CTR and carers allowance advice please.

Helpless50

My best mate and his wife have moved in with her dad who has had Parkinson's for a few years and last year had a stroke and his memory is not good and talking to the Parkinson's nurse about it she said a Dementia/Alzheimer's test may be the next step

My mate is 59 and gets PIP and was had a very bad car crash and hasn't worked for 3 years and his wife has been made redundant.

The dad gets AA at higher rate and they were talking to his Parkinson's nurse and the subject of Carers allowance and CTR was mentioned and they have looked into CTR at the local council but can't get a proper answer on what discount they could get in regard to disregarded people in the home.

They aren't sure if she should claim CA as she wants to go back to work and if he claims it how does that affect his PIP ?

The reason they have moved in with dad is because he was in hospital for at 6 months and she never got paid for being off work and when he came home she nursed him for another 6 months and so could not pay the mortgage and had to sell up.

Any advice on who should claim CA and advice on CTR would be appreciated.

Rubyroobs

It sounds like the wife is doing the 35 hours of care so she should claim the carers allowance. She can earn up to £195 a week alongside carers allowance. If someone on PIP claims carers allowance then they should make sure the caring they do does not contradict the reasons they claim PIP, not that anyone ever checks. Son could claim carers on the basis of supervision etc if applicable.

Another issue they should consider is whether the dad is getting pension credit because he would lose his severe disability premium on pension credit if they move in with him and/ or someone claims carers allowance for looking after him. As the dad has dementia and is in receipt of Attendance Allowance they should check with the council that he is getting the 25% severe mental impairment disregard/ discount on his council tax bill.

If this couple are without any income apart for PIP and have savings less than 16k then they should claim Universal credit or the wife could claim Contributions based JSA if she has sufficient Ni contributions. She could not claim this as well as carers as they are overlapping benefits.

Each council has it's own rules in relation to council tax rules,

huckster

Your best mate should be advised to contact local Citizens Advice.

I know you are trying to obtain some information online, however, Council Tax Reduction varies depending on local Council. And we don't know all of the information on your best mates family circumstances to offer advice that would be helpful.

By asking an online forum, you could inadvertently not be providing them with the best advice, as it not tailored advice taking into account all information.

Helpless50

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81959551#Comment_81959551

Thank you.

The dad doesn't get Pension credit as too much income and savings.

As for UC they have savings over £30,000 and they did enquire about it before.

Helpless50

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81959552#Comment_81959552

Thank you for you input and advice.

Blancmang25

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81959551#Comment_81959551

Re: dad with dementia;

Dad will be SMI(severely mentally impaired) due to Dementia as long as gp signs the form to confirm. He will be disregarded for council tax.

Daughter and partner can both be disregarded as carers for dad as long as they both provide care for at least 35 hours a week. They do not need to claim carers allowance and if the daughter goes to work she will still be disregarded.

That means all adults in the property are disregarded and there will be a 50% reduction on council tax.

Helpless50

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81959919#Comment_81959919

Thanks for the reply.

I have updated my OP due to him not having Dementia but a stroke last year.

Helpless50

Please see my updated OP about the dads conditions