Direct payments

starbuck

Hi, my husband has been waiting over 3 years for his direct payments application to be sorted. Over that time everyone involved with him has said how wonderful it will be when he gets a p.a. which to be honest was starting to annoy me when we'd ask the neuro specialists for help with his mental health and they'd say " oh let's wait until you have a p.a. and then see as you probably won't need any other help", as if the p.a. would be the cure to all his problems.
Now we finally have 10 hours for him and have interviewed a few people and he started going out with a very nice lady two weeks ago. 
When we first asked about the logistics of direct payments we were told very little about how the scheme worked, just that my husband would be responsible for employing the p.a. and paying their wages, tax etc. We asked who paid the transport costs and the council worker we spoke to said the council paid it. We thought this was great as we live in a rural area and accessing any activities is expensive. One of my husband's support groups is a 36 mile round trip and the other is 24 miles. There is limited public transport where we live, so we thought it would be a godsend. 
We didn't really query them saying the council paid fuel costs as when our son was young and we lived in a different part of the country, he had a lady take him out for respite for us and all her costs were met by the council.
So my husband has been going out for 2 weeks and has paid for his p.a.'s entry to the groups and parking charges etc which is what we expected. Then last week she gave us her bill for fuel which came to £55. She asked if the council had told us we would have to pay the fuel costs and I said no, and she said the council have done us dirty by not giving us the right information.
I asked the council why we were told they would pay fuel costs and they said "I'm sorry if you were misinformed". 
My husband really wanted the p.a. to be able to take him out and give me some alone time as we're together 24/7 and haven't been apart for many years. When he was told fuel was paid he was so happy as he could attend his support groups which I can't take him to because I have other commitments looking after schoolkids and two other disabled adult kids and I always seem to be running someone somewhere for appointments. What I really need is to clone myself. 😆
I get that if I was running my husband to these activities each week I would have to pay fuel and entry prices etc. The council said we should be meeting these costs through my husband's pip payments, and a companion bus pass (which the council says he's not entitled to, he has a free bus pass  just for himself) and railcard. With a skeleton bus service that doesn't get him to his groups we have no choice but to use his p.a.'s car but we cannot afford any more than a trip to the local park with the cost of living at the moment. 
I know no-one can advise what to do but I just had to vent as I'm so cross that we were misled. 

Biblioklept

Vent away to your heart's content!! It sounds like so much red tape and bureaucracy for the sake of it and you and your husband suffer because of it  

Why did they say he can't have a companion bus pass? 

starbuck

When it was down to the council they said he had to have a severe mental disability or something like that so they would never give him one. The cards have been passed over to a different provider now though so I'll contact them and ask if they have a different criteria as he has tried to go on the bus on his own in the past and it's ended really badly.

Aardvark

Hello Starbuck

I have been using Direct Payments for 10+ years.

A long time ago they did include mileage and carer expenses as part of the direct payment.  This was all changed to be up to us to pay.. i think in 2014ish with the new care act.  Whoever advised you is way out of date.

Companion bus pass - i get one the criteria here is to do with how many points in the mobilising section of PIP (they dont include points from planning a journey).  But There are other ways, a GP supporting letter may help?    That wont solve the problem with lack of buses though.

Have a look and see if there are any voluntary driver schemes locally to you eg LINK.  these are donation based and a charity.  Although since covid high demand and lacking drivers here.  

I pay 45p a mile for my PAs to take me out. This comes from my own money.

Do you contribute to his care costs under a financial assesment.  If so save all your reciepts for PA entrance, and anything he buys due to his disability that someone on a low income with good health wouldnt buy.  These can be submitted to reduce your care contribution under Disability Related Expenses, but it can be a fight. 

PAs for me make things so much better 

poppy123456

In 2017 when my daughters PA started our LA at the time, did pay some mileage but not all. When we moved LA's they didn't pay any mileage at all.

For the disabled bus pass in my LA a PIP/DLA award doesn't automatically entitle you to one. If a person has a learning disability and are unable to travel alone, they can apply for a bus pass and then exchange it for a companion one. All i needed was proof of her learning disability.

starbuck

Thanks all. We've had a chat with the pa and they said they'll reduce the cost of the fuel as they think 45p a mile is way too much to be charging. I can't believe how things have changed since our kids were little - there was no such thing as direct payments then; they just sent someone out and if you didn't get on with them they tried someone else.

Biblioklept

starbuck said:

Thanks all. We've had a chat with the pa and they said they'll reduce the cost of the fuel as they think 45p a mile is way too much to be charging. I can't believe how things have changed since our kids were little - there was no such thing as direct payments then; they just sent someone out and if you didn't get on with them they tried someone else.

Honestly that's how I thought it still worked! This stuff is so complicated and I worry for those trying to navigate it.  

Siwheels73

Hi @starbuck. Most companies only charge a maximum of 25p per mile, so I would say that 45p is very much above the norm, even in these days of rising costs.