA with mobility element before age 65, he stays on DLA and keeps the mobility element but for a person making a first claim for assistance after 65, only AA is available and it covers his needs "in the round" - personal care and taxi fares etc.

Darksparkle

Think the difficulty with mobility later in life is that it's difficult to determine what's just age rather than a disability.

xylophone

There is the free bus pass/travel card for older people but this implies being mobile enough to use public transport.

Is there a local "Rideability"/community transport service available to help your mother?

cattie

In the Greater London area there is the taxi card scheme, which allows you a set no. of journeys each year at a reduced cost, (subsidized by the local council).

There is also the Dial a Ride Scheme, which is available (including weekends) for short journeys, to help less able folk to get out to shop & to socialize , but is not available for hospital or clinic appointments. This service is free, though there is no guarantee you'd get a booking for the day/time you wish to use it. The more flexible you can be, the better chance you have of getting a booking.

Lanzarote1938

An over 65 I know is struggling to find the fares to and from hospital for lots of investigations and chemotherapy for leukaemia. Sometimes he can use his bus pass but if the appointment is early then he has to pay. Last week he paid £25 for a taxi home as the last bus had gone by the time his treatment ended.

He is not on any means tested benefits so there appears to be little financial help for him.

Darksparkle

Has he looked into the NHS low income scheme?

Lanzarote1938

Darksparkle wrote: »

Has he looked into the NHS low income scheme?

He has. His income apparently isn't low enough.

Stripeybat

Lanzarote, I don't know if this would be of any use but has he looked into Macmillan? A relative was offered a lot of support and also a grant to cover their transport costs for radiotherapy as they don't drive. Just thought I'd mention it

teddysmum

There is nothing, as was emphasised a few years ago, when media reported a lady who lost a leg at 66. She was wheelchair bound and her husband, who had arthritis had difficulty pushing her. They dreaded the time when their old car packed up, as they couldn't afford to replace it, so would end up mainly housebound.


We live between two very good bus routes, serving two local towns and actually stopping by our hospital's outpatients department, but for many people, on this estate, getting to the buses involves a steep hill.


I think that people with the same ailments as those who get PIP or DLA and keep it beyond 65 should be treated the same, as, at the moment, they are treated as second class.