Sdp? Direct payments for personal assistant

jules81

My husband and i are getting a divorce. Hes fillinh out the forms-i am in a psychiatric hospital ( if i am in more thsn 28 days as ive done befote will inform pip) i have a son but because of my mh can only see him supervised by my parents/aunty etc.

Once he moves out of family home. My parents are goung to pay off morgage-and i will pay them back-very slowly. He wants to move oit-with our son for 'fresh start'

I get ESA contribution based-in support group
Pip enhaced rate care and mobility

Can i claim the spd? In esa?) No one claims carers allowence
For me but i have a personal assistant through a buget from social services. I know That the divorce will take time to sort out. But i am worried about money. Can i claim the sdp?

Ive read sevral post but couldnt see anything simlar?

I will be live on my own but my personal assistant comes in 4 hours 4 x aweek.

Hope ive given enough info.

Thsnk you.

calcotti

If you have less than £16,000 of savings you can ask for your ESA to be reviewed to include an income based top up. Presumably you do not get this at the moment because your husband's income means the household income is too high. This income based top up can then include the SDP. When you ask for the income based top up you will be sent a detailed form (ESA3) which you will have to complete with details of your income and savings. There is a separate form for the SDP, this is a short form to confirm that you are living alone.

Once you are living alone you are entitled to a 25% discount on your Council Tax bill. You may also get help with the remaining Council Tax bill by claiming Council Tax Reduction (CTR) from your local authority - if you get the income based ESA top up you will the maximum CTR under the rules for your local authority (unfortunately in most cases this does not cover the bill in full).

The social care direct payment is certainly ignored as income for calculating means tested benefits. The SDP rules only refer to living alone and not having someone claiming Carers Allowance (or UC care element) for looking after you. I therefore think that you will be entitled to the SDP.

jules81

Thank you for all the info xxx

calcotti

I should have added that if your PIP entitlement stops because you are have been in hospital for 28 linked days then the SDP entitlement also stops. You therefore have to keep both PIP and ESA informed about relevant hospital stays.

Nannytone

You also need to make sure of your councils policies on co-funding.
I have a Council funded pa but have to contribute 80% of my Pip care towards her costs every month