please sign this petition for carers

bonniethemadcat

I work in care so obvioulsy get paid to do it but I know that the care relatives give at home saves this government billions! Therefore the pittance given to carers is a disgrace and for this reason I have signed the petition.

Bonnie

aurora_borealis_2

I don't get paid to care because I earn too much.

Harrumph.

CelticStar

advent1122 wrote: »

Don't you also get disability benefit?
I will be honest, my wife is disabled and the amount of benefits she get's is embarrassing. DLA, Incapacity Benefit, Industrial Injuries Benefit.
It is around £900 a month.
So be honest about how much allowances you get rather than say "I only get £50 a week"

Your wife must be in the minority then because it is extremely difficult to get disability benefits - especially DLA - unless you have very particular (and usually very visible) disabilities.

I have signed the petition OP.

calleyw

mspig wrote: »

We also can not work even for one day on carers allowance or they take all the carers allowance of us,

Not strictly true you can earn up to £95 a week after deductions. Before it effects CA.

Also DLA can be used for anything. It clearly states that you can get DLA (adults at least)even if you don't get the help that they are paying you for.

I have read on these forums about someone who is blind earns £100K + a year and uses their DLA as beer money.

DLA is to help pay for the extras that are needed because they are disabled. e.g extra bedding or a new washing because of extra needs of washing clothes etc. What you suggests means that you could not buy a new washing machine using DLA because it benefits the whole family. Which I don't believe is true.

That is like saying people who are JSA/IB etc can't drink or smoke. Once the benefit is your bank account you can do what you like with it.

Being a carer is not easy. I care for my husband but have no choice to work as we would not get any help as we have a mortgage and some savings. And for some reason my husband only gets lower rate care. Even though he is not able to bathe alone and can't prepare a meal. And personally I don't feel that he is 100% safe left on his own.

Of course you can't get income support you have to much income, Incapacity Benefit is for adults who can't work because of illness or disability.

If your husband earns as little as you suggest I would look again at apply for help with council tax and housing benefit.



All the best.

Yours


Calley

glossgal

Carers Allowance is a pittance-not even minimum wage-but I don't agree that people should be able to make multiple claims. Think about it-you could have disabled children, a disabled partner, a disabled parent, neighbour etc etc where does it end??

Also re; DLA, it's not supposed to be compensation for having a disability it is intended for coping with the extra costs a disabiliTy incurs eg travel costs to hospital, taxi fares, extra bedding etc. It irks me a bit tbh when people complain about the overall amount and treat it like any other income. You are not supposed to be living off the DLA!

Grooveisintheheart

Signed the petition and sending my support to the original poster. My daughter (who died this January aged 18 months) had profound multiple disabilities and the experience brought home to me just what is involved in being a carer.

Surely as well its just common sense that caring for two (or more) people is more work than caring for one person, therefore don't see the problem with multiple claims.

wornoutmumoftwo

I get DLA middle care and lower mobility for my son who is 5 and has suspected Autistic spectrum disorder, I also get the increased amount of Child Tax credit that is avaliable to a child registered for DLA.

I do not get carers allowance but have signed the petition as I do believe carers should get more help.

glossgal

Does having more than one disabled child mean extra costs? Absolutely and that's why you can claim DLA for two children. I just think multiple Carers claims are stretching it a little, not because carers don't deserve it but because that system is open to abuse just as the old Carers Allowance system was a few years back. It was not uncommon then (when the person being cared for didn't have to sign the form) for people to be claiming for their neighbours, distant auntie etc when they weren't so much as lifting a finger! On a more practical level, you are declaring yourself as 'working' a 35 hour week when claiming Carers and I don't think its plausible to declare you are working a 70 hour week or a 105 week etc. Its just not workable as a benefit system, I would much rather sign a petition to increase the alowance to a decent respectable level.

Re: DLA, what I meant was people who say eg 'my DLA is only £300per month' without any reference to why its not enough. They just see the figure and forget what its supposed to be for.