Hi Everyone

My Mum has recently been in a car accident and is currently off sick, but she has had MS and back problems in the past and as a result of the accident her symptoms for her existing conditions, which were previously manageable have now meant that she may be off sick for longer than originally anticipated (for the accident itself.)

My question is she only works part time in a small shop and they offer no sick pay, she also has no private health insurance scheme so I am trying to find out what she would be entitled to benefits wise but all the calculators I can find tend to work on the premise that you are already on benefits generally, but may be entitled to more.

So I was wondering if anyone has come across a calculator that shows you what you might be entitled to if you became sick and unable to work. She is currently 58 and her only other income is a company pension from a previous job of £400 monthly. She is due to retire at 60 anyway so really is just trying to survive until then when hopefully she will get her state pension.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Bunny

See the thread I posted Benefits Adviser

Thanks - I did try entitled to yesterday but it doesnt let you enter the information you need to if you are not yet claiming benefits.

Benefits Advisor is better, but doesn't ask about any other income - where I would have entered my Mum's company pension, so I'm still not sure if this would affect her entitlement to benefits or not.

Thanks anyway

If you ring the Benefits Enquiry Line (BEL) on 0800 882200 and explain the situation, they will be able to advise you what benefits she may be entitled to.

If she's not on Disability Living Allowance, then with her recent accident and having MS,
she should qualify. DLA isn't means-tested so the fact that she has £400 per month pension from a previous job doesn't matter.

Normally if someone goes sick their employer should pay them Statutory Sick Pay for the first 28 weeks.

Check out the legal position with BEL.