Attendance Allowance fraud?

Many disabled people over 65 need help but can't claim AA as they don't need help with personal care and therefore don't qualify for this allowance.
Why can't over 65s claim PIP? That in my opinion is a major problem. Especially as retirement age has risen.

Thankyou Monica and Marydoll. I dont think we should be making the lives of those with disabilities more stressful by making judgements about them. Or just being nosy about them.
I do worry about the unintended consequences of this pandemic for example, the whole 'why arent they wearing a mask' etc. A demanding to know why people are exempt etc. I worry about the culture we may create and it will be people will disabilities who will be at the sharp end of it.

Monica, an excellent post! There are posters here, who have no conception of living with disability or chronic illness. As as been said, many disabilities are hidden.

Let me give you a couple of examples. Yesterday, it took two me two hours to wash and dry my hair, due to my RA and heart failure. I was exhausted. Attendance allowance or PIP could have paid for a visit to the hairdresser.
I can't cut my toenails, DH does it ( badly). He often nicks my toes and as I'm on blood thinners, its not a good scenario. ? Attendance allowance could fund a trip to a podiatrist, if it was allowed.

Both would have been beneficial for both my physical and mental health. Walk in my shoes, as they say.

In all the years I acted as a Benefits Advisor, I never came across any fraud.

AA goes nowhere towards paying for the kind of help people need, which for many is somone standing outside their door all day, waiting to come in at a second's notice to give the help they need. If they spend it all on a carer it will barely buy half an hour's care in total - that is if you can find a carer, they can be as rare as hen's teeth.

The other point many are ignoring is that AA is given to support mental care as well as physical and many of the things that some posters are being so censorious about are activities that support the mental health of the recipient.

I had a client living alone who could not leave the house except by taxi. She got out once a week to meet other people at a social club, except if she had a medical appointment, and had a taxi, she couldn't afford a taxi for the social group as well - as her medical appointments became more regular, and she rarely got to the social club she was getting lonely and depressed. AA meant she could have 2 or 3 taxis a week and keep her limited social contact.

AA cannot alleviate pain, cannot help someone renew their previous life, cannot pay for the amount of care someone actuaally needs, but it can provide little comforts and pleasures that help alleviate the painful, lonely and limited life many disabled people live.

It can also be used to buy convenience foods based or meals on wheels.

lemsip nobody was complaining in the Village, the Church ladies provided the care willingly,
Without Village ‘do gooders’ the lady would have been in a home, so no need to make snide remarks.
Maybe if the son hadn’t bragged whilst he was in the pub that he was spending his mother’s allowance, nothing would have been said. As it was they all sighed and just carried on helping her.

biba70

of course- but all the same, makes no sense for it not to have to pay for support- which the many forms filled prove it is required for good reasons. If it is not for support to help with the said reasons, carefully stated and confirmed by doctor- then just give it to everybody then, for tipple, nails, bingo, whatever. I would never report someone, but it makes no sense.

AA is awarded if a person can't cope with looking after themselves independently or has mobility needs. The only fraud would be if the person has lied about his/her needs.

If, for example, a person has mobility needs but has a kind friend or relative who provides a taxi service for free, why shouldn't the person use the money to pay for a treat or two?

It's not defrauding the taxpayer because he/she could use it legitimately to pay for taxis. It's a way of supporting those with disabilities and - goodness knows - they get little enough help. Means testing AA would not only cause admin costs, but would mean those just over any threshold would lose out - as they do so often.

I too find it strange that it is not means tested and can be used for whatever you like. I wasn't aware of that. I think the OP only wanted to know. And if you think a fraud has been perpetrated on the government ( i.e us ) then yes it is your business. Only sometimes people get it wrong. OP doesn't deserve to be castigated for asking the question. Now she has the answer she doesn't need to worry. And we are all a bit wiser.

I get where Ninogran is coming from. If an allowance is paid for help with personal care one would expect it would have to be used for that. And that's why she thought it was fraud. And if it was fraud it would be the taxpayers business.
But it can actually be used for any purpose.
There is no benefit for over 65s to claim for help apart from AA and that is the problem. If you have been receiving DLA you can continue to get it once you reach 65 but you can't claim it after 65. Which is utterly ridiculous and discriminatory. So good luck to anyone who needs help and qualifies for this small benefit.

as people get more infirm they are able to pay for carers to come in and people to shop etc.
the jobs Home Helps employed by social services used to do. before being axed ..

