Partner needs care... can I afford to give up work?

poorbird73

Hello all,

I am hoping somebody could help me.

Im 64yr female and my partner is 78. 

He is in hospital and he comes home he will need full time care. I am willing to give up my part time job to care for him. But I'm not sure we can afford to.  I will list some brief notes.

We live in a rented flat at £320 monthly.

 My partner claims £260 towards that from Housing Benefit.

His state pension is £825. pcm.

He has no savings. 

I work part time and  receive £800 pm before deductions.  I have apx £4500 in savings. This is my only income.

We are already on the breadline and I'm scared to give up my job in case we are left with nothing. I have tried benefit calculators but my head is all over since my partners diagnosis.

If anyone can help I would appreciate that so much.
Just to advise what we can claim....

Thank you. 

Rubyroobs

Does you husband get a disability benefit such as Attendance Allowance? if not then I would get a claim in for that asap as long as he has had care needs or difficulties for six months. This would enable you to claim carers allowance for caring for him or Universal credit with a carers element for yourself and the LCWRA element for him. If you claimed UC then your HB award would end so you really need a detailed benefit check doing to see what would work out best for you. CAB or AGE Uk would be able to do this for you.

Keep_pedalling

On top of the financial aspects you need to seriously consider the impact becoming a full time carer is going to have both on your physical and mental health. Has anything been mentioned about a care package for him? 

Brie

If money is already very tight then I'd say no you can't afford to quit working.  If your partner gets attendance allowance even at the max rate that's only about £400 a month.  And if you get carer's allowance that would only be maybe another £250 a month.  So less than what you're earning now.

So what needs to be considered is how much care does the individual need?  There should be a care plan agreed and in place before he comes out of hospital so he may need to go to an care home of some sort, even temporarily, so that he gets care and everything else can be available for him at home.  You don't say how severe his situation is - can he be left most of the day while you're working/shopping/etc?  Or does he need someone to check on him every hour?  

It's possible that if he gets AA and you get CA and keep working a small amount very p/t (might be 16 hours a week max?) then you might come out slightly ahead.  But working might be good for you to keep you with a bit more of a normal life rather than being at home all day every day.  It is a very difficult thing to do as others have mentioned.  

itsthelittlethings

I think you would be entitled to universal credit to cover living and housing costs, as well as carers benefits. See if you have a Carers Trust in your area, they will be able to advise you on your entitlements.

gwynlas

Personally I believe you should continue with your part time role and make sure that there is an adequate care package in place should your husband return home.

Too many partners prop up social care in this country without adequate finance or support.

You can still be there for him but do not need to do more than you are currently doing ie I  would expect you are already carrying out the full range of domestic duties as well as going out to work.

Northern_Wanderer

You are classed as a "Mixed Age" Couple for benefits purposes until you reach state pension age. Was the Housing Benefit claim made before 15/05/2019? And have you been and remained a couple living in the same household since before that date? If so, your partner may be able to claim Pension Credit and keep Housing Benefit.

I do suggest getting advice on this to get a benefit calculation done to see if you would be better off on UC or Pension Credit with HB, with and without Attendance Allowance, working and not working. You may also be able to get a Discetionary Housing Payment to cover the shortfall in rent. How many bedrooms is the property? Private or social rental?

If the HB claim ends, you will not get it back and it will be UC only that can be claimed until you are no longer a mixed age couple.

Is the diagnosis terminal? If so, AA claim can be fast tracked.

itsthelittlethings

I wasn't quite clear if you lived together? Sorry - ignore that. I see you do.

Spoonie_Turtle

Disclaimer: as advised above, get some advice about whether you can claim Pension Credit because if you can, you'd likely be much better off if you have to give up work completely than on working age benefits.

If you had to claim UC, doing a rough and ready manual calculation* based on the information given, you would receive a maximum UC payment of £688.05 which leaves £368.05 after paying rent.  Plus his pension, and plus the requisite disability benefit award. 

HOWEVER this is based on him being awarded the LCWRA element which requires either the highest rate DLA/PIP care/daily living or AA, or a WCA, and would only be payable from the fourth month after claiming UC, AND you qualifying for the carer element which you can only claim if he has a DLA mid rate care or higher, PIP daily living, or AA award.  (DLA/PIP only applicable if he already claims it since before reaching pension age.)

