carers allowance

Hi all

I am on IB which is due for review sometime in 2011, also on DLA HRC and HRM indefinate award. My elderly mother is on AA high rate and I was wondering, even though we live in separate accomodation if I claimed carers allowance would I still be subject to a medical for ESA and would this be a sensible road to take?

Any help or advice would be appreciated

Regards

Ken

I think you could claim CA and not IB but not both and if you had CA and not IB you would not have to have medicals but you would get less money?

Ken wrote:

Hi all

I am on IB which is due for review sometime in 2011, also on DLA HRC and HRM indefinate award. My elderly mother is on AA high rate and I was wondering, even though we live in separate accomodation if I claimed carers allowance would I still be subject to a medical for ESA and would this be a sensible road to take?

Any help or advice would be appreciated

Regards

Ken

Two things need to be taken into account.

First and foremost, if your mother receives a means-tested benefit such as Pension Credit and she receives the severe disability premium, if you claim Carers Allowance for her, she will lose the SDP and therefore it will considerably reduce her income.

Secondly, if you claim Carers Allowance it is what is known as an overlapping benefit. You cannot be paid both IB and CA at the same time, and any CA received will reduce your IB entitlement by an equivalent amount. If you receive IS, HB and CTB however, you will have the Carers Premium added to your applicable amount for each of these benefits. See Carers Allowance.

As the amount of CA is less than the IB payable, you will still if you choose this option, be entitled to a reduced amount of IB and will therefore be subject to the qualifying criteria for both IB and CA.

One thing I did notice from your post is that you receive the higher rate care component of DLA. Therefore you should be exempt from the personal capability assessment for IB. This regulation is still in force and has not been repealed. When you are migrated to ESA, the exemption will no longer apply. In the meantime however, you should not be subject to any PCA, but as you already have a review date of 2011, it is likely that you will be migrated to ESA at that time.

You undoubtedly need the advice of a CAB or welfare rights office who can discuss your circumstances face-to-face, as both you and your mother stand to lose money if your personal requirements are not fully investigated, which is something we are unable to do in an open forum.