Carer's Allowance after the person you care for dies

calcotti

BooJewels said: No news on the Carer's Allowance, not heard anything and no further monies paid.

Have you spoken to them?

BooJewels

Not yet @calcotti - last time I rang I was on hold for over an hour and I've been waiting for so many calls back, I didn't want to tie up the phone and there's a problem with my mobile signal at the moment, so I'm just using the landline.  I thought I might try first thing in a morning when I do.

I'm not sure that I'm that comfortable in chasing them yet, as I've written to them with all the information and the ball is in their court.  I'm not pressing for an answer, just updating the thread in case anyone is applying for BSP or in the same situation and searching for answers.

I did vaguely wonder if the payment failed because the name changed on the bank account quite quickly - everything else is the same, just my husband's name removed.  That at least would give me a reason to ring them.

BooJewels

I did try ringing today - I picked the wrong option the first time, so that was wasted time - and the line is only open from 10am to 2pm at present.  But the lady I did eventually speak to (she was working from home) was very helpful and very cheerful - but there were significant problems with the system today, it was running in slow motion.

The delay in this instance was because the 8 week run on is apparently dependent on where the person you cared for died.  Seemingly, you get the additional 8 payments if they died at home, not so if they passed in hospital or elsewhere. 

When you use the Tell Us Once service, the death is recorded, but the place of death isn't apparently one of the pieces of data supplied.  So the DWP need to confirm that before they can process the additional Carer's Allowance.  So they stop it until they can get the location confirmed.  So she's manually over-ridden it for me, so I'll get the owed element this week (last payment was 12th July) and it will re-commence on Monday for the further 5 weeks remaining of the 8.

metrobus

https://www.carersuk.org/forum/support-and-advice/carer-disability-benefits/carers-allowance-after-a-death-43719?p=444672#p444672

Carers who have had loved ones pass away and do not know of the 8 week rule from the Sunday after the death or the day if it was a Sunday must be losing a lot of cash if they do not know they must contact the benefit agency and restart the claim,since its automatically suspended once the persons death is made known to the pension service,who pass it on to the department that deals with carers allowance.

BooJewels

I think it gets sorted eventually @metrobus - at least that was how it was described to me. 

It seems as though it's a 2 part process - they find out that the person you're caring for has passed (in my case through Tell Us Once) and they stop CA - then they need to confirm the place of death to ascertain if you qualify for the 8 week run-on payments.  Once that information has come to light, they pay the remaining amount, if you qualify.  She said they were simply dealing with a backlog, as they were really short staffed and just taking on a load of new staff.  Not helped by them working from home on a system that didn't sound like it was up to the task.

Hence I started the thread, to see what the criteria were - as mine stopped a few days after I used Tell Us Once.  When I rang yesterday, I initially went through to the bereavement option - which was purely to inform of the death, not discuss it, so I had to re-dial - as the post you linked to also had to do.  Maybe if I'd advised them individually, I could have stipulated this missing bit of data and the CA would just have continued.

It suggests that if the place of death is salient to receipt of a benefit, the Tell Us Once service needs a tweak to include this information when submitting the form.

calcotti

I've never heard of the 8 week run on not being allowed if the death occurred in hospital and can find no legal basis for it.

BooJewels

That was why I used qualifying words like 'apparently' and 'seemingly' - it was what I was told - I haven't found any other reference to it either.  Hence I originally started the thread, to see what criteria might be applied - when you only might get the 8 week run-on.

I'm not sure that I'm any the wiser - I shall wait to see if the further funds appear as promised.

calcotti

BooJewels said:

That was why I used qualifying words like 'apparently' and 'seemingly' - it was what I was told - I haven't found any other reference to it either. 

I wasn't doubting what you were told, just whether it had any basis in fact!

Brie

I expect that the government is erring on the side of caution by stopping payments quickly so as to avoid an over payment.  Having worked along side a bereavement team (albeit not within the gov) I know that reclaiming money can be very difficult and can cause more upset for those left behind then having any final payments being delayed by a couple/few weeks.  

BooJewels

I can certainly see how that would be @Brie - I don't have any issue with it as such.  From what the lady said, they're already working in difficult enough circumstances - she was working at home, using the internet to access the DWP system and it was unworkably slow.  I'll just be happy to get the extra money - as and when it might appear - everything helps, as I seem to have laid out so much recently.

I have no idea how the place of death could be a criteria to ascertain whether you qualify for the additional CA - the myriad scenarios that might occur when someone is approaching the end of their life would make it impossible to make a decision based on that alone.