*Calculation:
£628.10 UC standard couple allowance
£201.68 Carer element
£423.27 LCWRA
£260 Housing (assuming it's the same as HB but we'd need more info to be sure)
= £1,513.05

- £825 Minus state pension
= £688.05

If you claimed UC like this you can still work if it's alright to leave your partner long enough to do some work; at the moment if you claimed whilst still working and earthing your current amount you would only have a small deduction if he had LCWRA and you the carer element (800 - 411 work allowance, x0.55 = 389x0.55 = 213.95 deduction) so you'd still get a little UC topup on top of your wages. 
But obviously you don't feel you can continue your current work and give him the care he needs, otherwise you wouldn't be here asking.  I just added it in for completeness really to show that you could still work and earn a bit if it were at all feasible (and perhaps any extra money could go towards paying for some care every week even if your local authority won't pay, for you to have a break).

I really hope you can get personalised advice based on a variety of scenarios though, so you know what your options are and could be.

itsthelittlethings

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Disclaimer: as advised above, get some advice about whether you can claim Pension Credit because if you can, you'd likely be much better off if you have to give up work completely than on working age benefits.

If you had to claim UC, doing a rough and ready manual calculation* based on the information given, you would receive a maximum UC payment of £688.05 which leaves £368.05 after paying rent.  Plus his pension, and plus the requisite disability benefit award. 

HOWEVER this is based on him being awarded the LCWRA element which requires either the highest rate DLA/PIP care/daily living or AA, or a WCA, and would only be payable from the fourth month after claiming UC, AND you qualifying for the carer element which you can only claim if he has a DLA mid rate care or higher, PIP daily living, or AA award.  (DLA/PIP only applicable if he already claims it since before reaching pension age.)

*Calculation:
£628.10 UC standard couple allowance
£201.68 Carer element
£423.27 LCWRA
£260 Housing (assuming it's the same as HB but we'd need more info to be sure)
= £1,513.05

- £825 Minus state pension
= £688.05

If you claimed UC like this you can still work if it's alright to leave your partner long enough to do some work; at the moment if you claimed whilst still working and earthing your current amount you would only have a small deduction if he had LCWRA and you the carer element (800 - 411 work allowance, x0.55 = 389x0.55 = 213.95 deduction) so you'd still get a little UC topup on top of your wages. 
But obviously you don't feel you can continue your current work and give him the care he needs, otherwise you wouldn't be here asking.  I just added it in for completeness really to show that you could still work and earn a bit if it were at all feasible (and perhaps any extra money could go towards paying for some care every week even if your local authority won't pay, for you to have a break).

I really hope you can get personalised advice based on a variety of scenarios though, so you know what your options are and could be.

He's 78, would he still have to apply for LCWRA?

Spoonie_Turtle

itsthelittlethings said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Disclaimer: as advised above, get some advice about whether you can claim Pension Credit because if you can, you'd likely be much better off if you have to give up work completely than on working age benefits.

If you had to claim UC, doing a rough and ready manual calculation* based on the information given, you would receive a maximum UC payment of £688.05 which leaves £368.05 after paying rent.  Plus his pension, and plus the requisite disability benefit award. 

HOWEVER this is based on him being awarded the LCWRA element which requires either the highest rate DLA/PIP care/daily living or AA, or a WCA, and would only be payable from the fourth month after claiming UC, AND you qualifying for the carer element which you can only claim if he has a DLA mid rate care or higher, PIP daily living, or AA award.  (DLA/PIP only applicable if he already claims it since before reaching pension age.)

*Calculation:
£628.10 UC standard couple allowance
£201.68 Carer element
£423.27 LCWRA
£260 Housing (assuming it's the same as HB but we'd need more info to be sure)
= £1,513.05

- £825 Minus state pension
= £688.05

If you claimed UC like this you can still work if it's alright to leave your partner long enough to do some work; at the moment if you claimed whilst still working and earthing your current amount you would only have a small deduction if he had LCWRA and you the carer element (800 - 411 work allowance, x0.55 = 389x0.55 = 213.95 deduction) so you'd still get a little UC topup on top of your wages. 
But obviously you don't feel you can continue your current work and give him the care he needs, otherwise you wouldn't be here asking.  I just added it in for completeness really to show that you could still work and earn a bit if it were at all feasible (and perhaps any extra money could go towards paying for some care every week even if your local authority won't pay, for you to have a break).

I really hope you can get personalised advice based on a variety of scenarios though, so you know what your options are and could be.

He's 78, would he still have to apply for LCWRA?

To my knowledge yes, unless he gets a high enough rate of disability benefit.

I'm not 100% certain but being a pensioner on UC should mean no work requirements.  But that's all it would mean; a healthy pensioner wouldn't qualify for LCW/RA.