Eligibility for Carers Allowance question ?

Suzycoll

hi all

I am a carer for my Mum (aged 84)  who is now needing more and more care as she is ageing.

I currently work 3 days a week and find it tough to also look after her as her care needs increase. 
I am thinking of reducing my hours (to earnings lower than the CA eligibility rule) and claiming CA for looking after Mum.

Mum had no idea what benefits she gets, but , I have recently found a DWP letter and she is getting DLA as follows:- 

Care component - lower
Mobility component - higher 

I have read the eligibility rules on gov.uk. As follows :- 

The person you care for must already get one of these benefits:

• Disability Living Allowance - the middle or highest care rate

Please excuse my ignorance ,  but is 'care rate' the same as 'care component'?

If it is - I assume I will not be eligible for CA anyway ?

thanks 

KxMx

Yes your Mum is getting low rate care, so you aren't eligible for Carers Allowance. 

Suzycoll

KxMx said:

Yes your Mum is getting low rate care, so you aren't eligible for Carers Allowance. 

yes I thought that was the case !

 I appreciate the quick reply to my post (now I have read it back the answer is obvious) ...embarrassed - ha

elsien

How much of her needs changed since she claimed DLA?
There is the option of a review to increase the care needs component however the rescue run with that is you might lose the higher rate mobility which she would then not be able to reclaim because of her age.

Suzycoll

elsien said:

How much of her needs changed since she claimed DLA?
There is the option of a review to increase the care needs component however the rescue run with that is you might lose the higher rate mobility which she would then not be able to reclaim because of her age.

Her needs (care) have changed massively since the award

I was thinking of a review but TBH I'm not meddling with her award - Mum would not be happy with that ! 

Thanks for your kind reply ☺️ 

Rubyroobs

I have recently helped two people to complete a DLA review form. In both cases they had the same award as your mum. The form gives you the option to say which component you want them to look at again/ review so there is the option to skip the mobility section if you don't want that reviewed. There is a separate smaller form ( just 2/3 pages) which asks what component you want them to look at. I presume that this means the current mobility award is not at risk if you are only asking them to review the care component. It may be worth asking CAB or similar to clarify though. 

Suzycoll

Rubyroobs said:

I have recently helped two people to complete a DLA review form. In both cases they had the same award as your mum. The form gives you the option to say which component you want them to look at again/ review so there is the option to skip the mobility section if you don't want that reviewed. There is a separate smaller form ( just 2/3 pages) which asks what component you want them to look at. I presume that this means the current mobility award is not at risk if you are only asking them to review the care component. It may be worth asking CAB or similar to clarify though. 

Thanks for your reply . Very useful 😃 

I was also thinking if Mum could

 Close/stop the DLA claim & claim Attendance Allowance instead ? 

poppy12345

Suzycoll said:

Rubyroobs said:

I have recently helped two people to complete a DLA review form. In both cases they had the same award as your mum. The form gives you the option to say which component you want them to look at again/ review so there is the option to skip the mobility section if you don't want that reviewed. There is a separate smaller form ( just 2/3 pages) which asks what component you want them to look at. I presume that this means the current mobility award is not at risk if you are only asking them to review the care component. It may be worth asking CAB or similar to clarify though. 

Thanks for your reply . Very useful 😃 

I was also thinking if Mum could

 Close/stop the DLA claim & claim Attendance Allowance instead ? 

I wouldn't advise her to do that because AA doesn't have the mobility part and she's claiming high rate mobility with the DLA. Much better off putting in a change of circumstances.