Will my FIL have to pay for his own carers?

Used2bMissb

My Father in Law recently had his leg amputated due to complications from diabetes.  He went into a care home following a couple of weeks in hospital as part of his rehabilitation and was discharged last week (9 days ago).  Now he's at home and is being visited 4 times a day by a social services carer. 
However, he is struggling (not that he will admit it!).  He has fallen at least once a day, every day, since being at home.  His personal hygiene is non existent and he is regularly having accidents.  He can't get himself from his bed to his wheelchair, or vice versa, so sleeps in his wheelchair (He refuses to have the carer help him into bed/dress/undress him/help with the toilet etc as they are usually very young women and he's embarrassed.  He doesn't eat a very good diet (hence the diabetic ulcers which led to amputation). 
It is clear to us that he needs to be in full time care, however, he is refusing that and wants to be at home. 

We have been told by his social worked that because he has savings/assets worth over £23k he will have to pay for the care visits himself.  (She has quoted us £15 for half an hour.  She has him down for 2x 30 minute visits, and 2 x 45 minute visits - so £525 a week).   Based on his medical needs (only one leg, can't manage his diet/hygeine) is he entitled to any further support?  Is his social worker correct?  Does he have to pay for ALL his care himself?

He already claims carers allowance (he was previously giving this to my sister in law, who was doing NOTHING to care for him.  His home was squalid with pet faeces everywhere) so obviously this could go some way to covering his carers bill.  We have also looked into private carers who charge only £12 for a full hour.  Which would halve his caring costs.  Is there anything else he is entitled to?

calcotti

Used2bMissb said: He already claims carers allowance (he was previously giving this to my sister in law, who was doing NOTHING to care for him.  His home was squalid with pet faeces everywhere) so obviously this could go some way to covering his carers bill.  We have also looked into private carers who charge only £12 for a full hour.  Which would halve his caring costs.  Is there anything else he is entitled to?

I assume you mean he is claiming Attendance Allowance or PIP. If so do you know what he is getting and was it claimed before the amputation or only since then?

There are some very informative factsheets on the AgeUK website
Age UK factsheets and information guides | Age UK
Scroll to the bottom for the fact sheets and look in the Social care section.

Used2bMissb

I don’t know what PIP is. (I’m new to all this). I’ve only just found about Attenders Allowance today. Whatever he is currently claiming (I thought it was carers allowance) he was getting before the amputation.

poppy12345

You can't claim carers allowance for looking after yourself. PIP is a disability benefit that replaced the old DLA.

Used2bMissb

I always thought carers allowance got paid to the claimant (patient for want of a better word) and they used it to pay someone for their care. He would have been paying his daughter up until he went into hospital. I don’t know what PIP is or DLA. How will I find out what these abbreviations mean? And how will I find out what he’s currently claiming? There’s no point asking my father in law - I doubt he knows what month it is.

poppy12345

As advised, he wouldn't have been able to claim carers allowance himself. Someone else could claim it for looking after him, providing he's claiming a qualifying disability benefit.

Could you try to find any paper work at his home, maybe a bank statement because it will tell you on there what he's claiming.

Used2bMissb

Thank you. We have a bank statement of his somewhere so I’ll post on here shortly the amount and what it says. Could this mean then that his daughter is fraudulently still claiming it he carers allowance? Even when she was “caring” for him she wasn’t doing a very good job. As I already mentioned, his home was squalid.

Used2bMissb

And how might I find out if she IS still claiming it?

calcotti

It would be helpful to find out what benefit he currently receives and how much. He will have letter about the benefits. If you cannot find these then if you can access his bank statements there will be an abbreviation alongside the payments DWP AA or DWP DLA or DWP PIP which indicates what the payments are for. The reason we are asking is that now that he is missing a leg it is possible that his disability benefit would be higher if he was reassessed - obviously that will not be the case if he is already getting the maximum.

Carer's Allowance is a benefit a person who does the caring can claim (not applicable to paid care workers) if they earn less than £128/week.

Used2bMissb

Ok, according to his bank statement he currently receives SP £613.96, and DLA of £605.60 a month.

I don’t know what either of these are. I assume SP is state pension? What is DLA? Is that Disability allowance?

Used2bMissb

I’ll add that this is what he was getting BEFORE his amputation.