Attendance Allowance claim

Tiggerrific

My mum has just been awarded the higher rate of AA but her award letter says it won't start until 25th December. Initially we were told her claim would get backdated but it would appear that isn't happening. Applied on 18th September. Should it get backdated?

Lanzarote1938

Are there time conditions e.g condition must have been present for say 6 months? Could this be the explanation.

Tiggerrific

That sounds right. She was diagnosed with cancer last Xmas but had radiotherapy then an op in April. In June she had to have her leg amputated and got out of hospital in September. So mum has only been home with carers since September.
Thanks for your reply

xylophone

https://www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance/how-to-claim

Backdating your claim
Attendance Allowance can be backdated to the date of your claim. This is usually the date your form is received or the date you call the enquiry line (if you return the claim pack within 6 weeks).

See above - is it worth checking?

Tiggerrific

Thanks for that xylophone. Think it may be worth looking into after seeing that. Got nothing to lose as mum has been awarded the allowance anyway

Alice_Holt

xylophone wrote: »

Backdating your claim
Attendance Allowance can be backdated to the date of your claim. This is usually the date your form is received or the date you call the enquiry line (if you return the claim pack within 6 weeks).

It can only be backdated if the claimant has required help with care needs for 6 months (as Lanzarote1938 has said), so this really isn't particularly helpful for the OP.

Whilst the OP's mother was in Hospital (for an extended period), it couldn't be paid.
See - https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/benefits-hospital

OP - I suggest you don't ask for backdating per xylophone's post - that's a red herring.
Xylophone is good at finding internet links, but may not have the benefits background to place that information in context, fit it to the OP's situation, and then explain its relevance to the OP.

What you need to do is to explain to the DWP (if it is the case) that your mother was diagnosed with cancer last Xmas had radiotherapy then an op in April, and that her care needs started from April (or before) - due to fatigue, etc and the side effects of radiotherapy.
The 6 months backdating rule then takes you to October, if the DWP accept this, then your mothers AA can be paid from then (rather than December).
This may depend on how the AA form was written, and if it described your mum's care needs generally relating to the impact of cancer or whether it just concentrated on the effects of the amputation.

You may need to request a mandatory reconsideration of the decision that her care needs only start from June of this year:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/attendance-allowance/attendance-allowance-appeals/attendance-allowance-mandatory-reconsideration/

xylophone

Xylophone is good at finding internet links, but may not have the benefits background to place that information in context, fit it to the OP's situation, and then explain its relevance to the OP.

Damning with faint praise...:D

I do not have a benefits background.

I was only asking if it would be worth the OP's checking the situation as he said in his original post

Initially we were told her claim would get backdated but it would appear that isn't happening.

and mistakes and omissions with benefits and pensions can occur, as here for instance.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5748386

I am sure that the OP will benefit from your valuable advice which ( judging by your previous contributions) comes from a knowledge far wider and deeper than mine.

Ames

Does it say that's when it starts, or does it say that the first payment will be 25th December? That would be four weeks from now so could include backpay and be the first of the regular payments.

Tiggerrific

Hi Ames. The letter says it has been awarded from 25/12/2017 until 24/12/2018 and they will be in touch when the first payment will be made

Tiggerrific

Hi Alice. Thanks for your reply. Am not sure how the form was filled in as a rep from dwp came to mums home and filled it in for her. I, unfortunately, was not present at the time and am assuming now that they have just concentrated on the effects of the amputation.
At least she will be getting the higher rate, backdated or not. Every little helps

Alice_Holt

Tiggerrific wrote: »

Hi Alice. Thanks for your reply. Am not sure how the form was filled in as a rep from dwp came to mums home and filled it in for her. I, unfortunately, was not present at the time and am assuming now that they have just concentrated on the effects of the amputation.
At least she will be getting the higher rate, backdated or not. Every little helps

I think it would be worth seeing if the DWP will accept that your mum had care needs before the amputation.

It would suggest checking if there is a Macmillan Welfare worker in your mums area who could offer advice. At my local Citizens Advice, the Macmillan caseworker would aim to get an AA award based on care needs from the effects of the radiotherapy, etc (with the caveat that different people are affected differently). but certainly before amputation was necessary.

As an aside, it could be worth getting a benefits check at the same time. An AA award can sometimes open the door to a Pension Credit claim:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/attendance-allowance/claiming-attendance-allowance/extra-benefits-and-help-you-can-get/