D.L.A to A.A question. with abit of a twist

Rogerrabbit777

A family member was on the middle rate DLA for many years before moving abroad. In moving abroad they lost the mobility rate (the higher amount of income) as it wasnt exportable and i believe were only allowed the lower rate of approx £30 a week. On returning to the UK they werent able to reclaim.  So they are thinking of applying for AA as its far more than what they are getting now. But as they were born in 1949 from what ive read they would be reassessed  for PIP instead. Its the same amount of money so thats not really an issue. 

I would like to know if  anyone else has been in this position and has applied and being reassessed and what the outcome was? Obviously theres a concern that they may not get anything and lose the small amount they already get so maybe its better to not apply, although ontop of their original health problems they now have been advised that they need a hip replacement and struggle to bend over pick things up etc.

Thanks for any advice.

Newcad

I could be wrong, particularly if they have been receiving DLA whilst abroad.

However I think that you may have misunderstood what you have read.

Being born in 1949 means they are over State Pension Age so they cannot claim PIP- in which case Attendance Allowance would be the claim to make.

Attendance Allowance does not include any mobility, which again seems to fit in here.

See: https://www.gov.uk/attendance-allowance/eligibility

But as you say if they have been paid DLA while abroad then there may be the possibility to change that to PIP (still with no mobility though because it was previously denied after moving abroad?)

It looks like a bit of swings or roundabouts to me and that whichever way they go the only difference will be whether the payments come from PIP or AA.

Or to put it another way, I don’t see their being able to get mobility reinstated whichever way they do it.

Rogerrabbit777

"It's slowly being phased out so, if you apply for Attendance Allowance while getting DLA, the DWP will usually reassess your DLA award instead, and if you were born on or after April 1948, you'll be moved from DLA to PIP. This could mean you end up getting a different amount of money each week."

Thanks for your reply. The above is from martins colum on AA. So i presumed as they were born in 49 and are still on DLA if they apply for AA they will be reassessed and moved to PIP instead of AA? 

Northern_Wanderer

Does the person live in Scotland or England?

Newcad

That sounds fair enough, so any payments due would then be made from PIP rather than from AA.

I still don't see any way that a mobility component could be reinstated though.

Northern_Wanderer

Could the OP just clarify if the person was under age 65 on 8 April 2013? There is a clause that states if you have been asked to move to PIP as part of transfer process (not Scotland) you can be awarded std or enhanced mobility component regardless of age or whether or not your DLA award included it.

Rogerrabbit777

Northern_Wanderer said:

Does the person live in Scotland or England?

England....

Rogerrabbit777

Northern_Wanderer said:

Could the OP just clarify if the person was under age 65 on 8 April 2013? There is a clause that states if you have been asked to move to PIP as part of transfer process (not Scotland) you can be awarded std or enhanced mobility component regardless of age or whether or not your DLA award included it.

They were born May 49. They were awarded DLA including mobility along time ago (decades). Then moved abroad so lost the mobility component as it wasnt exportable. Told they couldnt reapply for it once they became a uk resident again.  They were never contacted re changing over to PIP as i guess they were right on the borderline and living overseas when the changes first started. 

Northern_Wanderer

DWP is moving people on DLA over to PIP although it might be on hold for now. In submitting a change of circumstances, the person would be assesed for PIP, if they don't qualify they would be assessed for AA but there is no mobility component in AA, and I'm unsure if a mobility component can be added to the PIP in that scenario. 

But as I said, if "invited" to transfer to PIP by the DWP, there is a clause that could add mobility component for that scenario if meet criteria. Usually they wouldn't be able to add any mobility component to working age disability payments after reaching state pension age, there are a couple of exceptions close to retirement age, which won't apply here.

They might wish to take advice on this. There is always a risk of losing award when submitting change of circumstances. But if only getting £30/wk, AA even at lower rate is higher so could be worth exploring.

PIP/DLA/AA all have completely different qualifying criteria.

Rogerrabbit777

Northern_Wanderer said:

DWP is moving people on DLA over to PIP although it might be on hold for now. In submitting a change of circumstances, the person would be assesed for PIP, if they don't qualify they would be assessed for AA but there is no mobility component in AA, and I'm unsure if a mobility component can be added to the PIP in that scenario. 

But as I said, if "invited" to transfer to PIP by the DWP, there is a clause that could add mobility component for that scenario if meet criteria. Usually they wouldn't be able to add any mobility component to working age disability payments after reaching state pension age, there are a couple of exceptions close to retirement age, which won't apply here.

They might wish to take advice on this. There is always a risk of losing award when submitting change of circumstances. But if only getting £30/wk, AA even at lower rate is higher so could be worth exploring.

PIP/DLA/AA all have completely different qualifying criteria.

Thanks for your advice. Tbh getting some sort of mobility component back doesn't really matter to them. Their trail of thought is because they only get around £30 a week and cant get anymore under the DLA banner. Then why not apply for AA/PIP because even the lower rates of those two are around £40 more a week than what they can get with DLA. But as you say it whether taking the risk is worth it. Its quite a niche thing so it would be interesting to see if anyone else was/is in a similar situation and what the result was. Thanks again for your input