claiming carers allowance parent gets attendance allowance help please??

qwert10

recently receiving carers allowance and parent gets full attendance allowance all a bit confusing apart from the monetary payment and possible council tax reduction are there any other useful benefits e.g. travel? thanks

whizzywoo

You have not been very clear about the circumstances.

Are you getting Carer's Allowance for caring for your parent?

Does your parent live alone and if not, who do they live with?

Are you or your parent claiming any other benefits or are either of you working?

qwert10

sorry yes my father lives with me and I care for him in my house.So i get attendance allowance.He gets higher rate attendance allowance. He is a pensioner and gets pension/savings credit. I work part time a few hours but may have to give this up soon due to increasing needs of father. Thanks

poppy12345

qwert10 said:

sorry yes my father lives with me and I care for him in my house.So i get attendance allowance.He gets higher rate attendance allowance. He is a pensioner and gets pension/savings credit. I work part time a few hours but may have to give this up soon due to increasing needs of father. Thanks

You mean your father claims attendance allowance and you claim carers allowance for looking after him.

As you're currently working then you need to make sure than you don't earn more than £128 per week after deductions.

https://www.gov.uk/carers-allowance/eligibility

You're still not making yourself very clear, whether you're asking for yourself or your father.

For you with useful benefits then claiming carers allowance doesn't automatcally entitle you to a free bus pass. If you have a health condition then you maybe able to claim a disabled bus pass, other than that there's nothing else.

If you stop working and you don't have savings/capital of more than £16,000 then look at claiming Universal Credit. Use a benefits calculator to check entitlement. https://www.entitledto.co.uk/

For your father as he's over state pension age then he should already be receiving the concessionary bus pass.

https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/benefits-entitlements/free-bus-pass-and-transport-concessions/

If you need to further advice then you'll need to be more specific with your questions because you're not making it easy to give advice.

qwert10

thanks sorry if confusing! we've never received benefits before and it seems a maze,

yes wonder if:

1/ Father as having attendance allowance has any entitlement to anything else now that benefit is confirmed? e.g. reduced price/free tickets for cinema for him or me as a carer.
2/ Do I as a carer with carers allowance have entitlement to anything else? e.g reduced travel with father, cinema tickets as a carer etc
thanks so much

poppy12345

The CEA card will allow your father to take a carer with him free of charge, see link. https://www.ceacard.co.uk/eligibility

Your father should already have a bus pass because of his age but this doesn't allow you to travel with him free as his carer. He could try claiming a disabled bus pass and have the companion card but you'll need to look at your councils criteria for that because all councils are different. https://www.gov.uk/apply-for-disabled-bus-pass

As a carer you'll be able to get either free entry or reduced entry into most attractions in UK. Your father will need to take his AA award as proof.

Spoonie_Turtle

You could also look into the arrangements there are for train travel. There's a disabled person's railcard which gives discounts for the holder and a companion; there also used to be something like if a person stayed in their wheelchair for the whole journey then a companion could get reduced or free travel. Different train operators had some varying concessionary schemes for bus pass holders as well.

[I've not looked into it for a long time because I already have my railcard - and of course the effects of the pandemic may mean big changes once we're out of this anyway.]

qwert10

thanks both will look further and be ready when we break out!

Savvy_Sue

Depending on where you are, you may be able to get help with taxi journeys. I know my in-laws in London get some help with that, alongside having their bus passes. 

qwert10

Thanks sue!

noclaf

My situation is slightly different to yours OP but I am in a similar boat. I am a carer for my mum who also receives AA and we live in the same house. However due to my earnings taking me over a certain threshold I am not eligible for carers allowance however our LA who assisted in finding a care agency for my mum do give me a small allowance each month..its meant as a benefit I can use to spend on anything of my choice that would help me...I use it for my gym membership for example. If you are eligible for carers allowance then it's possible there might be other benefits.  Additionally I pay 50% of the standard council tax for our area/banding as mum's condition means she is exempt. Not sure what your council tax situation is but I won't necessarily recommend going down this route as our household now pays MORE council tax annually than it previously did when mum wasn't exempt ...they moved the tax liability to me after making mum exempt.