Disability related expenditure advice.

BiscuitBiscuit

Hi everyone,

Tomorrow I have a financial assessment to calculate my contribution towards my direct payments.

I don't own any property or have any savings or anything.

I am autistic, and I have strict eating habits, due to my eating routine and sensory issues with food, the food I buy is more expensive than what another person without my sensory issues would spend so I am wondering if they will allow that?

Rosie_Scope

Hi @BiscuitBiscuit, I'm afraid I'm not too sure on this myself, but I hope some of our community might be able to offer their experiences before tomorrow. How are you feeling about the assessment?

If you feel up to it, it may just be worth discussing this with them to see if they can take it into account. I'm sure they will have come across similar situations before, so hopefully they can tell you how it all works.

Hope it all goes well ☺️

BiscuitBiscuit

Hi Rosie,

I am really quite anxious about it, but my friend is with me, so she is really very good at helping me get through these things, it's difficult because I don't know what to expect.

I'll be happier when the direct payments are just set up and it's all up and running and hopefully I'll understand the whole process more.

I wonder how long it will take to set the direct payments up after tomorrows assessment.

Rosie_Scope

I'm glad to hear you've got a friend to help support you @BiscuitBiscuit, it sounds like she's really helpful. But it's understandable that you're feeling worried about it, it's a whole new experience and that can be really daunting.

Perhaps you could ask tomorrow how long the process will take? Or if you're not sure if you'll feel up to talking about things, maybe you could write down or discuss with your friend some of the questions you'd like to ask. Then if you feel overwhelmed or can't manage it, she can ask things on your behalf.

BiscuitBiscuit

I will definitely do that, all this is so new to me, I will update here tomorrow with how it all goes.

BiscuitBiscuit

Good afternoon,

My financial assessment went pretty well, she said that my weekly contribution is going to be about £26 per week, the only thing is though is that she didn't ask me for any disability related expenditure.

My local authority seem to have an online form thing that I can fill out, but I'm just a little bit confused about it.

So I believe my LA allow me to have £17 DRE, but they also allow me around £160 I believe in the MIG, so when I am working out my actual weekly outgoings, what should I be doing? I am a little confused about it all.