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Carers Allowance
- weasley
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I have just had my world blown apart, I suffer considerable mental heath problems (Bipolar,Self-Harming, PTSD to name a few.
I have had a carer for the last 4 years, she is my guardian angel. She cooks for me, cleans, administrates my drugs, etc etc, 7 days a week.
She has been written to my the DWP that because she is now pensionable age and receives a private pension from her former employer, she is no longer able to claim Carers Allowance
When she phoned them and asked what happens to me, they just said, we can't help with that!!!
Is there anything I can do? It is a disgrace that my access to a reasonable life has now been cut off, the DWP have not even contacted me to advise, can they do this and leave me and other seriously disabled people face down on the ground! Thank you kindly.
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- Gordon
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Catfishman wrote: Hi All,
I have just had my world blown apart, I suffer considerable mental heath problems (Bipolar,Self-Harming, PTSD to name a few.
I have had a carer for the last 4 years, she is my guardian angel. She cooks for me, cleans, administrates my drugs, etc etc, 7 days a week.
She has been written to my the DWP that because she is now pensionable age and receives a private pension from her former employer, she is no longer able to claim Carers Allowance
When she phoned them and asked what happens to me, they just said, we can't help with that!!!
Is there anything I can do? It is a disgrace that my access to a reasonable life has now been cut off, the DWP have not even contacted me to advise, can they do this and leave me and other seriously disabled people face down on the ground! Thank you kindly.
I'm afraid that Carers Allowance and the State Pension are classed as overlapping benefit and only the one with the highest payment will actually be paid, this is normally the State Pension.
There is no way around this.
Workarounds are;
If your carer is eligible for Pension Credits then they can receive a Carers Addition, however this is only about half what they would receive with CA.
You can use your disability benefit to pay them directly although the may be issues with tax, NI, etc, with you doing this.
Obviously you can try and find another carer, although I do appreciate the difficulty you might have with doing this.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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- weasley
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- Posts: 62
This is why I subscribe to this site, expert advice. Thank you.
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