Can anyone clarify something? I'm stuck in a financial trap, caring
for an elderly, sick parent, almost full-time. I get no spare time to
make a living. So I am living off my savings. (Not good!)

I felt I might be entitled to some state benefit, since, after all, I
am doing work which the NHS would be lumbered with if I walked away
from the situation, or if I took up paid, full time employment.  

I looked into claiming a Carer's Allowance from the ss, but if I
understand the blurb, it says you can only get the Carer's Allowance
if the person you are caring for gets an Attendance Allowance. (I
gather the Attendance Allowance is to enable the claimant to pay for
care.) 

That makes no sense to me. Why would the ss want to pay an allowance
to a carer, only when the cared-for person is already getting a state
benefit intendd for paying for care? They would then be paying for the
care twice, no?

Thanks for any elucidation,

JD

Jake D wrote:

> I looked into claiming a Carer's Allowance from the ss, but if I
> understand the blurb, it says you can only get the Carer's Allowance
> if the person you are caring for gets an Attendance Allowance. (I
> gather the Attendance Allowance is to enable the claimant to pay for
> care.)

No, the AA is not to enable the claimant to pay for what you think of
as "care" (e.g. going into a home), it is (notionally -- though it's
not actually ring fenced for any specific purpose) to cover expenses
to allow the claimant to be "attended" (e.g. by someone like you).

> That makes no sense to me. Why would the ss want to pay an allowance
> to a carer, only when the cared-for person is already getting a state
> benefit intendd for paying for care? They would then be paying for the
> care twice, no?

Not quite, I think CA is an extra level of benefit, for when the AA
itself is not enough.

So in your case what you should do first is to have your parent apply
for AA.  Then once it's approved, claim for CA as well.

On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:43:01 GMT, Ronald Raygun
<no.spam@localhost.localdomain> wrote:

>So in your case what you should do first is to have your parent apply
>for AA.  Then once it's approved, claim for CA as well.

OK - Thank you for the clarification. I just hope they don't end up
paying my parent but not me. It's me who wants the payment. My parent
is not going to pay me, because she thinks I should be caring for her
out of pure charitable sense of duty!

JD

Jake D wrote:

> On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:43:01 GMT, Ronald Raygun
> <no.spam@localhost.localdomain> wrote:
> 
>>So in your case what you should do first is to have your parent apply
>>for AA.  Then once it's approved, claim for CA as well.
> 
> OK - Thank you for the clarification. I just hope they don't end up
> paying my parent but not me. It's me who wants the payment. My parent
> is not going to pay me, because she thinks I should be caring for her
> out of pure charitable sense of duty!

In one way:  She's right, so you jolly well should!

In another:  You should point out to her that you're losing out on your
career.  If you're living with her, and she is thus providing free
accommodation for you, and her pension is helping to feed the both of
you, she may feel that's enough, but just as when you were a kid, you
still deserve a bit of pocket money!

If I remember right, AA is indeed paid to the patient.  Not sure whether
CA is paid to the carer directly or to the patient in order to pay the
carer.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Ronald Raygun <no.spam@localhost.localdomain>  wrote:

>
> If I remember right, AA is indeed paid to the patient.  Not sure
> whether CA is paid to the carer directly or to the patient in order
> to pay the carer.

Yes, AA is paid to the patient and is not means tested or taxed - and is 
paid to those eligible regardless of any other state benefits received, It 
comes at two levels depending on the degree of care needed - particularly on 
whether the patient needs assistance during the night.

CA is paid to the carer, and is taxable. It is reduced - or wiped out - if 
you have other state benefits such as a state retirement pension. There's 
also a limit to how many days you can spend away from the patient (respite 
breaks, holidays, etc.) without losing some of it. As others have said, the 
patient needs to be getting AA before the carer can get CA.

So the OP needs to apply for AA for the parent - and hopefully negotiate for 
most or all of it to be passed on to him - and then apply for CA for 
himself.
-- 
Cheers,
Roger
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On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:30:58 +0100, "Roger Mills"
 wrote:

>Yes, AA is paid to the patient and is not means tested or taxed - and is 
>paid to those eligible regardless of any other state benefits received, It 
>comes at two levels depending on the degree of care needed - particularly on 
>whether the patient needs assistance during the night.
>
>CA is paid to the carer, and is taxable. It is reduced - or wiped out - if 
>you have other state benefits such as a state retirement pension. There's 
>also a limit to how many days you can spend away from the patient (respite 
>breaks, holidays, etc.) without losing some of it. As others have said, the 
>patient needs to be getting AA before the carer can get CA.
>
>So the OP needs to apply for AA for the parent - and hopefully negotiate for 
>most or all of it to be passed on to him - and then apply for CA for 
>himself.

Thanks for the info and suggestions. Much appreciated.

JD