Disability Living Allowance & Mobility

lil_me

dawn78 wrote: »

my worry was being financially worse off through claiming, as he is 8 and i have never claimed for this before, but to be honest i never knew he was entitled, so rightfully my money should go up rather than down then??

think that person made me panic to think my income support stops because i will get carers allowance for my son

You won't be worse off, stop panicing, go and get advice somewhere properly instead of confusing yourself even more. From what you have said you haven't applied for Carers Allowance yet anyway. http://www.carers.org/local/ that is the link for the Princes Trust Carers Centres, click for details of the one in your area, call them and ask them to help explain things. Or as suggested contact Welfare Rights.

dawn78

Hippygirl wrote: »

This is DLA. Your sister is right - you will get this in addition to your existing benefits. It is to help cover the additional costs e.g you may have to use your washing machine more often, buy special food, pay for occasional care.

ah right, see that is what i thought when she said, as was very happy as could at least take him out as it does get stressful lol but then was gutted thinking they give you say 60 pounds but then deduct 60 from somewhere else

dawn78

lil_me wrote: »

You won't be worse off, stop panicing, go and get advice somewhere properly instead of confusing yourself even more. From what you have said you haven't applied for Carers Allowance yet anyway. http://www.carers.org/local/ that is the link for the Princes Trust Carers Centres, click for details of the one in your area, call them and ask them to help explain things. Or as suggested contact Welfare Rights.

it is starting to make more sense to me, i have to admit i have never read up on it or looked up on DLA as didnt think he would get it so didnt worry myself over it now he can have it i worry myself over it all lol

not sure whether i should claim carers allowance, i think the build up of the DLA confused me too as it mentioned carers allowance in it so i thought it was already in there with it

Hippygirl

It's all so complicated isn't it. But you will end up better off, so it is definitely worth doing. You will not lose Income Support.
Zzzlazydaisy is right - speaking to CAB or a welfare benefits advisor in person will help to explain everything - they can go through it all with you.

[Deleted User]

dawn78 wrote: »

yes i felt very lost when spoke to them, my son has severe learning and communicating and understanding problems, so he has been awarded lower rate mobility and medium rate Care component

when i spoke to income support they said my income support will stop as DLA is classed as a income so they will say, if my DLA is 50 a wk they will take 50 a wk off my income support? maybe i spoke to someone who didnt know what they was talking about but they did say whatever DLA he gets will lower my IS by same amount, i know i am confusing people here lol

who ever told you this is totally and utterly wrong.Unfortunately sometimes you just get unlucky with who you speak to and they give out incorrect information,its happened to me a number of times.
Please get back onto them and ask them to explain why a dla claim for your son will lower or stop your I/S,if they still insist they are correct ask them to confirm it in writing then get some advice from CAB or welfare rights

dawn78

yes have to admit it has confused me soooo much lol

i thought through speaking to my sister, that my usual money will stop as normal and i will just gain the extra 64 a week on top but when IS said that i gain the 64 but they take that back i was gutted lol

lil_me

Basics of it are, YOUR SON (not you) is entitled to Lower Rate Mobility and Middle Rate Care DLA. Noone touches that.

You are now entitled to apply for Carers Allowance but MUST do this seperately, it's not automatic. Carers Allowance is NOT DLA. (They can only backdate something like 3 months so apply ASAP you can do it online using the link on the site I posted)

After applying for Carers Allowance you will receive £50.55 Carers Allowance. Your Income Support will be what you get now, plus £27.15 Carers Premium minus the £50.55. Easier for you to work that out. (But as a rough guide- You said £51 IS you get now so at a guess you would still get about £27 IS and the £50.55 Carers Allowance)

Your CTC will have a DISABLED CHILD PREMIUM added. (If you claim CTC)

Your HB/CTB will not be effected.

You will be more better off than your sister has stated once it's all sorted (easy to add up by how much, your sons DLA, plus the disabled child premium, plus the carers premium so that's a fair bit more than £60 per week )

zzzLazyDaisy

Take a deep breath..... and start thinking happy thoughts of what you can do for your son with the extra money.

You WILL be better off.

Once the money starts coming through regularly, you will be able to see for yourself.

Those of us who claim DLA know how stressful the process is - and yes, it is difficult to believe that you are actually going to have that extra money coming in.

But try to relax. Try and see someone who can advise you properly and make sure you are getting everything else you are entitled to.

But the bottom line is, you WILL be better off. Honest :T

dawn78

at least can take him on days out to get reward him for good behaviour at school as he has started to be naughty and walk out as he is aware of not being able to learn

so right, if i claim carers for me will i not lose my IS or will that drop to the 27? im gettin most of this info you are all kindly givin me now just this last bit lol

lil_me

It'll drop to the £27 ish but you will get the Carers Allowance ASWELL.


There will be the £27 odd better off when you claim Carers Allowance

Then of course add that to the DLA award

Then the CTC increase (ring them again just to make sure they have added the disabled child premium, you might need to send a copy of the award letter)

a disabled child element ( £2540) - for each child within the family on disability living allowance (DLA) or who is registered blind;