A friend of mine uses her Attendance Allowance to path for a gardener to come in and help her. Her garden is her pride and joy and gives her a huge amount of pleasure. Because she's so ill, she no longer has the physical strength to do it herself. Money well spent in my opinion.

''According to Citizens’ Advice ‘If you get Attendance Allowance, you can spend the money however you like.” Absolutely they can spend it on whatever they wish because, as has been pointed out by several previous posters, it is not a means tested benefit.

then just give it to everybody then, for tipple, nails, bingo, whatever If that's what gives them pleasure, what's wrong with that biba? Those who are eligible to receive Attendance Allowance have a life limiting medical condition that inhibits them from living their life to its fullest. So if they decide to spend their money on having their nails done, a bottle of whisky or a lovely relaxing 1 and a half hour massage, what of it? Having a beauty treatment is, as we all know, beneficial for the body and soul. Would you deny them that?

if people willingly volunteer to help a person then they shouldnt complain that they don't get paid! village dogooders who have a rota as commenter says they do. should mind there own business not talk about the person they say they help.

the person can afford to pay for help and for taxis to take them wherever they need to go.

DH receives the higher level of AA. I meet his care needs, with increasing difficulty, and paying for a cleaner and gardener takes some of the load off me. Seriously thinking about Netflix too, and if life ever gets more normal would like someone to care for him occasionally to give me a break. If I go under we are in terrible trouble, so using the AA to try to prevent that seems sensible. Don’t suppose Nonogran would approve of this way of thinking either.

some comments on here surprise me; more the sort of thing seen on MN.
the hidden extra costs of living with a disability are many and various.
and if the OP had simply googled AA she/he would have learned that it can be spent however suits the recipient, rather thn accusing him of fraud with no evidence whatsoever.
the person probably paid far more in taxes/NI than he will ever receive in AA.
i also have paid these for many years and am happy for it to go to those who are judged to need it, for them to use however they wish.

NanagranThere are such a lot people who have invisable disabilities such as heart disease/cancers/arthritis etc can you be sure your neighbour does not come under this banner,the poor man may be embarressed and coping as best he can on his own where is your empathy.

my partner who lives in is own house and only stays with me at the weekend has been diagnosed with heart failure, he has been told by his cardiac nurse to put in for AA but he can manage in the house just can't walk very far unless he takes a taxi, she said he can use it for anything he likes including taxis, fares for his daughter to come during the week with shopping or his grandsons bus fare for him.
it really is none of anybody elses business what he spends it on and is not for you to judge.

of course- but all the same, makes no sense for it not to have to pay for support- which the many forms filled prove it is required for good reasons. If it is not for support to help with the said reasons, carefully stated and confirmed by doctor- then just give it to everybody then, for tipple, nails, bingo, whatever. I would never report someone, but it makes no sense.

MawBe

CrazyH the recipient in question has presumably also paid taxes throughout his working life?

Exactly!

Yes and who on earth would begrudge that.

It does not have to be spent on care - it is based on proven care needs, but no-one can police how it is spent - it is simply not practical to do that.

However I think it is worth remembering that what might seem fripperies to someone in happy circumstances, might be the thing that keeps someone with care needs going - e.g. paying for Netflix, or a bottle of their favourite tipple.

CrazyH the recipient in question has presumably also paid taxes throughout his working life?

Because Biba in every 100 people in receipt of AA there could well be 100 different variations of need and to regulate and police each and every situation would be prohibitively expensive. It is not means tested so relatively straightforward to administer.
I wish I had realised we could claim it when DH was having regular clinic visits or procedures at the Royal Free often more than once a week. To get there by off-peak train and taxi at the other end cost us upwards of £70 each time plus parking at the station here. Eventually we settled for a car and driver (similar to an airport run) for around £100 -cost more, but less exhausting and got him home mid afternoon instead of 8 or 9 at night. AA would have at least chipped a tiny hole in that.
Our needs would not have been the same as anybody else’s.

I can see where Nonogran is coming from. It’s her taxes that are paying for these benefits. I know someone who gets AA and is quite capable of and does, her own cooking, cleaning etc. She had a cleaning lady up until she moved to a smaller house.
But as others say, nothing to do with us.

This has never made any sense to me. Either people need help and support - and it is totally right that they should get help to get it. 100%.

Why give people an allowance for physical support around the house, etc and then ...

''According to Citizens’ Advice ‘If you get Attendance Allowance, you can spend the money however you like.”