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Long term sickness

KarenA

My sister has been unable to work for the last 6 years due to severe ulceration of both legs. She didnt claim sick benefit because her husband is still working. She has had to give up work completely now and is unable to leave her bed. Because she didnt claim any benefits, her pension will be reduced unless she makes additional payments.
Her husband, also her carer ,is ill himself and on a 4 day week. I am applying for pip on her behalf but this w ill be the only benefit she gets. Is there any way in which she can claim additional support now. She has several years before she reaches pensionable age. They are short of funds as husband doesnt earn a great deal.

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Comments

Cher_Alumni

Hello @KarenA

I am sorry your sister is going through this difficult time. I can imagine that is really stressful and a lot to cope with.

Your sister might find it useful to use Scope's benefits calculator to find out which benefits she is eligible to. Please keep us updated with how she gets on

KarenA

Thank you. . I'll have a look at this

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community, using the benefits calculator is the best way as you can enter all the required info/

It is hard to advise on here what she may be entitled to as we dont know all the details which are taken into account

poppy123456

HI and welcome,

Use a benefits calculator to check entitlement to Universal Credit. Whether they;ll be entitled to anything will depend on their joint circumstances. UC is a means tested benefit and they will need to claim as a couple. If they have asavings/capital of £16,000 and over they will be excluded from claiming.

If they are claiming tax credits a claim for UC will end that claim and they won't be able to go back.

As she has a limited capability for work, if they claim UC then she will need a fit note from her GP to start the limited capability for work.

If they're not entitled to any UC then a claim for New style ESA for NI credits only maybe possible. She won't receive any payments though because of lack of NI contributions from working in the previous 2 years.

Hope this helps.

KarenA

Thank you Poppy, that's very helpful. I think that might be a way forward for her.

poppy123456

You're welcome. I note that you said her, Universal Credit is means tested which means they must claim as couple. They need to use a benefits calculator to check entitlement before they start a claim because it will be pointless starting one, if they're not entitled to anything.

If her husband has a diability that impacts his daily life then he should also look into claiming PIP for himself.

You also say that you're applying for PIP for your sister. If you haven't already filled in those forms then when you do, i'd advise you to put as much information as possible about how her conditions affect her. Then add a couple of real life examples of what happened the last time she attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies to her.

Medical evidence is only useful if it states how her conditions affect her and most medical evidence doesn't state this. It will only ever state the basics.

KarenA

I'm trying to put in as much information as I can. She cant leave her bed at all so she has to have a great deal of help. The biggest score would seem to be that she cant prepare food or drinks for herself, but all the descriptors seem to be more related to people who might not have capacity to do that. Whereas she cannot physically move to do anything. It's been years since she has been able to do so. Husband has heart condition and diabetes so not sure that he can claim pip?

poppy123456

The descriptors are definitely not aimed purely at people who don't have the capacity to do them. I certainly have capacity and i claim Standard daily living and Enhanced mobility.

Her husband, whether he's entitled will depends on how his conditions affect him. PIP isn't awarded based on any diagnosis.

Have a good read of this and it may give you more of an understanding of the PIP descriptors and what they mean.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria

Do be aware though that before Covid19 most people had face to face assessments. As they are still suspended, telephone assessments have taken their place and most people have them, so she maybe one of them.

KarenA

Thanks Poppy

Adrian_Scope

Hi @KarenA. I just wanted to say how nice it is of you to help your sister out and look into all of this for her. The benefit system can be quite confusing so if you need any further help or have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

KarenA

Thanks Adrian. I did want to know if it's possible to keep claiming Pip after her official retirement age? She is only a few years off . Also husband cant claim carers allowance as they cant afford for him to reduce his hours. Is attendance allowance paid instead of carers allowance after retirement age or does it replace PIP? Thank you for your time. Sister in too much pain to deal with this at the moment.

poppy123456

KarenA said:

Thanks Adrian. I did want to know if it's possible to keep claiming Pip after her official retirement age? She is only a few years off . Also husband cant claim carers allowance as they cant afford for him to reduce his hours. Is attendance allowance paid instead of carers allowance after retirement age or does it replace PIP? Thank you for your time. Sister in too much pain to deal with this at the moment.

