attendance allowance- will my dad get it?

teddysmum

Alice_Holt wrote: »

AA looks at personal care needs (such as taking medication, eating, washing, etc) it doesn't include help with shopping, household tasks, etc. Nor does it look at walking outside or cooking a meal.


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That is an odd situation , as if you are unable to shop and cook or don't have someone doing these for you, it doesn't matter whether you need help with feeding or not, as there will be no food to eat.

margaretclare

It is a very odd situation in that the criteria applied to a person who hasn't yet reached their 65th birthday will be completely different to those applied to the same person aged 65+.

It's not assumed that you need to go out, so unless you do internet grocery shopping and get it delivered, you don't go to the shops. Same with cooking. You can be 65 with - say - a back problem so you can't bend to get a casserole out of the oven. There may be a benefit pre-65 but not post. You're not meant to be doing your own cooking.

Later, you get forgetful. Can you be trusted to remember what a microwave is for? Microwaved food gets very hot. Or a kettle - a favourite test of capacity is can you make a cup of tea. Would you remember to put water in the kettle before switching it on?

xylophone

Later, you get forgetful. Can you be trusted to remember what a microwave is for? Microwaved food gets very hot. Or a kettle - a favourite test of capacity is can you make a cup of tea. Would you remember to put water in the kettle before switching it on?

The person would

need someone to supervise him for his own or
someone else's safety

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/647019/aa1-interactive-claim-form.pdf


You may get Attendance Allowance if:

you are 65 or over when you make your claim
you cannot get Disability Living Allowancel you cannot get Personal Independence Payment
lyour disability means that you need help with your personal care
(see page 5) or you need someone to supervise you for your own or
someone else's safety (see page 5), and
you have needed that help for at least 6 months.

NeilCr

margaretclare wrote: »

It is a very odd situation in that the criteria applied to a person who hasn't yet reached their 65th birthday will be completely different to those applied to the same person aged 65+.

It's not assumed that you need to go out, so unless you do internet grocery shopping and get it delivered, you don't go to the shops. Same with cooking. You can be 65 with - say - a back problem so you can't bend to get a casserole out of the oven. There may be a benefit pre-65 but not post. You're not meant to be doing your own cooking.

Later, you get forgetful. Can you be trusted to remember what a microwave is for? Microwaved food gets very hot. Or a kettle - a favourite test of capacity is can you make a cup of tea. Would you remember to put water in the kettle before switching it on?

The DWP's official line a few years ago

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/31788/response/80795/attach/2/894.pdf?cookie_passthrough=1

Don't shoot the messenger please as I've never really understood it and have had to try to explain it a few times (or more!).

Alice_Holt

teddysmum wrote: »

That is an odd situation , as if you are unable to shop and cook or don't have someone doing these for you, it doesn't matter whether you need help with feeding or not, as there will be no food to eat.

Yes, it is odd (but benefits are rarely logical). That's why it's important to understand eligibility for AA when completing the form.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/attendance-allowance/claiming-attendance-allowance/help-with-attendance-allowance-form/

Thanks Neil. Interesting Line from the DWP "Over eighty per cent of working age Disability Living Allowance claimants do not work. Disabled people of working age have therefore had less opportunity to work and save than people who are not disabled."
And I thought DLA, PIP, & AA were to help with the increased costs disability brings with it!

Danday

I would imagine that everybody within the DWP has their own opinion as to the purpose of DLA/PIP.
As you say, that letter was dated a few years ago. But it clearly states that Attendance Allowance takes over on the date that the State Pensipn can be claimed. Are we to assume that the date to claim AA is now 66 and soon to be 68?

teddysmum

Alice_Holt wrote: »

Thanks Neil. Interesting Line from the DWP "Over eighty per cent of working age Disability Living Allowance claimants do not work. Disabled people of working age have therefore had less opportunity to work and save than people who are not disabled."
And I thought DLA, PIP, & AA were to help with the increased costs disability brings with it!

There are many non-disabled people who have had to survive on low or periods of no wage (especially the older people who were hit my collapsing industry in their home area),so could not afford to save much. Therefore, according to this thinking (that we all get wonky at some stage),if one of these people has a non-age related accident, causing more severe disability after pension age, they have inferior rights to someone less disabled (eg same impairment but without the addition of age related problems), who may have become disabled just a year earlier.


There was a media story a few years ago, where lady lost a leg on just the wrong side of 65 and replied on her equally elderly but not disabled (arthritis) enough husband to push her wheelchair about.


However, their old car was ready for the scrapyard and they could not afford a replacement. Some would say they have the pensioners' bus passes ,but if the man struggles to push the chair and reaching a bus involves slopes, they are shot at and the lady will be housebound, all because she is third class for being just one year too old.