Attendance Allowance / Pip : Paid By The Caree To The Family Carer ?

WorksopChris

Straight off the Carers UK forum... an conundrum ?

Posted on here to see if this " issue " is , indeed , a greyer than the usual grey area.

Yet another grey area that has no legal answer ... so far ... over 10 sources checked ... none specify what a careee can or cannot do with these monies.

Many readers carees will be in receipt of AA ( If over state retirement age ) and PIP ( New money benefit for those under the state retirement age ).

Both benefits are paid to the caree for use in " Obtaining additional care support " ... confirmed by numerous sources including the Government's own site !!!

After rereading several threads , a fair number of readers assume that these monies can be safely passed over from the caree to the carer ... as additional income to the carer ... almost to a carer , informally.

During my time as a lone carer , all monies coming in to my caree and myself went into one pot , and all expenses paid out of the same pot ... a partnership arrangement which is exactly the true state of affairs in my caring situation.

That arrangement would have had all agencies screaming " You can't do that , the system wouldn't cope ! "

Question ... and considering the grey area exposed when examing Direct Patments and the use of family carers , do any readers actually declare payments received through AA / PIP on their tax returns ?

Direct payments thread :

https://www.carersuk.org/forum/support- ... care-30902

Would receiving AA / PIP originated monies also impact on that carer's current range of benefits ... including those juggling working with caring ?

If DP's are paid to the caree on the basis that they will NOT " Employ " family carers ... thus changing the caree / carer relationship to one of employee / employer ... should the same criteria apply with AA / PIP ?

Obviously , most readers will ignore this deduction and carry on whatever arrangement regardless ... I would second that practice BUT ... there is a question mark however valid which is NOT covered by law.

Scaremongering or not ... this is a grey area ... just how " Grey " is it ?

WorksopChris

There IS a direct connection between the use of Direct Payments to pay a family member and the use of either AA or PIP to do the same.

Both change the relationship between the carer and caree ... as confirmed by law .... to one of employer and employee ... the very thing that opens up a whole hornets nest.

In CarerLand , a family carer cares for their caree.

With 6.5 million+ carers , that implies a minimum of 6.5+ million carees needing care alone.

That's the " Grey area " that both carers and their carees need to have clarfied ... what is allowed and what isn't !

WorksopChris

I would add that a couple of cases involving powers of attorney ( Squabbling siblings ) and use of monies paid out the caree ... and an LA's investigation into monies gifted over the years by a caree ... have prompted the investigation into this Issue.

WorksopChris

That is precisely it ... there is no legal guidance on the use of monies received from AA / PIP to " Pay " a family carer ... in practice , many carees may hand some / all of these monies over to the family carer informally.

Even gifting these monies has knock on effects for the carer.

Consider a caree , in receipt of Direct Payments and , for once , being told that these monies cannot be used to employ a family carer to care.

At the same time , said caree receives monies from AA / PIP which is intended to help support that caree by buying in support services ( Government web site ) ... nowhere does if it cover the situation of that caree merely handing over those monies to the carer.

It would be somewhat inconsistent if one Goverment agency hands over monies with strings attached but the other doesn;t when both sets of payment are essential meant for the same purpose ?

I have approached this Issue from the carer's perspective as it could impact on hundreds of thousands IF it is demned that AA / PIP monies cannot go the family carer.

No case law exists , nor do the conditions attached to AA / PIP either preclude or exclude the family carer receiving these monies ... and the potential knock on effect with other agencies.

WorksopChris

Thanks Mike ... some interesting thoughts.

I can do little more other than to post your reply within the thread on Carers UK ... sit back ... and await any further comments from the readers ... who are mainly carers.

WorksopChris

No problem ... URL of this thread is available unfer the Carers UK thread.

If any readers from Carers UK want to read this thread , the opportunity is there.