An existing award of PIP will carry on after state pension age for as long as she remains entitled to it.

Attendance Allowance is not the same as Carers allowance, it's a disability benefit that people claim form state pension age and above if they don't have a PIP award.

Carers allowance can still be claimed after state pension age but he won't be able to receive any payments, he will have an underlying entitlement to it which could increase other benefits or make them entitled to them.

KarenA

Thanks again Poppy for all your help.

poppy123456

You're welcome.

KarenA

Because my sister is so I'll, she cant face filling in the forms to claim PIP. It's taken me years to persuade her to claim and to let me fill in all the paperwork for her. The DWP wouldnt let me deal with her claim unless we were both together on the phone , even though I live 4 hours drive away from her. She we felt if she were to write in and request the forms but ask that they be sent to me as her representative at my address. It took several months for her to even do this, despite me typing her a letter and enclosing a stamped address envelope. She finally sent it on 16 June. Several months later, they still hadn't actioned it and initially denied receiving it. They did look again and realised they received it on 18th June.
Although we gave them all the information you would give over the phone, they insisted that they would have to send out a form for her to fill in to request the pip claim forms.

They changed their minds and sent the whole 33 page claim form out to her for return by 25th September saying she had to sign it.
I am now faced with an 8 hour round trip to fill in the form at her bedside, get it signed so that I can then send it off in time for third 25th September deadline. I am going on Monday.
I wondered if anyone knows what we have to do for her to nominate me as her appointee as putting the request in writing, signed by herself, doesnt seem to be enough. She cant even bring herself to look at the form. Surely she is allowed to nominate someone to help her? Her husband cant do it as he struggles with forms due to dyslexia.

poppy123456

To become an appointee for someone claiming benefits then they must be mentally incapable or severely disabled. Under normal circumstances a home visit would be needed for this but i don't know what would happen now because of Covid. A phone to DWP needs to be made to start this process of though. See link. https://www.gov.uk/become-appointee-for-someone-claiming-benefits

You will also need to have her PIP money go into a bank account in your name and then you'll be solely responsibile for her benefit claim, which will include reporting changes and receiving all letters.

You can also ring DWP to request extra time to return the PIP form, which they will be happy to do.

Becoming an appointee for her will not include her UC claim, if she's claiming this now.

KarenA

Ok. Thanks Poppy. I'll just have to suck up the long drives then back and forth with forms.

poppy123456

While you're there with her, you could also ring DWP to just ask if it's possible that you can deal with the phone calls on her behalf? Providing she agrees to this then i can see there being any problems and all you can do is ask. Although for this, any forms/letters sent out will go to her and not you.

May i ask how she will manage if an assessment is needed for the PIP claim? Paper based assessments are very rare. Before Covid face to face assessments were the normal but now because they are suspended then telephone assessments have replaced them.

Did she claim Universal Credit with a fit note? If so then the same applies to the work capability assessment for this. Although if a decision can't be made by the telephone assessment then they will wait until face to face assessments are back up and running again.

KarenA

She cant claim universal credit as her husband works. I cant begin to imagine how she will manage a phone call assessment. The only thing I can think to do is ask that I be there with her for the phone call. She couldnt go to them because she cant physically leave her bed, let alone ber house. I was hoping that if she got pip, she could eventually get a power chair when she is well enough so she could at least move around the house.

poppy123456

Have you used a benefits calculator as advised in a previous comment of mine? Just because her husband works, it doesn't mean they're not entitled to any UC. It depends on how much he earns each month and what their maximum entitlement is. People claim UC and work, if they're on low income.

Before Covid home assessment were possible. Could her husband be there for the phone call assessment, if needed? Although a successful claim can potentially take several months so the assessment may not happen very quickly.