Very unfair that Carers Allowance is not paid to pensioners

theworriedwell

I don't understand why people keep posting about attendance allowance. The OP is questioning why she, as a carer, can't get carers allowance. Attendance allowance would be something her husband can claim for himself but why shouldn't she get something as a carer that is paid to carers?

Exactly. Attendance Allowance is claimed by the disabled person not by the carer.
A person who is state pension age who is also a carer cannot claim carers allowance if their state pension is more than the carers allowance amount but if providing 35 hours care they can be awarded what is called an underlying entitlement to carers allowance which can give a carers premium on other means tested benefits if , as a couple they are eligible.

Ward

What is Carers Allowance , can i claim this as a Carer if i get attendance allowance for myself . I am a full time carer for a dementia relative . Finding it extremely hard , like everyone else . Not alot of help out there .

Please contact AgeUk or the Alzheimer's Society for help with accessing all the benefits to which you are entitled. For instance, the person living with dementia may be entitled to a council tax reduction

Unless the claim was made for a condition of yours, Attendance Allowance is for the benefit of the person living with dementia not the carer.

I am in a very similar position . So so hard to keep positive .
Thankyou for sharing it helps to know there are others to share with . Please stay positive , I will think about you today .

Sorry think i have written this on someone elses chat So sorry .

What is Carers Allowance , can i claim this as a Carer if i get attendance allowance for myself . I am a full time carer for a dementia relative . Finding it extremely hard , like everyone else . Not alot of help out there .

You aren’t being a misery, you are isolated and exhausted. How you feel is normal
We need to help you make a plan so you can get more support x

Chocolatelovinggran

theworriedwell, you have every right to feel miserable. I hope that you can arrange for more respite.
Your health- physical and emotional- is important.
Sending you best wishes.

Thank you.

theworriedwell, you have every right to feel miserable. I hope that you can arrange for more respite.
Your health- physical and emotional- is important.
Sending you best wishes.

I'm being a misery, sorry.

JaneJudge

theworriedwell are you getting any respite at all?

I've started to give myself one evening a week
Eldest GS comes round to keep him company and sort out food I've left. He hates me not being there. Yesterday was miserable and I had a cry and thought I can't do this any more. Can't walk out though. The last real break was a ten day holiday with DD which was 16 or 17 years ago.

theworriedwell are you getting any respite at all?

Thanks for the update. Glad they were helpful.

I volunteer with AgeUk and always get such positive feed back.

kittylester

Pamela contact AgeUk.

Thank you kitty, I did and they wer3 very helpful.

blue25

But carers allowance is for working age people to take into account they’re unable to work & earn a wage. If you’re retired anyway & getting a pension, the caring isn’t stopping you from working.

We can’t be giving out benefits to everyone. It’s why we all need to save as much as possible to pay for things like this in old age.

It isnt for a particular age group, it is for carers who earn below a certain figure or aren't in receipt of a pension.

JaneJudge

When I claimed carers allowance when my child with a severe disability was at home I think the earning lining was capped at about £90 a week! I could barely stay awake because of my caring responsibilities and I was young! Family carers save the government a fortune

We do indeed. I'm finding it harder and harder. I don't have the strength and energy I had 30 years ago. I feel like crying, been a hard day.

When I claimed carers allowance when my child with a severe disability was at home I think the earning lining was capped at about £90 a week! I could barely stay awake because of my caring responsibilities and I was young! Family carers save the government a fortune

Yes, do help your DH apply for Attendance Allowance, Primrose.
You could get £72.65 or £108.55 a week to help with personal support if both of the following apply:

you have a physical disability, a mental disability, or a health condition
you’re State Pension age or older

It won't cover the cost of carers but will help.
Unfortunately carers are overworked, pressurised and often can do no more than rush in, do the basics and rush off to the next client.
I do remember my MIL didn't like being put to bed at 9.30 pm as she was always a night owl but, of course, the carer did have many other clients to visit that night too. 6.30 pm seems very early.

Same here Rosie.
I acknowledge I’d applied for CA to help with DD2, if only to help with the cost of physio at £100 a week, but when DH was diagnosed in 2016 and died 5 years later, we paid for everything from pension/savings. By the time he needed a Blue Badge, it was too late.

As we were told, ‘anger is wasted energy. Accept the situation, it can’t be changed, so make the best of it’.

Politicians always want a name that makes them feel good.

I think the term Carers Allowance is what leads to confusion. As others have said it’s meant to help cover the reduction in income that happens when you have to give up work or reduce working hours in order to care for someone.

Obviously once you’re retired it makes no difference to your income though here might be a vast increase in your expenses.
and still where the other allowances kick in.

Maybe if it was called Reduced Income Supplement or something it would be cleare?

Royal Free in Hampstead, not what I wrote!

I’m probably going to be shot down in flames but while it is nice if there are some State subsidised benefits when caring for a close relative at home, I would never have dreamt of seeing it as an entitlement.
Fair enough if you have to give up work but in that case the reduced family income would presumably entitle you to some financial benefits. But once we were both getting that pittance of a State Pension, why should I get more? Not necessarily.

I was DH’s carer for some years in the sense that he needed help with dressing, had severe mobility issues and needed me to get him out of the house and to hospital appointments (60 + miles away in London) Extra laundry , or cleaning help in the house and garden were all down to me.
D1 and SIL generously offered to pay taxi fares to and from the Toyal Free in London when he was no longer able to travel by train and taxi, but before that we bore the cost .
That’s what you have savings for and the way life pans out.

Is it fair? I don’t know but never having claimed benefits of any sort it never occurred to me to do more than apply for a blue badge, a disabled rail card and (rather late in the day) assistance allowance.
I think OP needs some help and guidance to navigate the “system” but railing against an “unfair” system is a dead end.

I can only say that I stand corrected about CA.
In my defence, I can only say that those people I refer to as wealthy, are/were the non-working spouse of high income earners.

My own application for CA was denied, then appeal denied. A second application 5 years later was also denied, despite caring for DD2 after she suffered a stroke in childhood. Thankfully she gets her DLA award for mobility, which goes straight to Motability, for her car.

Not sure what happened then. First post disappeared and then reappeared.

Georgesgran

CA isn’t means tested (generally) Worried. I know of 2 very wealthy people who have received it - one using it to pay his wife’s carer for a days work.

I was turned down x2, but that’s a different story.

It isn't a out how wealthy you are it's about how much you earn. The limit is £151 per week.