Carer's Allowance refused - Should I fight back alone, or do I need backup?

shelleywa

Hello everyone. I have had a really trashy day and hope someone here can help me!

I applied for Carer's allowance in January. Today, I received a letter, saying I had been refused. I then tried to contact CAB, to get some advice. Their web-chat was unavailable and I spent an hour on the phone in a queue, before my call was booted out.

The letter from CA says that I can contact them within the next month, to ask them to reconsider. If that fails, I can appeal. But I'm on unfamiliar ground here - I don't know how I should best approach them. Should I write them a letter myself (and then no doubt have to wait weeks for a reply), or should I be asking CAB for some legal advice first?

Has anyone had any similar dealings with CA (or CAB)?

Thanks for any advice!

Secretsusie

Does it say why? Does the person you care for get dla, pip or AA?

TELLIT01

More information required to give a meaningful answer. What reason(s) given for not allowing the claim?

NeilCr

Can you get to your local CAB?

That might be the best way to engage with them and get help with the form. If you can take all your paperwork with you

Rubyroobs

Is the person you are trying to claim carers allowance for in receipt of DLA/ PIP/ AA ? Do you earn over the £123 a week threshold? Do you care for 35 hours a week ? It's unusual for them to not award it if you meet the criteria. Would you claiming it affect the benefits of the person being cared for - they can lose sdp on pension credit or esa if you claim.

Tigsteroonie

As ^^ the criteria for eligibility are pretty clear so you either qualify or you don't - there's no subjectivity to the matter (unlike DLA or PIP award levels). Did they say how/why you didn't qualify?

shelleywa

Thanks for all your replies. Apologies for the lack of detail in my OP, I was just trying to gauge an idea of how hard it is to persuade them to change their mind, without spilling my life story

To answer your questions, I care my Dad. He gets AA and I checked beforehand and was assured that me getting CA would not affect his benefits. I care for him 35 hours per week and we meet all of the criteria, except for one.

The reason is because I have been out of the UK, living in Australia, for the last 104 of 156 weeks. The sole reason for my return is to care for my dying Father. He has no-one else. We are both British Citizens. When I lived here I was working and paying taxes and NI. Since I left, I haven't asked the Government for a penny. I have voluntarily forfeited my right to apply for Citizenship in Australia, so that I can be here to care for my Dad. I have had to give up my home and job in Australia, I have had zero income since last year. His (very minimal) benefits - are having to stretch to support both of us. And I am expected to live on thin air?! The sad reality is, we simply can't survive this way for much longer.

The alternative for the Government is that I go back to Australia, where I can be supported by the Australian Government, and the UK Government will have to pay carers to go round to my Dad's house 4 times a day to do the work that I am currently doing. What an absolute waste of Government resources!

Not to mention the stress this is causing my Dad - a very sick man, dying from terminal cancer. Surely this doesn't make sense to anyone??

I could put all this in a letter and ask them to reconsider but, as these departments seem to be run by automatons, I'm not sure it would make a blind bit of difference

I could certainly go to my local CAB on Monday but I don't have a car, so it would mean a day out - and paying for bus fare - so I was just trying to gauge if it was worth it beforehand, if they can actually do anything significant to help me, or if I would be better off just sending the letter myself.

Sorry for the essay

sleepless_saver

There is no point in appealing the carers allowance decision as DWP will not move on the residence issue. You could apply for universal credit as a carer. https://www.gov.uk/how-to-claim-universal-credit
Edited to add: assuming you're a returning UK citizen and you'd need to be considered '"habitually resident" to claim UC.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/before-you-apply/Check-if-youre-eligible-for-Universal-Credit/

sportsarb

The departments aren’t run by automatons, there is simply no way to depart from the legislation, it’s more often than not a basic rule that isn’t open to interpretation. It’s ordinary people doing these jobs, and it can be extremely frustrating having to deny benefits to people, harder than paying it to people that take the !!!! out of the system truth be told.

United Kingdo mla w-residence and presence conditions
071705 A clai mant must satisfy prescribed conditions ofresidence and presencein GB on any dayincludedinthe clai m1. Clai mants must
1. be habituallyresidentinthe CT A and
2. not be subjecttoi m migration control (see D M G 070831to 070834) or a person whois exe mptfro mthe exclusion of persons subjecttoi m migration control for the purposes of AA, DLAand CA (see D M G 070836)and
3. bepresentinGBand
4. subjectto specialrulesrelatingto young children(see D M G 071718 to 071720),have been presentin GBfor a period of(or periodstotalling) notless than104 weeksinthe previous 156 weeks 2.

Given you’ve confirmed that you fall foul of one of the conditions there is little leeway for staff to do anything other than find you not entitled.

Skibunny40

You can re-apply once you've been in the country long enough to qualify.

shelleywa

sleepless_saver wrote: »

There is no point in appealing the carers allowance decision as DWP will not move on the residence issue. You could apply for universal credit as a carer. https://www.gov.uk/how-to-claim-universal-credit
Edited to add: assuming you're a returning UK citizen and you'd need to be considered '"habitually resident" to claim UC.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/before-you-apply/Check-if-youre-eligible-for-Universal-Credit/

Yes, that was my next port of call. However, to qualify as a 'Habitual Resident', you have to prove that you can afford to live in the UK. Surely if I could afford to live, I wouldn't be asking for help with the cost of living?? I don't understand this system