Benefits Change Help — Scope | Disability forum
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Benefits Change Help

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mmc1978
mmc1978 Community member Posts: 8 Listener
in Benefits and financial support
Hi

I am writing on behalf of my dad who I am now trying to help ensure he gets his correct entitlements.  My mum passed away on 18th April and now it's time to sort out my dad's benefits.  Can anyone help if I give his circumstances:

Aged 73
Gets Attendance Allowance £92.40
State Pension
No private pensions/income

To now they had a joint pension  credit claim and both claimed Carers Allowance which needs reassed and no CA

His Pension Credit claim will become a single claim.  Is there any benefit (to him) if someone claims Carers Allowance to look after him or is it better not to have this claimed?

My sister has offered to come live with him, she is on PIP, if she does should she claim Carers for looking after him and indeed would there be any benefit (to either of them)?  My dad could claim Carers Allowance for her, is there any benefit in this?  Is it better for him from a benefits perspective financially to live alone?

Sorry for all the questions but I/we are all over the place at the minute trying to deal with all this and to do the right thing.


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  • woodbine
    woodbine Community member Posts: 11,631 Disability Gamechanger
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    Good morning, it will help if we know how much SRP he gets, very sorry for your recent loss.
    2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡

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  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 54,056 Disability Gamechanger
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    Sorry for your loss. Whether he lives alone or they live together he would be able to claim Severe disability premium because they both claim a qualifying disability benefit. If she claims carers allowance for looking after him then he won't be able to claim the SDP. It's claimed with pension credit, so once he reports the changes to them then he'll be able to claim this.
    If your sister claims any of the old legacy benefits such as Income Support, Income Related ESA or JSA then she will also be able entitled to the Severe disability Premium. If she's claiming Universal Credit then there's no disability premiums payable with this.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
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  • mmc1978
    mmc1978 Community member Posts: 8 Listener
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    Thank you both so much for responding.

    My sister is getting UC.  I think the best thing is that she does not live with him.  Should they claim Carers Allowance or not?

    So he would be living alone and and iro basic state pension, attendance allowance at £92.40 and then also he would get Pension Credit?  I'm not certain how much state pension he gets but it would be the the most amount applicable I think so I assume £141.85
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  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 54,056 Disability Gamechanger
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    Living with hm will not affect any of their benefits. If she claims carers allowance it will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement. If her UC includes the LCWRA element for herself then she won't be able to claim the Carers element at the same time.
    As previously advised, he will be entitled to the Severe disability Premium which is paid through pension credit. If someone claims carers allowance or carers element of UC for looking after him then he won't be able to claim the SDP. Which will mean financially, he'll be worse off.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
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  • calcotti
    calcotti Community member Posts: 10,010 Disability Gamechanger
    edited May 2022
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    Following assumes that your sister's PIP includes the Daily Living component. If it doesn't dad cannot claim CA for looking after her and her presence with him would exclude him from SDP. However if she does get DL -

    It is likely that he is better off if she does not claim Carer's Allowance for looking after him because if she doesn't he can get the SDP in his Pension Credit. However it depends how much his pension income is.

    If he claims Carer's Allowance for looking after her he will also get the carer premium in the Pension Credit calculation. He will not actually be paid CA because it is classed as an overlapping benefit with State Pension (assuming the SP is more than £69.70/week). Because he will not be receiving CA your sister would still be entitled to SDP in her income based legacy benefits if applicable.

    He will not be worse off financially if she lives with him.
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK.
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  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 54,056 Disability Gamechanger
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    calcotti said:
     Because he will not be receiving CA your sister would still be entitled to SDP in her income based legacy benefits if applicable.

    She claims UC..
    mmc1978 said:

    My sister is getting UC.

    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
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  • mmc1978
    mmc1978 Community member Posts: 8 Listener
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    Again thank you all.  So best scenario seems to be live alone:

    State Pension
    Attendance Allowance 
    Pension Credit with SDP
    No Carers Allowance claimed

    I think this would work for him.  I just need to make sure he is getting what he needs as my mum dealt with all their finances until now.
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  • calcotti
    calcotti Community member Posts: 10,010 Disability Gamechanger
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    poppy123456 said:
    She claims UC..
    mmc1978 said:

    My sister is getting UC.

    Thanks poppy, I think that went up after I'd opened the thread (got distracted while i was doing my post).
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK.
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  • calcotti
    calcotti Community member Posts: 10,010 Disability Gamechanger
    edited May 2022
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    mmc1978 said:
    Again thank you all.  So best scenario seems to be live alone:

    State Pension
    Attendance Allowance 
    Pension Credit with SDP
    No Carers Allowance claimed

    I think this would work for him.  I just need to make sure he is getting what he needs as my mum dealt with all their finances until now.
    That is not the conclusion and is not what has been advised.

    As explained, if she gets Daily Living PIP his benefits are not affected if she lives with him. 

    Similarly if she lives with him her benefits are not affected (except that she will obviously no longer be entitled to claim help with rent if she gets it where she currently lives).

    If he were to claim Carer's Allowance for looking after her (if she gets daily Living PIP) he would get Pension Credit with SDP and carer premium (but it would not affect her benefits as he would not be paid CA).

    She should not claim Carer's Allowance or the carer element of UC for looking after him.
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK.
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  • mmc1978
    mmc1978 Community member Posts: 8 Listener
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    Sorry, heads a bit over the place.  Thanks.  

    I will get it all in order.
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  • L_Volunteer
    L_Volunteer Community Volunteer Adviser, Scope Member Posts: 7,978 Disability Gamechanger
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    Please don't be sorry @mmc1978. We understand that these things are difficult and can be confusing and overwhelming.

    How are you in general at the moment? If you need any further clarification or have any follow-up questions, please don't hesitate to let us know. 

    We are here for you. You don't have to face this, or anything else, alone if you don't want to  :)
    Community Volunteer Adviser with professional knowledge of education, special educational needs and disabilities and EHCP's. Pronouns: She/her. 

    Please note: if I use the online community outside of its hours of administration, I am doing so in a personal capacity only.
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  • calcotti
    calcotti Community member Posts: 10,010 Disability Gamechanger
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    mmc1978 said:
    Sorry, heads a bit over the place.  Thanks.  
    No need to apologise. You will be dealing with a lot at the moment. First thing is to get your dad's stuff sorted out. He and your sister can take time to think what works best for them both (finances are only one consideration).

    In the short term, assuming he was already getting Pension Credit, you simply need to contact Pension Credit and let them know he is now living alone and that he gets AA and that nobody claims Carer's Allowance or the carer element for looking after him. He needs to be with you when you ring. They will then recalculate his entitlement. 
    Information I post is for England unless otherwise stated. Rules may be different in other parts of UK.
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