Hi all, can you advise me regarding means testing.
My wife has MS so would it be her income, savings etc that are used to establish if or not we would have to pay for care ?
Or does it include mine too as her husband ? I would just like that clarified.
Thank you
Well Tom1, while I’m not completely sure I would imagine it’s the income coming into your home, but I could be wrong, I’ve answered to boost your blog up, good luck.
Jean x
Thanks Jean, i will soon find out in due course i suspect lol
Tom x
Hello Tom
If your wife is over 65 and needs help daily from you or others, she could apply for attendance allowance which is not means tested and pays £400 per month
I applied and it was approved If you need help with getting dressed, cooking, washing, pay for a private physio, stair lift etc etc
You can apply on line the form is 70 pages long complicated and you can get advice from age uk etc
List everything however minor
I was a big help for me, I can only walk with a stroller and us a scooter outside
If she is younger she could apply for PIP but I do not know details
Bertie
Hi Tom, no it is just on your wifes income....thats how I did it.
Remember to include any expenses related to her disability. Things like;
extra laundry costs due to incontinence, a need to replace bedding more often due to wear,
extra costs for heating, showering, extra clothing needed for more changes to keep clean and fresh,
extra costs to keep the house clean for her well being, any loans you may have taken out for a disabled function ie for me it was the cost of the shower room (9k)
Good luck with it. It turned into a nightmare for us. I still think we are being charged when we shouldnt be, as we have no savings. Initially they wanted £87 a week, we said no. They changed it to £57 a week…we said no again.
We settled on £39.22 a week.
Boudsx
Tom, you can always PM me if you`d like to talk privately
Boudsx
Seen another post by you Tom that you already get PIP
Bertie
Hi Bertie, I get full PIP and Direct Payments for care. I pay towards my care.
Boudsx
Thanks Bertie… it is still useful information for others
Thanks Bouds
Thats very helpful info, there are lots of things there i hadnt considered.
Tom
I found if you get direct payments and you have PIP you have to pay towards your care. It worked out cheaper for me to ditch DP. I use family now instead.
when i applied for help they took all our household payments into it. MORTGAGE, RATES ETC. I was told if i had savings over 16,000 i would have to pay for my care.
BUT attendance allowance is the way to go. for sure.
it dont pay to have saved money for your old age. it dont pay to have worked your backside off all your life. i have friends never worked they get everything paid for.
CC that`s true. But we have no savings yet I pay £40 a week towards my care and we have a mortgage. When our mortgage is paid up, I will have to pay more for care.
I agree, it would be better to rent a house!
Boudsx
I was means tested over two years ago when I first approached social services for help with care. I’m fortunate in that I don’t need several daily visits, not yet anyway, but just a few mornings each week.
My husbands income was included. We had virtually no savings at the time, having spent thousands on adapting our bungalow with ramp, wet room, etc and on mobility scooter, powered wheelchair.
Allowance was made for mortgage, rent, council tax, (insurances I think) living costs (they decided that amount)
I am in receipt of PIP, and have an occupational pension. My husband is in receipt of his old age pension, and therefore not entitled to carers allowance, and an occupational pension.
They also asked for the amount of any premium bonds held!
I pay the full cost of my care visits, almost £14 an hour, and ten minutes of each visit is travelling time. I don’t know what the threshold is, so can’t help as to whether she will have to pay some or all of the costs. If she is in receipt of PIP for help with personal care, they may well say she must use that towards it, but I don’t know.
Good luck to you both. Disability is expensive!
Can someone tell me who qualifies for attendance allowance…at the moment my hubby is in the age group for carer’s allowance, but like everyone else once he reaches 66yrs, (his state pension age) that will stop, that’s in under 2yrs time. My argument is that just because someone gets to this age, doesn’t mean the person their looking after no longer needs care, so does everyone then qualify for attendance allowance, or is this means texted ?
Jean x
Hi Jean, no love…once we get to state pension age, carer`s allowance ends. Attendance allowance is for people over pension age who need care…ie what you and I get before pension age and is called PIP. PIP remains as PIP.
Hope this is clear for you.
Boudsx
So basically my hubby won’t get anything for looking after me…if that’s the case its bloody ridicules, I mean my care needs don’t stop because he’s reached that age, in fact there’s more chance of them being worse so people who are our carer’s are basically slave labour… GRrr, so to be clear Bouds I’ll lose ESA at pension age and only get PIP ?
Jean x
Hi Jean, I know how chuffin maddening this is.
My hubby lost CA when he got his pension.
When I reached state pension age, I lost ESA and got state pension.
The pension ages keep changing so I dont know what it is now. I was 62.5 when I got my state pension.
Yes, our hubbies are expected to continue to look after us for nothing. Stinks doesnt it?
Boudsxx
Hi again Jean, hubby has checked what our state pensions are…he gets…wait for it…£1.56 a month for looking after me.
Did you know you can get a pension forecast for each of you?
Boudsx
Hi Bouds, it certainly does stink…honestly our care needs don’t stop. I never ever thought state pension was classed as a benefit, but it is, when I told family and friends this they couldn’t believe it. I knew I’d lose ESA, fare do’s, but for the carer to lose that is ridicules, anyway can’t do anything about it…or can we ? So yes I knew about the pension forecast and we’re lucky with what we will get, so I’m not complaining about that. What your hubby gets is a bloody insult…honestly it gets me so bloody mad, GRrrr. Take care Bouds and you never know 1 of these days in Huddersfiled I might see you again.
Jean x
That would be good Jean
Boudsxx