carers confusion when on universal credit

needhelp2018

Around 2 years and 6 months ago my mother had a heart attack and had to stop work ,
She put in for esa and after a long fight with a score of ZERO points at the medical she went to court and won within 5 mins even the doctor and judge couldnt belive why she was there and was awarded zero points.

I am on universal credit , and for the past 6 months been asking if i can move to a type of carers allowance , 1 person at the job center says i need to go down the PIP line and now another says i can get carers allowance when mum is still on esa and on top of my universal credit.


I am totally confused on what to do and what to try claiming for , the past 6 months mum has got alot worse , i do all the cleaning , cooking , shopping , and other things



her esa is high rate

living expenses £73.10
disability income guarantee £15.75
extra money support group £36.20

total £125.05 per week .



I hope someone can point me in the right direction thanks

D_M_E

Maybe this will help

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Caring-overview-Universal-Credit

poppy12345

needhelp2018 wrote: »

Around 2 years and 6 months ago my mother had a heart attack and had to stop work ,
She put in for esa and after a long fight with a score of ZERO points at the medical she went to court and won within 5 mins even the doctor and judge couldnt belive why she was there and was awarded zero points.

I am on universal credit , and for the past 6 months been asking if i can move to a type of carers allowance , 1 person at the job center says i need to go down the PIP line and now another says i can get carers allowance when mum is still on esa and on top of my universal credit.


I am totally confused on what to do and what to try claiming for , the past 6 months mum has got alot worse , i do all the cleaning , cooking , shopping , and other things



her esa is high rate

living expenses £73.10
disability income guarantee £15.75
extra money support group £36.20

total £125.05 per week .



I hope someone can point me in the right direction thanks

To claim Carers Allowance for looking after someone they must claim either mid/high rate care DLA, daily living PIP or Attendance allowance.

poppy12345

If she doesn't have either of these maybe should should look into starting a claim for PIP. It's not awarded based on a diagnosis, but how your conditions affect you daily. Evidence will be needed to support a claim. There's a PIP self test online that she can complete, it will give her some idea what she could possibly score, although it's just a guide and nothing more. http://www.mybenefitsandwork.co.uk/pip/indexxx.php
If she does start a claim i'd advise getting some help with filling those forms in.

needhelp2018

Thanks for replys .


Poppy12345, we have just done the self test and this is the outcome below , she has past both but we did a selftest for esa some years again past with flying colors but at the sit down with the health care professnial she was given zero points.



DAILY LIVING COMPONENT.
You assessed yourself as scoring the following points for the daily living component of PIP:

1 f. Cannot prepare and cook food. 8 points.

Total points: 8

To be eligible for the daily living component of PIP you need to score:
8-11 points to be awarded the standard rate; or
12 points or more to be awarded the higher rate.
You assessed yourself as being eligible for the standard rate of the daily living component of PIP. MOBILITY COMPONENT.
You assessed yourself as scoring the following points for the mobility component of PIP:
12 e. Can stand and then move more than 1 metre but no more than 20 metres, either aided or unaided. 12 points

Total points: 12

To be eligible for the mobility component of PIP you need to score:
8-11 points to be awarded the standard rate; or
12 points or more to be awarded the higher rate.
You assessed yourself as being eligible for the enhanced rate of the mobility component of PIP.

needhelp2018

We have the pip forms here and shes started to fill them out .

If all went well and she passed and was awarded pip what happens then as i am on uc

I dont understand the money side of pip ect .

poppy12345

As i said the self test is just a guide and nothing more.



If she was awarded daily living PIP and she lives alone or is classed as living alone (no non dependents, unless they also receive a qualifying benefit) then she could claim severe disability premium (SDP) on top of her ESA. If you claimed carers allowance for her then she wouldn't be entitled to the SDP. Best thing to do is cross this bridge when she has the PIP decision.

pmlindyloo

May I ask under what support descriptor your mum was awarded ESA?

Also, do you live with your mum or does she live alone?

The answers to these two questions may help us.

I do agree with Poppy that you should get some help with completing the PIP application form. CAB will often do a pre assessment for PIP to see if they think your mum is eligible. She will need to take
her medical evidence with her.

If your mum was awarded the daily living part of PIP then you could, in theory, claim the carer's element of Universal Credit.

However, if your mum lives alone and is awarded the daily living part of PIP then she may be eligible for the Severe Disability premium with her ESA. She would not be eligible for this if you claimed the Carer's Element of UC. SDP is worth £60+ a week.

Of course I don't know your circumstances and whether caring for your mum is a full time job but have you had an adult assessment by social services to see if your mum is entitled to any help/support?

The test you did, as Poppy said, is only a guide but if you have the time you can read up the details here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers

needhelp2018

I live with her , i gave up my apartment when she first had the heart attack .


im still nun the wiser about all this.


say she puts the pip forms in and is awarded pip Daily living low rate and mobility high rate is this her benifits and i stay on universal credit ?

poppy12345

I see you've only scored points in the descriptor "preparing food" there's 9 other daily living descriptors to consider.



Preparing food.
This descriptor refers to the person’s functional ability in relation to any impairment and their cooking skills should not be taken in to consideration for this descriptor. If a claimant cannot cook because they have never learned but their functional ability indicates they could undertake tasks involved in preparing and cooking food then this descriptor would not apply. If she can cook and prepare food with assistance then she wouldn't score 8 points in this descriptor.

needhelp2018

Hi pmlindyloo



this is what she gets



ESA
Living expenses £73.10
Disability income guarantee £15.75
extrea money because of support group £36.20



she doesnt have to go to the job center or anything .




I live with her and i get universal credit